Formatted Resume: Advanced Template

Most resumes received from candidates follow different layouts, making it difficult to present them consistently to clients. Advanced Formatted Resume Templates let you create branded, standardized resumes that automatically pull information from Zoho Recruit using merge fields.

Built on Zoho Writer, these templates can be created for both the Candidates and Applications modules, helping you generate polished resumes without manually formatting every submission.

Availability

Available for	Profile Permissions	Users with the Formatted/Branded resume settings profile permission can create Advanced Templates. Users with the Generate formatted/branded resume profile permission can generate formatted resumes.
	Modules	Candidates, Applications
	Plans	Enterprise
	Editions	Staffing Agency edition only

Before you begin

You can create up to five templates per module.
Templates are designed and edited using Zoho Writer.
Templates created for Candidates and Applications are managed separately.
Application templates support both candidate and application specific fields.

Candidates vs. Applications module templates

Choosing the right module depends on what you're trying to share.

Select the Candidates module when...	Select the Applications module when...
You want a reusable resume for a candidate	You want a resume tailored to a specific job application
The same resume will be shared across multiple jobs	A candidate has applied for multiple roles with different requirements
Only candidate information is required	You want to include application details such as Job Opening, Hiring Manager, or custom Application fields

This flexibility allows you to generate different versions of the same candidate's resume depending on the position they're being submitted for.

Creating templates

Go to Setup > Parser Management > Formatted Resume Settings.
Click + New Template and provide the template details.

Template Name (Mandatory): Enter a name for your resume template.
Module: Choose which module you want to create the template for.

Candidates: Can only use candidate record fields
Applications: Can use field data from both candidate & application records

Filename Format (Optional): Define how the generated resumes should be named and what format the file should be in.
Executive Summary (Optional): Choose how you wish to summarize the candidate's experience with a particular skill. The summary will be available as a merge field, you can choose to include it if you wish to.
Description (Optional): Provide a description for your template.

You will then be taken to the Template Gallery page. Choose whether you wish to choose to start with a Blank Document or pick one from our seven predesigned templates.

Tips:

You can also upload branded resume documents and add them as templates in your Zoho Recruit account. Click the upload icon and pick the file you wish to upload. (Supported formats: .doc, .docx, .zdoc | File size limit: 5 MB)
While creating a template, you can choose to append the candidate's original resume with the branded resume you generate. This includes the option to hide specific details like the candidate's name, email, phone/mobile and more.

Starting with a blank document

Building a formatted resume template from scratch gives you the freedom to create unique and eye-catching templates. Merge fields for Candidate, User and Organization information will be displayed in the Manage Fields section. You can then insert merge fields to your document with a single click.

To create a template from scratch

Choose the Blank template in the Template Gallery page.
A blank document will be opened in Zoho Writer.
Pick what Merge Fields you wish to include from Automate > Manage Fields.
To create a new merge field on the fly, click the Create Fields button.
Additionally, if you feel certain merge fields are too long to fit in your template, you can shorten them by changing their labels in the Value column.

Using a predesigned template

Alternatively, you can also select a prebuilt template from the template gallery. The gallery displays predesigned resume templates. You can select a template from any of these categories based on your business requirement.

To create a template from the gallery

Choose a template from the Template Gallery.
Click Select.
A document will be opened in Zoho Writer.
Replace the dummy data in the template with Merge Fields from Automate > Manage Fields.
Click Done.

Adding tabular fields

Certain scenarios raise the need to include a tabular field which, say for example, contains experience information of a candidate such as their job title, details about their current employer, the duration of their employment, etc.

You can add the tabular in your template and send it to your clients instead of manually adding that information each time you generate a formatted resume.

To add tabular fields in a template;

While editing a template in Zoho Writer, navigate to Automate > Manage Fields > Subforms.
Select the tabular field that you would like to add in the template.
A pop-up displays the list of fields present in the selected tabular field.
Select the fields that you want to add in your template and click Insert As.
You will have four options, namely;

Simple Repeat
The selected tabular fields are repeated without using a table.
Repeat as Table Rows
The selected tabular fields are repeated as rows in a table.
Repeat as Table Columns
The selected tabular fields are repeated as columns in a table.
Repeat as Table Cells
The selected tabular fields are repeated as cells in a table.

Your tabular field will then be added to the formatted resume template.

Note: You can add a maximum of 10 fields from a tabular field in the template.

Limits and purchase

By default, you can generate up to 1000 formatted resumes/month/org. That means if you subscribe to the Enterprise edition of Zoho Recruit on the 20th day of a month you will be able to generate 1000 formatted resumes using an Advanced Template until 20th of the next month.

When you have exhausted 50% of your advanced formatted generation limit, the system will alert you while generating formatted resumes.

Click on the link provided in the alert message to purchase an increase to your resume generation limit.

Online Purchase

You can increase your monthly limit at 5 cents ( $0.05)/resume if your requirements exceed the default limit. Follow the instructions given below to increase your resume generation limit.

After you click on the link in the alert message, you will be redirected to the Store page. Here, you can purchase an increase to your limit in three steps, namely;

Select your plan details
In this section, you need to select how often you wish to pay, how much you wish to increase your limit (automation credits).

Click Continue when you are done.
Review your selection
Check if everything's in order and click Confirm to proceed.
Billing & Payment
Finally, select a payment method, enter your billing information and click Make Payment to complete your purchase.

Note:

The minimum number automation credits that can be purchased is 500 and maximum 40,000.
By default, you will be able to generate 1000 formatted resumes per day. That is, if you are an Enterprise plan user and purchased 2000 merges, you will be allowed 1000 merges in a day.

Test your templates before deploying

If you wish to build complex branded resume templates then you'll need to test them thoroughly before putting them to use. Using Zoho Recruit's Sandbox, you can create and generate advanced formatted resumes in an isolated Sandbox account.

This way, you can feel much safer about the changes you make, as you can now test them, identify issues, and fix them before you take them to your actual working system. Once you've tested the template, you can deploy it to your main Zoho Recruit account.

To test and deploy an Advanced Template in Sandbox;

Go to Setup > Developer Space > Sandbox and click Go to Sandbox.
In your Sandbox account, go to Setup > Resume Management > Formatted Resume > Advanced Template and create your template.
You can now test this template through and through as your sandbox account is an isolated testing environment.
To deploy the changes you've made, go back to the Sandbox Setup Page in your main account.
Check the changes you wish to deploy and click Deploy changes to Production.
Zoho Recruit will then qualify the changes you made and check for conflicts. Click Yes, Proceed to continue.
Your changes will then be deployed. It might take 30 seconds to a minute for your changes to be deployed.
Once deployed, the template will be accessible from your Zoho Recruit account.