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Recently, I have been editing my CV, which is typeset with XeLaTeX. I realize that besides those trite TeX advantages, such as being neat and clean (and the TeX symbolic font of course), I am not displaying any TeX "guruness". My CV looks just the same as some others', who just picked up TeX yesterday and create their CV today!

So I am thinking, what are the ways of showing off my TeX skills (if any). Since CV is usually required to be professional and clean, those fancy skills, such as drawing a Christmas tree, cannot be applied in the CV case.

Suppose I have very rightful reasons and necessity to show off my TeX skills in my CV. What should I do?

By the way, I am applying for graduate programs.

Sibbs Gambling
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    If you are applying to Boeing, you could use this: http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/114847/1090 – David Carlisle Oct 07 '14 at 12:18
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    @DavidCarlisle LOL. Bookmarked, just in case I will someday. – Sibbs Gambling Oct 07 '14 at 12:22
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    Show off if you are applying to graduate programs on graphic design. Otherwise stick to your boring template. – percusse Oct 07 '14 at 12:26
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    If I were the one responsible of picking people for job interviews, a CV typeset in Computer Modern (which I assume is what you mean by the »TeX symbolic font«) would go straight to the garbage bin. For it would make me think of exactly the kind of person you're describing: someone trying to »show off« some »guruness« ...as opposed to someone who takes a minute to think about what a poor typeface choice that might be in this context. – Nils L Oct 07 '14 at 12:27
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    PS: Unless you know for sure that TeX skills are relevant for the position you're applying for, I wouldn't worry too much about it, and simply convince people with a decent-looking CV, period. Oh, and with its actual content, maybe :) – Nils L Oct 07 '14 at 12:37
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    @NilsL You need a very big garbage bin. Type choice is a taste not a crime. You would waste a lot of good candidates as such. – percusse Oct 07 '14 at 12:40
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    In addition to your taste and crime, conceived as mutually exclusive, I'd like to propose a third concept, the »taste crime«. – Nils L Oct 07 '14 at 12:43
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    @NilsL What is supposed to be so bad about Computer Modern? (Or Latin Modern which I tend to use.) It is relatively compact, highly legible and a good deal of work has gone into getting the spacing, kerning and so on correct. It is one of relatively few fonts available in optical sizes which you don't have to buy, and it is clean and neat. I genuinely have no idea why people hold these fonts in such contempt. (Even if I accepted this, since CM is default, I can't see why it should be evidence of trying to show off as opposed, say, to evidence of somebody focused on content rather than form.) – cfr Oct 07 '14 at 14:49
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    @cfr I didn't say anything bad about CMR. I just don't believe in ›form‹ and ›content‹ being two different things, each of which can be changed arbitrarily and independent from the other. Again: not every typeface, no matter how much work has been put into it, is an appropriate choice in every context. CMR was tailored to a very specific, clear-cut context, and is still, by convention, mainly used in that context. You're free to stand up against those conventions and use it whereever you like, just be aware of the message you'll bring across, & the reactions it'll provoke (garbage bin etc.) – Nils L Oct 07 '14 at 15:16
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    @NilsL But that says nothing about what is supposed to be so bad about it. I take it you think you would be justified in binning my CV. I don't agree. (Even if you are right about CM, I wouldn't agree. If somebody used an illegible joke-type font, sure. But CM is hardly in that category, even if you don't like it.) – cfr Oct 07 '14 at 15:27
  • As for what's bad about it, I'm not the right person to answer that question, as -- I repeat -- I'm not among the people saying, or even implying, that there's anything bad about CMR as a typeface. As for binning vs. not binning a CMR CV, it depends on the kind of field we're talking about. That's the whole point I've been trying to make here. There's worlds between hiring a graphic designer for an advertising agency vs. hiring a chemist as a PhD student. – Nils L Oct 07 '14 at 15:36
  • @NilsL Well, if I was applying to be a graphic designer, you'd have plenty of other reasons to bin my CV. But then we don't know what field the OP is in, so saying you'd bin the CV seems premature. (I guess graphic design is pretty specialised in this context. For most CVs, similar considerations will not apply.) – cfr Oct 07 '14 at 17:24
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    yup, let's wait for OP to provide us with some more details on their situation, and why not an example of their current document, so we have something more specific to talk about, and can be of more help. – Nils L Oct 07 '14 at 18:42
  • I don’t think this question is well put. Especially if the graduate programs to which you’re applying are in graphic design, you should use your TeX skills without showing them off. Beatrice Warde’s advice in The Crytal Goblet (http://www.nenne.com/typography/crystalgoblet1.html) is worth considering even for a CV. – Thérèse Oct 09 '14 at 19:10
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    @FarticlePilter I don't understand your question. If somebody answers here then it will be his/her TeX skills no yours. – wipet Oct 09 '14 at 19:49
  • Is using moderncv a necessity ? – Clément Oct 09 '14 at 21:11
  • @Clément Why should it be? – cfr Oct 10 '14 at 02:36
  • @Clément Nope. That is not a necessity. – Sibbs Gambling Oct 10 '14 at 07:54
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    I advise: abandon CM; place "LaTeX" in your list of computer language competencies (or in your "Skills/Interests"). If program requires demonstration of TeX skills, submit a portfolio as attachment to CV. – commonhare Oct 12 '14 at 10:07

4 Answers4

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I liked the idea of a CV being, literally, a chronological order of events / experiences. So I spent some time modifying https://github.com/raphink/moderntimeline to do what I wanted; provide a Gantt chart-like narrative to the CV showing time and sequence in a single entity.

TimeLine CV

This just builds on moderntimeline, adding tick marks for years, adjusting placements etc. All in tikz.

But I've had more than one person ask me how I did this in Word...

I'm planning on issuing a pull request to moderntimeline to bring in some of my changes.

Tristan
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    This looks really good. Would be great if the code is available! – John Oct 13 '14 at 20:20
  • Agree w John. The above could/should set a new standard for CVs. HR can see immediately entire period covered by CV & how it is broken down. Really nice. Suggestion to clean up appearance: place start and end dates "MMM YYYY" in standard positions at opposite ends of timelines, ie don't marry them to event bar. – commonhare Oct 15 '14 at 13:58
  • Eh...bad suggestion above. Confusing. But still feel those floating dates must be cleaned up somehow. – commonhare Oct 15 '14 at 15:17
  • Thanks both. I agree on the date placements - there may be a better way. The top (later) dates in the 'Experience to date' section are anchored right, with the earlier dates floating. Easy to make them both anchored to the ends. The 'Education' section shows both dates floating. In the coming days I'll put my version up in a fork of the original and post here so all can use - it will take quite a bit of work to get it up to 'package' specification... – Tristan Oct 15 '14 at 21:45
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    This certainly looks great. However, I'm not sure that copy/pasting the code made by others is a good way to show off you skills ! – Clément Oct 17 '14 at 12:29
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    @john and anyone else interested in the future, I've put a MWE of this here: https://github.com/tristancollins/TCmoderntimelineCV – Tristan Nov 14 '19 at 11:27
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I would say :

  • Add hyperlinks, mailto links, etc. This brings some interactivity in your cv.
  • Use utf8-symbols for the phone, the mail, the webpage, etc. Chose them wisely and be consistent.
  • Display a nice bibliography, if you have any publication. It is not that obvious : be consistent regarding the abbreviations, the chosen language, the name of the journals / conferences, add doi (with hyperlinks). This shows a rigor in the treatment of your .bib file.
  • If you are bold enough and have some free space, add a nice figure that synthesizes some information hard to express with words. An attempt I recently made to describe the subjects of my talks : An example of a figure
  • Be consistent and elegant with your margins. It is a typographic skill that is hard to transfer to LaTeX, and testify for your TeX skills.
  • Use few colors and few fonts, and be confident with them.
  • Maybe the most important : make a .tex file that is easy to update and portable. Do not re-do your CV every time you want to add/remove some information.

The best TeX skill is in my opinion to be able to produce an elegant and sober document that do not show off, and that is easy to update and translate.

Clément
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    At least in my field, it is unlikely that most CVs are viewed electronically except, perhaps, by HR (for jobs) or the admin (for potential students). Hyperlinks are meaningless in that case and colour is extremely problematic. (Nothing is printed in colour and then it is photocopied.) – cfr Oct 10 '14 at 02:41
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    Well, in my field, it is extremely unlikely that anyone print a CV. You can always add hyperlinks (without any visual difference), in the worst case they won't be noticed. "Nothing is printed in colour" : if you chose your colours wisely, they will nicely degrade (Graceful Degradation) and provide a way to give a hierarchy in the information you want to display. – Clément Oct 10 '14 at 14:43
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State your revolutionary skills in TeX or otherwise in words and have a nicely photoshopped photo. Use a nice blend of colours to match the photo. Wear a tie in the photo. Get a bit of humour in the text if you can..."was bored with the class and spend the evenings contributing to Open Source Projects..."

enter image description here

yannisl
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  • Do you mind giving some hints about what we can see above? – s__C Oct 15 '14 at 18:20
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    @s__C This is mostly advise to keep things simpler, use a limited number of colours (including the photo) and say things in words rather than diagrams. A date range is as good as a TikZ timeline. Overusing a tool to show off IMHO is a negative. For example Tristan's CV, shows excellent TikZ skills but poor typography. Since the user wants to "show off TeX skills" these can be demonstrated perhaps better by a bit of good typography. – yannisl Oct 15 '14 at 18:55
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Write {\LaTeX} for LaTeX where you state that you know it. This should should assure readers that this CV was written in this language.

geras
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    Down-voters, could you please tell me what is wrong with my answer? Preferably before you down-vote so that maybe I can fix it. In case you think it is too short and should be a comment, I cannot comment yet because my reputation is too low. – geras Jun 14 '19 at 08:15
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    Could you propose why one must write \LaTeX in their CV without proper motivation? Since this question revolves around showing off one's TeX skills with a CV, imo, your proposal is not much relevant. Moreover, anybody can write \LaTeXin their CV :) (PS: I did not downvote your post). – Raaja_is_at_topanswers.xyz Jun 14 '19 at 09:14