4 ms·

Ask HN: Modern Resume Style/Formatting

23 points by FPSDavid 15y ago

What do modern resumes look like? Everything I've seen or been shown lately by "regular people" (older people mostly) seems so 90s to me. I've heard of using GitHub, but I'm not really a programmer or looking for a programming job. Any examples of your guy's resume's (that hopefully got you jobs?) would be helpful! Thanks.

zkoch 15y ago
I usually try to make mine look a little more "modern." I usually follow a few simple rules: 1.) Two or three colors color scheme 2.) Simple vertical alignment 3.) 2 fonts: 1 for headings and one for body text 4.) One or two simple graphics 5.) Don't let it resemble a MS Office template Here's a slightly dated resume of mine: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/58767/zkoch-resume.pdf http://dl.dropbox.com/u/58767/zkoch-resume.pdf
- FPSDavid 15y ago
  What kinda program do you create something like this in, maybe Illustrator?
  - Ronkdar 15y ago
    Word is fine. If you want to get fancy, LaTeX. Just don't distribute a .docx file. Save it as .pdf.
  - zkoch 15y ago
    This was done in InDesign. You could do it in Word, but it's going to be more difficult. If you're on a Mac I would recommend Pages. I'm not as familiar with Windows, so couldn't really suggest any software there.
Ronkdar 15y ago
Calibri font (or some other simple, standard sans-serif). Black text with a single dark color for headings that will look OK when printed in grey scale. I opt for a simple outline format. I've seen a lot of fancy designs, but I think if someone is looking for specifics, an outline is easiest. As an engineering student, I have the headings of Education, Employment, Projects, and Skills. Keep it at one page.
mwhite 15y ago
I actually like Github's markdown style so much that I put my resume on github: http://bit.ly/mwhiteresume http://bit.ly/mwhiteresume. And because it's written in markdown, I have a plaintext version I can use if I need to, and a PDF (http://bit.ly/mwhiteresumepdf http://bit.ly/mwhiteresumepdf) created with pandoc. I've taken the approach of doing away with a discrete "Skills" section and just bolding relevant keywords in my work and education entries.
- dfc 15y ago
  If you like markdown check out pandoc. Pandoc can turn your markdown into txt, pdf, html, rtf, s5, etc. You can spice up the pdf version with a little latex magic as well as export. I always like kjhealy's resume on github.
FPSDavid 15y ago
Any more examples/ideas/etc?
latch 15y ago
I recently used a new format and form and have had some success: http://openmymind.net/karlseguin.pdf http://openmymind.net/karlseguin.pdf My main goal was: 1 - Make it a single page 2 - Focus more on bio/profile/goal/whatever 3 - Focus on projects and passion more than work experience I've heard that "bios are the new resume" and I tend to agree. I also think that actual code is more important than experience (hence the focus on projects and github).
- djb_hackernews 15y ago
  You are definitely hitting your goals, however it reads too much like a diary and will never make it past anyone who isn't technical. (Which may or may not be a good thing)
eugenijusr 15y ago
Here's mine: http://eugene.lt/resume.pdf http://eugene.lt/resume.pdf The goal was to fit everything onto a single page. Laid out in HTML and simply saved to PDF with Safari.
- djb_hackernews 15y ago
  when viewed using acrobat reader on win7, it is all jacked up. Just a bunch of jumbled characters.
- divtxt 15y ago
  +1 for single HTML file (embedded CSS) and Safari print to PDF.
dytrivedi 15y ago
Umm here's mine - http://www.scribd.com/doc/26089345/Dhaval-Trivedi http://www.scribd.com/doc/26089345/Dhaval-Trivedi Hope it gives some pointers!
FPSDavid 15y ago
I know this is YC, but anyone have stuff more focused on IT rather than programming? I'm having a hard time with my skills section, seeing as I can't really list programming languages/frameworks/etc and stuff.
- amorphid 15y ago
  I'm a recruiter and I'm happy to talk to you if interested. My contact info is in my profile.
jkjeldgaard 15y ago
I have tried to keep my resume a simple and plain as possible. I'm still at uni, but will be applying for a job soon so any comments and/or suggestions are much appreciated. http://crocodoc.com/N28pQof http://crocodoc.com/N28pQof

23 points by FPSDavid 15y ago

zkoch 15y ago

I usually try to make mine look a little more "modern." I usually follow a few simple rules: 1.) Two or three colors color scheme 2.) Simple vertical alignment 3.) 2 fonts: 1 for headings and one for body text 4.) One or two simple graphics 5.) Don't let it resemble a MS Office template Here's a slightly dated resume of mine: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/58767/zkoch-resume.pdf http://dl.dropbox.com/u/58767/zkoch-resume.pdf

FPSDavid 15y ago
What kinda program do you create something like this in, maybe Illustrator?
- Ronkdar 15y ago
  Word is fine. If you want to get fancy, LaTeX. Just don't distribute a .docx file. Save it as .pdf.
- zkoch 15y ago
  This was done in InDesign. You could do it in Word, but it's going to be more difficult. If you're on a Mac I would recommend Pages. I'm not as familiar with Windows, so couldn't really suggest any software there.

Ronkdar 15y ago

Calibri font (or some other simple, standard sans-serif). Black text with a single dark color for headings that will look OK when printed in grey scale. I opt for a simple outline format. I've seen a lot of fancy designs, but I think if someone is looking for specifics, an outline is easiest. As an engineering student, I have the headings of Education, Employment, Projects, and Skills. Keep it at one page.

mwhite 15y ago

I actually like Github's markdown style so much that I put my resume on github: http://bit.ly/mwhiteresume http://bit.ly/mwhiteresume. And because it's written in markdown, I have a plaintext version I can use if I need to, and a PDF (http://bit.ly/mwhiteresumepdf http://bit.ly/mwhiteresumepdf) created with pandoc. I've taken the approach of doing away with a discrete "Skills" section and just bolding relevant keywords in my work and education entries.

dfc 15y ago
If you like markdown check out pandoc. Pandoc can turn your markdown into txt, pdf, html, rtf, s5, etc. You can spice up the pdf version with a little latex magic as well as export. I always like kjhealy's resume on github.

FPSDavid 15y ago

Any more examples/ideas/etc?

latch 15y ago

I recently used a new format and form and have had some success: http://openmymind.net/karlseguin.pdf http://openmymind.net/karlseguin.pdf My main goal was: 1 - Make it a single page 2 - Focus more on bio/profile/goal/whatever 3 - Focus on projects and passion more than work experience I've heard that "bios are the new resume" and I tend to agree. I also think that actual code is more important than experience (hence the focus on projects and github).

djb_hackernews 15y ago
You are definitely hitting your goals, however it reads too much like a diary and will never make it past anyone who isn't technical. (Which may or may not be a good thing)

eugenijusr 15y ago

Here's mine: http://eugene.lt/resume.pdf http://eugene.lt/resume.pdf The goal was to fit everything onto a single page. Laid out in HTML and simply saved to PDF with Safari.

djb_hackernews 15y ago
when viewed using acrobat reader on win7, it is all jacked up. Just a bunch of jumbled characters.
divtxt 15y ago
+1 for single HTML file (embedded CSS) and Safari print to PDF.

dytrivedi 15y ago

Umm here's mine - http://www.scribd.com/doc/26089345/Dhaval-Trivedi http://www.scribd.com/doc/26089345/Dhaval-Trivedi Hope it gives some pointers!

FPSDavid 15y ago

I know this is YC, but anyone have stuff more focused on IT rather than programming? I'm having a hard time with my skills section, seeing as I can't really list programming languages/frameworks/etc and stuff.

amorphid 15y ago
I'm a recruiter and I'm happy to talk to you if interested. My contact info is in my profile.

jkjeldgaard 15y ago

I have tried to keep my resume a simple and plain as possible. I'm still at uni, but will be applying for a job soon so any comments and/or suggestions are much appreciated. http://crocodoc.com/N28pQof http://crocodoc.com/N28pQof