4 ms·

A nice intro project is writing your CV in latex, using packages like https://github.com/xdanaux/moderncv https://github.com/xdanaux/moderncv

sevensor 9y ago
I don't know about that. Formatting a CV is so fiddly and LaTeX is at its best when you can relax your grip and let it do its job. I'd recommend writing something really simple. Take ten minutes and write up the notes from your last meeting. They'll look amazing, and there's basically no formatting required beyond perhaps bulleted lists. It's hard enough just to get over the hump of having source code that's distinct from your finished document, without jumping straight in to the least rewarding part of LaTeX, which is trying to make things look just how you pictured them.
- LVB 9y ago
  For my last job change I rewrote my then-outdated resume in Latex using a modified version of the popular resume style. The reason was that I found the usual suspects (Word, Docs) just as fiddly with what I was trying to format, but without the clean evolution that a .tex file in a git repo provided. Getting this just right did take time, but I did it iteratively and now have an excellent base that is exactly how I want it, and something that looks better than the word processor templates. Overall it was a worthwhile investment IMHO.
  - Myrmornis 9y ago
    Thing is, one of the aims of LaTeX is to separate content from formatting. I'm guessing in that in your resume.tex, the layout is fairly tightly bound up with the content, but it would be great to hear I'm wrong! Like, if you want it to have a different number of columns, or put the job title and years together outdented in the left margin or whatever, can you do that? Or are you kind of relying on a particular choice of style file?
    - LVB 9y ago
      The content is pretty bound up with the formatting, but it's just one file and I don't mind. At least it's explicit, and I can tweak the layout precisely vs. what I was able to do in Word (which I'm not that great at to be honest). I just used the well-known Michael DeCorte resume template as a starter, adjusting to suit.
  - sevensor 9y ago
    You're quite right that it's a good idea to write a CV in LaTeX, for the reasons you describe. I just don't agree that it's a good first step into LaTeX. It immediately forces you to google ugly formatting hacks instead of learning to appreciate how nice LaTeX will make an ordinary document look without you expending any real effort on formatting.

sevensor 9y ago

I don't know about that. Formatting a CV is so fiddly and LaTeX is at its best when you can relax your grip and let it do its job. I'd recommend writing something really simple. Take ten minutes and write up the notes from your last meeting. They'll look amazing, and there's basically no formatting required beyond perhaps bulleted lists. It's hard enough just to get over the hump of having source code that's distinct from your finished document, without jumping straight in to the least rewarding part of LaTeX, which is trying to make things look just how you pictured them.

LVB 9y ago
For my last job change I rewrote my then-outdated resume in Latex using a modified version of the popular resume style. The reason was that I found the usual suspects (Word, Docs) just as fiddly with what I was trying to format, but without the clean evolution that a .tex file in a git repo provided. Getting this just right did take time, but I did it iteratively and now have an excellent base that is exactly how I want it, and something that looks better than the word processor templates. Overall it was a worthwhile investment IMHO.
- Myrmornis 9y ago
  Thing is, one of the aims of LaTeX is to separate content from formatting. I'm guessing in that in your resume.tex, the layout is fairly tightly bound up with the content, but it would be great to hear I'm wrong! Like, if you want it to have a different number of columns, or put the job title and years together outdented in the left margin or whatever, can you do that? Or are you kind of relying on a particular choice of style file?
  - LVB 9y ago
    The content is pretty bound up with the formatting, but it's just one file and I don't mind. At least it's explicit, and I can tweak the layout precisely vs. what I was able to do in Word (which I'm not that great at to be honest). I just used the well-known Michael DeCorte resume template as a starter, adjusting to suit.
- sevensor 9y ago
  You're quite right that it's a good idea to write a CV in LaTeX, for the reasons you describe. I just don't agree that it's a good first step into LaTeX. It immediately forces you to google ugly formatting hacks instead of learning to appreciate how nice LaTeX will make an ordinary document look without you expending any real effort on formatting.