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The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)

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Re: The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)

#111

I don't know that this is the right way to solve the resume 'problem' - I think LaTeX is a far superior choice, yet the author pretty much dimissed it as a possibility. For me personally, I found LaTeX to be the perfect solution. I have my resume tex setup so I can set toggles to define what gets output. E.g. applying for a manager position, I might keep it brief and more technical. The resume is modular and can be u…

I've never tried LaTeX, but I've built my last few resumes with plain old HTML+CSS then saving as PDF. Works pretty great and is insanely simple to upkeep/modify

Re: The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)

#112
I created my CV with React and Semantic UI since I was not satisfied with the amount of visual precision Word provides. The stack choice was due to personal ease of use, Semantic is probably an overkill.

Recently, I started turning it into a template and added some documentation. The next step is to feed the data (experience, education) through JSON so it's easier for others. It is automated to the point of generating a new preview GIF every time I push to master. I still manually hit CTRL+P to get the PDF though, it feels faster than implementing automation.

I'll hopefully do a Show HN in the future but until then, here is a demo on GitHub Pages: https://mrtysn.github.io/cv/

Re: The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)

#113
post #85

I don't know that this is the right way to solve the resume 'problem' - I think LaTeX is a far superior choice, yet the author pretty much dimissed it as a possibility. For me personally, I found LaTeX to be the perfect solution. I have my resume tex setup so I can set toggles to define what gets output. E.g. applying for a manager position, I might keep it brief and more technical. The resume is modular and can be u…

> I think LaTeX is a far superior choice, yet the author pretty much dimissed it as a possibility. Learning curve is a thing: I've never touched LaTeX, and I don't anticipate using it in the future. If I wanted to automate a thing as a learning project, I probably would rule out LaTeX unless I had a reason to want to learn it.

> I probably would rule out LaTeX unless I had a reason to want to learn it.

The reason is that it's one of the best tools suited to this kind of work.

Re: The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Typist looks interesting, although I've had no issues with LaTeX so no reason to change to something more niche.

Either your are a pro LaTeX user or you did not use the more advanced features.

Or I just didn't have the issues you or others did. Tex distribution can make a point, also editor most likely.

Re: The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)

#115

I don't know that this is the right way to solve the resume 'problem' - I think LaTeX is a far superior choice, yet the author pretty much dimissed it as a possibility. For me personally, I found LaTeX to be the perfect solution. I have my resume tex setup so I can set toggles to define what gets output. E.g. applying for a manager position, I might keep it brief and more technical. The resume is modular and can be u…

I have yet to see a really good LaTeX CV. I guess it is possible but in my experience LaTeX just isn't designed for that and gives boring-looking results.

It's nothing to do with LaTeX. Anything you can make in Word you could make in LaTeX.

Re: The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)

#116

I don't know that this is the right way to solve the resume 'problem' - I think LaTeX is a far superior choice, yet the author pretty much dimissed it as a possibility. For me personally, I found LaTeX to be the perfect solution. I have my resume tex setup so I can set toggles to define what gets output. E.g. applying for a manager position, I might keep it brief and more technical. The resume is modular and can be u…

LaTeX is a nightmare to use, so you shouldn't inflict it on people. While I've used it and there's a lot to like, there's very little there that you'd want or need to make a resume. And without those things (most notably good formula support), it just doesn't add enough to justify the pain of having it in your life.

Re: The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have yet to see a really good LaTeX CV. I guess it is possible but in my experience LaTeX just isn't designed for that and gives boring-looking results.

It's nothing to do with LaTeX. Anything you can make in Word you could make in LaTeX.

Anything you can make in Word you can theoretically make in LaTeX with a ton of work that people who make LaTeX CVs don't both to do.

This is like saying "anything you can make in Photoshop you can make in Paint".

Re: The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)

#119
post #50

I don't know that this is the right way to solve the resume 'problem' - I think LaTeX is a far superior choice, yet the author pretty much dimissed it as a possibility. For me personally, I found LaTeX to be the perfect solution. I have my resume tex setup so I can set toggles to define what gets output. E.g. applying for a manager position, I might keep it brief and more technical. The resume is modular and can be u…

I’ve actually made the switch over to Typst[0] for my app [1]. I’ve previously used a quick jinja .tex template that then just pasted things in, but LaTeX can really throw some strange errors and overall handling the files was a hassle. Typst was much easier to setup and the function-based operation meant that sending variables in was a breeze with better error handling there too. Also, I just grok the syntax a lot b…

It took me something like 20min to learn the very basics of Typst and generate a PDF of my resume from my machine (Typst is distributed as a single binary). Definitely a lot easier to work with than LaTeX.

I used this package [1] (see also the index [2] for more packages / templates).

--

1: https://github.com/talal/pesha

2: https://typst.app/universe/

Re: The Overengineered Resume with Zola, JSON Resume, Weasyprint, and Nix (2023)

#120
post #14

Automating your resume is a bit of a rite of passage for new software engineers. It just feels like a stupid repetitive task. I've found that I change job summaries so often, that automating it was a net negative in time spent on the thing. So now I just do the same as the digitally challenged: copy a Word file to "resume (DATE).docx" and change the contents as needed. My younger self would be surprised, and slightly…

Except that it is a great learning experience. Data driven resume was my introduction to LaTeX and I had a great time building it.

LaTeX itself is sort of a rite of passage. It's slightly more useful, because the mathematical side of academia runs on it.

There's a bunch of template you get for free by doing what everybody else is doing. The corporate world has those too, but for Word, because that's what they use.

There's this subconscious believe that something that has a steep learning curve will make things easier later on. That is not always true. If you want stuff that is more complex than normal, Word and LaTeX are about equally as annoying, if nobody solved it for you (templates, Google). LaTeX is just harder for the easy stuff too.

Doing my resume was the last thing I did in LaTeX, not the first. Doing anything in LaTeX just stopped being useful when the recipients didn't recognize Computer Modern anymore.

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