Firefish is a popular ATS in UK recruitment agencies, but it has its quirks. CVs often lose formatting or parse incorrectly, causing delays and frustration. Knowing Firefish's specific CV requirements saves time and cuts errors.
TL;DR: Firefish struggles with tables, multiple columns, and unusual fonts in CVs. Keep CVs simple, use standard fonts, and avoid complex layouts. Parsing errors usually come from hidden formatting or graphics. If you submit 20+ CVs weekly, Distill can clean and reformat your files automatically to Firefish's specs.
What you need to know about CVs in Firefish
Firefish parses CVs into fields for job orders and candidate records. It expects a clean, linear document. The system doesn't handle complex layouts well. Tables, columns, text boxes, and images often cause data to scramble or disappear.
Firefish prefers Word DOCX files but accepts PDFs. PDF parsing is less reliable. Many agencies upload PDFs only for client review, not for parsing.
Common Firefish issues stem from:
- Embedded tables and columns
- Non-standard fonts or font sizes
- Headers, footers, and watermarks
- Hidden text or tracked changes
- Photos and logos
Firefish also truncates data if CVs contain too many sections or excessive formatting. This leads to missing candidate details or misplaced information.
Formatting guide
To ensure Firefish reads CVs correctly, follow these guidelines:
- Use a single-column layout. Avoid tables or multi-column designs.
- Stick to standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman, size 11 or 12.
- Remove photos, logos, and graphics.
- Keep headings simple—bold or slightly larger font—not underlined or coloured.
- Avoid headers, footers, watermarks, and text boxes.
- Delete tracked changes and comments.
- Convert bullet points to simple symbols or dashes.
- Save as DOCX for best compatibility. If you must use PDF, check parsing results carefully.
These steps reduce parsing errors and ensure key information—name, contact, skills, employment, education—maps correctly into Firefish fields.
Parsing errors
Parsing errors in Firefish usually fall into these categories:
- Scrambled text: Happens when tables or columns confuse the parser.
- Missing sections: Often caused by hidden text, headers, or footers.
- Incorrect field mapping: For example, phone numbers or emails placed in notes or summary fields.
- Truncation: Firefish limits text length in some fields, so overly long sections get cut off.
- Non-ASCII characters: Unusual symbols or accented letters can break parsing.
If you see these errors, inspect the CV for hidden formatting or complex layouts. Use Word's "Show/Hide" feature to spot invisible elements.
Firefish's parser doesn't reliably extract data from images or scanned PDFs, so avoid submitting those.
Upload issues
Uploading CVs to Firefish can trigger errors unrelated to parsing:
- File size limits: Firefish caps uploads around 5MB per CV.
- File type restrictions: Only DOC, DOCX, RTF, and PDF are accepted.
- Naming conventions: Filenames with special characters or very long names may fail.
- Duplicate detection: Firefish flags duplicates based on name and contact details. Sometimes legitimate new versions get blocked.
- Bulk uploads: Uploading large batches can time out or cause server errors.
To avoid upload problems:
- Compress large files before uploading.
- Rename files with simple, alphanumeric characters.
- Check for duplicates before bulk uploads.
- Break large uploads into smaller batches.
Distill + Firefish
Distill automates the cleanup and reformatting of CVs before you submit them to Firefish. It strips out photos, emails, phone numbers, and graduation years for blind hiring compliance. It removes tables, columns, and hidden formatting that break Firefish parsing.
If you send dozens of CVs weekly, Distill saves hours spent manually fixing files. It outputs clean DOCX files optimised for Firefish's requirements. You can also bulk upload directly after Distill processes your files.
Try Distill free with your Firefish export and see parsing errors drop.
For detailed walkthroughs on fixes, see our Firefish parsing errors, formatting guide, and upload issues pages. More ATS tips are at ATS guides hub.