Ask HN: What do you use to build your resume?

12 points by smarky ↗ HN
I was curious as to what was the best way to create a resume.

16 comments

[ 72.8 ms ] story [ 492 ms ] thread
I just use a Microsoft Word template. Hasn’t hurt me yet.
As a professional resume editor, I am still forced to rely on MS Word since headhunters and often internal HR require it. If you use a more "sophisticated" toolset like Latex and have the liberty, try to send your resume in pdf since I see way too many MS Word resumes with formatting all screwed up. You can't be sure what app/version the reader will be using.

Working on an R-Markdown/Latex combo, this can work great for individuals (check github for examples) but hard to quickly switch for larger volumes of client work since nearly everyone has a different background and so the sections need to be tweaked.

Was a real bummer json resume as a standard didn't take off particularly due to the non-rendering of MS Word versions. PDF was also an issue.

Vince Fulco, CFA, CAIA vfulco[@]weisisheng.cn

When posting job opening for my company, we always ask for resumes in PDF format. It’s amazing how many applicants send NOT PDFs.

I suggest reading the description to see if there are any format requests.

Yes, I know pdf is not the tool to make the resume, just an output. But I think this is a related input.

I use a very simple setup of HTML + template engine (Jinja2). Then I maintain the entries of my resume in a YAML file. Finally, I export HTML to pdf.

If interested, I describe it here: bernhardwenzel.com/articles/jinja-yaml/ + github

Nice, thanks for the article. Care to share what the template looks like in terms of HTML?

Thanks!

I really like the formatting tool ineedaresu.me. It has an easy interface and clean templates.
I actually just redid my resume here https://udokah.github.io/resume

Created with React/Webpack/HTML5/CSS3

The cool(or not so cool) thing is that it generates a PDF version of the page using NodeJS for every new update which is downloadable via the link provided.

Hosted with Github Pages.

This is very cool. I like the dark & light theme for the web view as well. I wish the data was pulled in from YAML, reStructuredText or Markdown though.
Thanks. That's a good point.
The tool matters less than the content.

Focus on what the reader wants to see and stick that in a .doc .pdf or whatever they want.

Yes excellent point. So many DIY writers use fancy graphics while the prospective employer runs the document through a parser/database store and all the hours of design and tweaking get lost. At least in most of the US, Canada, EU, produce good content, not a glam piece of paper.
Personally I use a text editor. Doesn't matter which one, Word, Open Office, Bean, Simpletext, have all done their time.

The best way is the most robust way for YOU.

Some process where in 3-5 to 10-15 years you can pick it back up again, and worst case scenario know where all your files are and have at least an open source solution for editing it. So, don't rely on an online tool or format. And at the very very least keep a hard copy in your archives next to your seven years of tax records.