How I Build my Resume

• Tools
• Basic Setup
• resume.tex
• header.tex
• footer.tex
• Conclusion

I am really proud of my resume. I have been using the same template for over a decade now, but compared to 90% of the resumes I see in the wild mine still ranks among some of best looking in my opinion. How do I do it? Let’s take a look!

Tools

Before we take a look under the hood let’s look at the tools I use. First, I write my resume in LaTeX. When I first started down this path I had to learn LaTeX just for my resume. The reality is, it’s not hard to learn at all. My biggest issue with LaTeX, because I only use it for my resume, is I have trouble remembering various formatting commands and such. Every time I have to edit my resume, I end up having to Google how to <fill in the blank>.

While I have been using vim for even longer than I have been using LaTeX to write my resume, I don’t use vim to compose the LaTeX. Instead I use TeXstudio. I install it via flatpak on my Ubuntu machine, which currently installs version 4.7.3. While, with a lot of work, I might be able to build a configuration in vim that gives me 90% of what I use TeXstudio for, the reality is that editing LaTeX for my resume is not similar at all to writing typical programming code (e.g. python or go). So I don’t really miss the vim keybindings.

Finally, I always distribute my resume as PDF. A decade ago this was a pain for me because recruiters especially would always ask me for a MS Word version of my resume, but nowadays that’s not an issue. I have not been asked for a copy of my resume in Word in several years now.

Basic Setup

My resume actually consists of three LaTeX files. The resume file itself (resume.tex), along with header.tex, and footer.tex. I have it split among three files because I treat it like a template. The header and footer of the document are also shared with the cover letter and my references. This way when I want to do something like update the color scheme or my phone number, I can change it in one place and all of my documents are updated. No more sending out a resume and a cover letter with different addresses on them.

resume.tex

Let’s start by taking a look at resume.tex. The first two lines of code really explain everything. First, I create a new command (think of this like a variable) that holds the name of this document. In this case I’m creating my resume. Next we have an \input command. The \input command reads in the text from the listed file and processes it as if it were written in the file the \input command is in.

\newcommand{\doctype}{Resume}
\input{../header.tex}

This is a really powerful way to break up your documents. So, for example, let’s take a quick look at header.tex. In there I have the following line:

\begin{document}

This, without the matching \end{document} document registers as an error in your editor, but when you go to build your file, LaTeX puts them all together and builds the file for you without error or warning.

Finally, I end resume.tex by including footer.tex.

\input{../footer.tex}

header.tex

Now, let’s take a closer look at header.tex. This is where I keep most of the basic boiler plate for all of my documents related to my resume. I want a consistent look and feel through out, and 90% of that is achieved here.

First, we have the document class which just tells LaTeX what kind of document it’s building.

\documentclass[letterpaper,11pt]{article}

Then I setup the margins.

\setlength{\voffset}{0.1in}
\setlength{\paperwidth}{8.5in}
\setlength{\paperheight}{11in}
\setlength{\headheight}{0pt}
\setlength{\headsep}{0pt}
\setlength{\topmargin}{-0.5in}
\setlength{\textheight}{9.5in}
\setlength{\textwidth}{7.5in}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-0.5in}
\setlength{\evensidemargin}{-0.5in}

Next, I setup some packages I use to create a custom colored box that I use for section headings. I also set my font here and the character encoding.

\usepackage{color} % custom colors
\usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx} % images in the footer
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{charter} % my chosen font

After that, I setup page numbers.

\usepackage{lastpage}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}
% Without this line you get the page number by
% default in the middle of the footer
\fancyhf{}
% Gets rid of an annoying line across the top
% of the page
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
% pageref* suppresses the hyperlink
\rfoot{Page \thepage \hspace{1pt} of \pageref*{LastPage}}

From there it’s really just about starting off the document. I want all my documents to have the same “header” of information, my name, address, phone number, etc. so I set that all here. And that is where the document abruptly ends. If you were to run the header though LaTeX alone it would error out.

footer.tex

Finally, let’s look at footer.tex. The footer is incredibly simple compared to the header. I use the includegraphics commands to include links to my GitHub and Linkedin profile as pictures of their logos and and a closing end{document}. Once, again, like the previous two documents, alone footer.tex only produces errors.

Conclusion

If that was too much to follow, or you just want to crib off an example, I have, luckily for you, created a template repository where you can find everything I covered here.