How to upload your résumé from Google Drive to a job application

Your résumé lives in Google Drive, but job application forms want a file from your computer. Here's how to skip the download step for every application you send.

The usual way: export, download, upload

Open your résumé in Google Docs and choose File → Download → Microsoft Word or PDF.
On the job application, click the upload box and find the file in Downloads.
Repeat for the cover letter, and again for the next application. Over time your Downloads folder fills with résumé_final_v3 copies, and it's easy to send an old one.

The faster way: copy in Drive, paste on the application

FilePaster is a Chrome extension that copies files from your cloud drive and pastes them into any website's upload box:

Install FilePaster in Chrome (7-day free trial, no card).
In your drive, select the files or folders and press Alt+Shift+C (⌥ Option+Shift+C on a Mac).
On the other website, click the upload box and press Alt+Shift+V (⌥ Option+Shift+V on a Mac).

A Google Doc arrives as a Word (.docx) file, the format most applications accept. If you keep a PDF version in Drive, copy that instead. You always send the current version from Drive, not a stale copy from Downloads.

Good to know

It works on any upload box that accepts a file from your computer, and you can drag files from your Drive tab onto the application tab instead of using the shortcuts.
FilePaster uses the account you're already signed in to in Chrome. Your files go straight from your drive to the application, never through a FilePaster server.

FilePaster copies files and folders from Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and SharePoint and pastes them into any website or a folder on your computer. 7-day free trial, then $29 a year.

Add to Chrome See how it works

How to upload your résumé from Google Drive to a job application

The usual way: export, download, upload

The faster way: copy in Drive, paste on the application

Good to know

More guides