What this screen is
Importing reads a résumé or a profile document that you upload and turns what it finds into a review. Every item is listed on its own, with a tick box, a "Before" and an "After", and a label that says who will see it. Nothing reaches your profile until you choose Apply to profile, and only the items you leave ticked are saved.
It opens as a window over the Profile Builder, headed "Import from Résumé" while you upload, "Review your import" while you review, and "Imported" when it is done. Importing works the same way on every plan.
A résumé quickly fills the public parts of a profile. The profile document template also has room for the private context that publishing needs, such as why you left a role.
Where to start an import
| Where | Button |
|---|---|
| The Basics tab of the Profile Builder, under "Who you are, what you’re looking for" | "Import from résumé" |
| The Profile Setup panel on your dashboard, on its first step (while you have no complete role and no elevator pitch) | "Upload a résumé or profile document" |
Both open the same window. The Basics button is always there; the dashboard one belongs to the panel’s first step only. While a file you uploaded from that browser tab is still being read, the Basics button reads "Reading your résumé…". The panel is described in Profile Setup: the dashboard panel that gets you to publish.
When a review is waiting, the Profile Setup panel says "A file you uploaded is waiting for review." with a Review it button, and the profile assistant asks you to finish it first: "A file you uploaded is waiting for review. Review it first, then come back."
What you can upload
PDF, Word (.docx), Markdown (.md) or plain text (.txt). The drop zone reads "Drag & drop your résumé here, or click to browse", and Choose a file opens the same picker. Any other type is refused before it is sent, with a message that begins "Only PDF, DOCX, Markdown (.md) and plain-text (.txt) files are supported."
Tip: in Google Docs, choose File → Download → Microsoft Word (.docx) and upload that file. A profile document written in Google Docs can also be saved as Markdown (.md).
The size, length and upload limits are on the Limits page, under "Importing a résumé or profile document". An upload can count toward your limit even if you don’t apply the review, and even if the file can’t be read.
The window also offers the profile document template and says: "What we read from your file is kept only so you can review it, and deleted as soon as you apply or discard it."
If a file cannot be read, the window says why. "Could not extract enough text. The file may be image-based or empty." means a scan or a picture: upload a PDF with selectable text, a .docx or a text file. A file that is too large or too long, or one past your upload allowance, is refused with a message that says so. The upload step also says: "A file that can’t be read can still use one of your uploads (see Limits)."
While your file is read
The window shows "Reading your résumé with AI…" and the typical time. A read usually takes a few minutes, and you do not have to wait: "You can close this box or leave the page — the review waits for you under Import from résumé. If the file can’t be read, nothing from it is applied, and uploading it again can use another of your uploads (see Limits)."
If you come back before the read has finished, the window says "Your résumé is still being read — check again in a minute or two."; wait, then choose Check again. Once the read has finished, open Import from résumé again, or choose Review it on the dashboard. A waiting review opens on a screen headed "Import waiting for review": "A résumé you uploaded is waiting for you to review it. Nothing from this upload has been applied yet." It has three buttons:
- Close keeps the review waiting.
- Start over opens the upload step so you can send a different file: "Uploading again can use one of your résumé uploads (see Limits). The import waiting for review is replaced once the new file has been read."
- Review opens the review.
Your ticks survive closing the window, as long as you stay on the page. Reloading the page brings the review back with its starting ticks.
The review
Under the heading "Review your import", the window says "Tick what to add to your profile. Nothing changes until you apply."
The four labels
A key above the list explains the labels this review uses:
| Label | What the screen says | What carries it |
|---|---|---|
| "Public" | "Visitors or recruiters may see it, and the Ask-AI chat and the fit assessment may use it." | Your name, title and location, narrative fields, links, roles, skills, gaps and limitations, FAQs |
| "Fit assessment only" | "Used by the fit assessment; never shown to visitors or in the Ask-AI chat." | A role’s private fields, a skill’s honest notes, your Values |
| "Steers Ask-AI chat" | "Not on your profile page. The Ask-AI chat follows it and may mention it to visitors; the fit assessment never reads it." | AI instructions |
| "Not saved" | "Shown here only — not saved to your profile." | Education and certifications |
Sections and items
The review follows the Profile Builder’s tabs: Basics, Narrative, Links, Experience, Skills, "Gaps or limitations", Values, FAQ and "AI Instructions". A section appears only when your file proposed something for it, and its heading counts its ticked items, for example "3 of 5 selected".
Each item has a tick box, a label such as "Full name", "New role", "Why you left" or "New skill", what it belongs to, its badge, and the "Before" and "After" columns ("Nothing yet" means the field is empty now). A few things to know:
- Your file’s own summary, if it has one, is offered as "Elevator pitch". The other narrative fields appear only when your file has a section about them, as the template does.
- A portfolio or personal site is offered as "Website URL": the Website field on the Basics tab, not the Portfolio tab.
- A new skill shows the level proposed for it ("Strong", "Moderate" or "Still developing"), with any years and evidence. Languages arrive as skills.
- AI instructions are shown word for word. Your email address and phone number are never imported.
What starts ticked
- Ticked: generally, anything that adds, such as a new role, skill, gap or FAQ, or a value for a field that is empty now. That includes items marked "Fit assessment only". One exception: when your file says a role ended that your profile marks as current, both its "Current role" change and its new end date start unticked, so check both.
- Unticked: anything that would replace something already on your profile, so your own words stay unless you choose otherwise.
- Unticked: every AI instruction, because each one steers the Ask-AI chat and you accept each one yourself.
Some ticks are linked. A role’s private fields belong to the role, so ticking one of them ticks the role, and unticking the role unticks them. A new skill and its honest notes work the same way.
Roles that look like one you already have
When a role in your file resembles one on your profile, the review asks "This looks like a role already on your profile. Same role, or a new one?" Choose "Same role as" (the existing role’s title, company and years follow) or "Add as a new role". When the match is clear, the answer is already chosen. Under "Same role as", only what differs is listed, or "Nothing to change for this role."
A role your file gives without a start date or a title can only be matched to a role you already have; if none fits, it is listed to add by hand. Apply to profile waits until every role is answered; the line under the list names the first one still open, and Show me scrolls to it.
"Tick all changes to existing roles"
When the Experience section holds unticked changes that would replace something already on one of your roles, a "Tick all changes to existing roles" link appears at its top. One click ticks all of those replacements, along with anything they depend on. It never unticks anything, and it disappears when none is left. It does not tick additions to fields that are empty now, so check those one by one.
Check first: read each Before and After before you use it. A change to "Key accomplishments" replaces the role’s whole list of bullets, so a file with shorter bullets would replace the detailed ones you wrote.
What is not imported
- "Add these roles by hand": "Each is missing a start date, a company or a title, so it is not imported. Add it on the Experience tab." A missing date or name is never guessed.
- "Not saved": your education and certifications, as your file lists them. They are shown so you can see they were read, and there is nothing to tick.
Discard and Apply
Under the list, "N items are already on your profile — nothing to change." counts what you already have.
- Discard asks first: "Discard this review? Nothing from it is applied, and what we read from your file is deleted." Choose Yes, discard or Keep reviewing.
- Apply to profile stays off until at least one item is ticked and every role question is answered.
If your profile changes while the review is open, Refresh rebuilds the review and keeps your earlier choices where they still apply.
After you apply
The window, now headed "Imported", says how many sections were imported and what your profile percentage is now, and shows a Profile depth line with an "Add depth" link. Below that it says one of three things:
- "Every publishing requirement is met. You can publish from the profile builder, or add depth first."
- "Publishing still needs:", followed by each open requirement with a link to the tab that clears it.
- "Every requirement is met; the score needs a little more depth before you can publish. Fill out one more section." Publish stays off until you add more.
Done closes the window.
A résumé on its own fills only public fields, and publishing needs private ones too. Add them on the Experience tab, or open the profile assistant above the tabs ("Fill it with help", or "Continue with help" once your profile can be published) and let it ask: see Filling your profile with help: the profile assistant.
Importing again
Upload an updated résumé or a filled-in template at any time. The file is compared with your profile as it is at that moment:
| Your file has | The review shows |
|---|---|
| Something already on your profile, word for word | Nothing; it is counted as already on your profile |
| A different value for something you have | Before and After, unticked |
| Something new | The item, ticked |
| A role like one you have | The "Same role, or a new one?" question |
| A LinkedIn or website address | That one link; your other links are kept |
| Nothing for a field | Nothing; your profile keeps what it has |
An import never deletes or clears anything, and it does not overwrite your edits unless you tick the change. It can still add a second copy: a role you already have, if you choose "Add as a new role" for it, or a skill your file names differently from your profile, such as "JS" for "JavaScript". Answer the role question carefully, and check differently named skills before you apply. A file with nothing new gets this message instead of a review: "Everything in this file is already on your profile. Nothing was changed, and nothing is waiting for review."
The profile document template
The template is a plain-text Markdown file with a place for everything a profile holds. Download it from the "profile document template" link in the upload window, or from profiled.careers/templates/profile-document.md, and open it in any text editor, Google Docs or Word.
It has three parts:
| Part | Starts at | In the review |
|---|---|---|
| Public: everything from your name and title to your certifications | # Your profile document | "Public" items, with education and certifications under "Not saved" |
Private: a ### Company — Title block for each role with the eleven private prompts, then ### Skills, honestly, ### What I need and ### How I work | ## PROFILED PRIVATE SECTION | "Fit assessment only" items |
| AI instructions, one rule per line | ## PROFILED AI INSTRUCTIONS | "Steers Ask-AI chat" items, copied word for word and unticked |
The template asks you to "Keep the two headings that start with PROFILED exactly as they are", to write each role’s company and title in the private section exactly as in the Experience part, and to write about other people by their role, never by name. Every section is optional. Save it as Markdown or Word and upload it with Import from résumé.
If you upload a profile document, its private section is read once to file it into your private fields; you see every item, marked "Fit assessment only", and nothing is saved until you apply it. Nothing from the private section or the AI instructions is placed on your public profile. What each private field is for is in What Do The 11 Private Experience Fields Do, and Who Sees Them?.
What is kept while a review waits
Your file itself is never stored. What was read from it is kept only so you can review it: applying or discarding deletes it, and an unfinished review expires, as the upload window and the waiting screen tell you. The Privacy Policy covers this in §2.2 "Documents you upload" and §8 "Data retention". To remove a waiting review now, open it and choose Discard, then Yes, discard.
Free and Pro
Importing is the same on every plan: the upload, the review, the template and the limits.
Common mistakes
- Choosing Start over when you meant to come back. Review opens the waiting review; Start over leads to a new upload.
- Renaming the PROFILED headings in the template. Keep them exactly as they are.
- Expecting a résumé to fill the private fields. It fills public ones only. Use the template’s private section, the profile assistant or the Experience tab.
Finishing
- Your file is a PDF with selectable text, a .docx, a .md or a .txt
- Every "Same role, or a new one?" question is answered
- Before and After read for every change to something you already had
- Each AI instruction ticked only if you want it steering the chat
- Every "Fit assessment only" item read through
- Roles under "Add these roles by hand" added on the Experience tab
- The review applied or discarded, with nothing left waiting
Related
- Filling your profile with help: the profile assistant
- Tab 1 — Basics
- Should I import my résumé or build my profile by hand?
Last verified: 2026-10-21