Don’t you just hate designing documents in word-processors? Well, so do I. As a Geek, I’d rather spend my time in my favorite IDE. In this post I’ll show you how to Build an amazing CV using LaTeX and Font Awesome.
Whats wrong with WYSIWYG word processors
If you are not a graphic designer like me you should probably spend your time focusing on content rather then on design. Hence, for documenting most developers have switched to using markdown. For a CV markdown will likely not be sufficient as it lacks the ability to create a uniquely styled document. While WYSIWYG editors like MS Word or Google Docs might work for some, I usually spent to much time on aligning and moving things when I’d like to focus on creating content.
Why LaTeX
LaTeX aims at reducing the user’s task to the role of writing the content. LaTeX will take care of all the formatting. LaTeX is widely used by Academia and publishers to typeset books and mathematical journals. LaTeX brings consistent formatting, efficient collaborative writing and open formats.
Why Font Awesome
Font Awesome brings a great set of free to use vector icons, social icons and brand logos aimed to style websites and apps. Great for IT engineers to “pimp” their CV with brand icons, for example, to highlight skills or certificates! You can find the complete list over at fontawesome.com. Here is an example from my own resume:
Certifications are stored in a partial file, below is the source code for this part:
%----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% Certifications
%----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\lettersection{\faCertificate \hspace{0.1cm} Certifications}
\begin{tabularx}{\linewidth}{>{\raggedleft\scshape}p{0.5cm}X}
\faAmazonWebServicesAWS & AWS Certified:
Solutions Architect - Associate (2017),
Developer - Associate (2017),
SysOps - Associate (2017)\\
\faMicrosoft & MCSE:
Cloud Platform and Infrastructure (2016)\\
\faCube & Virtualization:
VMware VCP6-DataCenterVitualization (2017),
MCSE - Virtualization (2014)\\
\faUserSecret & EC-Council:
Certified Ethical Hacker (2014)\\
\faInfoCircle & ITILv3: Foundation,
PRINCE2: Foundation,
Business Information Management\\
\end{tabularx}
In your main.tex file you can then reference this file as input like this:
\begin{cvletter}
\input{summary.tex}
\input{experience.tex}
\input{certifications.tex}
\input{publications.tex}
\input{skills.tex}
\input{education.tex}
\input{hobbies.tex}
\end{cvletter}
How to build an amazing CV using LaTeX and Font Awesome
If you’ve never worked with LaTeX before I recommend you use start with an online editor like Overleaf as this requires no additional apps to be installed. Start with a template like this which comes pre-packaged with Font Awesome.
Build from scratch
To build a document from scratch I’ve created a LaTeX template on Github that integrates Font Awesome 5. Make sure you set the compiler to XeLaTeX!
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% Document info
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% Author: Javy de Koning
% Version: 2017-12-11
% Compiler: XeLaTeX using overleaf.com
% Requires: Font Awesome >= 5.0.1, XeLaTeX
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\documentclass[a4paper, oneside, final]{article}
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% LOAD PACKAGES
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\usepackage{fontawesome} % Load fontawesome.str
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% Start document
%-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\begin{document}
This is an envelope icon: \faEnvelopeR \\
and this is the git logo: \faGit
\end{document}
