moderncv cv and cover letter latex template

Maintaining CV and Resume Simultaneously with LaTeX and ModernCV Template

This is the time for me to start looking for a new position. The first thing to do when you start this process, is to update your CV and resume. Although a lot of people (including myself until recently) think that these are two identical documents, in reality they are not. Resume is a short (max 3 pages) concise summary of your experience and achievements that show how you fit the future position. HR people screen tons of documents everyday, and they want to know if a person fits the position from the first glance. In CV , you describe your experience in details, mentioning all the projects that you have participated in, your contributions, what technologies have been used, etc. Moreover, if you have an academic experience, you list there all your publications and academic achievements. As a result, your CV could be quite long especially if you have huge experience, a lot of publications or both. Thus, if you have been chosen the interviewers may understand your experience in details.

Still, both these documents may share the same sections like education and working experience. In order to follow the DRY (don’t repeat yourself) principle and unify the style of my CV and resume, this time I have made them using the same LaTeX template called moderncv . In this article, I explain how I maintain these two documents together and list the modifications that I have made.

Prerequisites

This is not the perfect solution to everyone. However, if you know how to use LaTeX I would recommend this approach because it allows you to create visually appealing documents of the same style. In order to start developing your CV and resume, you need to perform some prerequisite actions:

• Create a directory to store all the files related to the project: $ mkdir ~/cv_resume
• Clone the repository with the ModernCV template locally. Although ModernCV is distributed as a LaTeX package and have been recently updated in the repository after new maintainers have been added, it may happen that your LaTeX distribution still uses the old one. Therefore, I recommend to get the latest version of the template directly from the git repository. Moreover, later we will update some files from this repository. Unfortunately, if you use the “compiled” package it is not straightforward to make these modifications. $ cd /tmp $ git clone [email protected]:moderncv/moderncv.git
• Copy moderncv.cls and all *.sty files to your project directory: $ cp /tmp/moderncv/moderncv.cls ~/cv_resume/ $ cp /tmp/moderncv/*.sty ~/cv_resume/
• If you do not plan to modify ModernCV template, you can skip steps 2 and 3.
• In your project directory create two files: cv.tex and resume.tex , and copy there the content from template.tex : $ cp /tmp/moderncv/template.tex ~/cv_resume/cv.tex $ cp /tmp/moderncv/template.tex ~/cv_resume/resume.tex
• Create a subdirectory in your project directory to store the content of the sections for our CV and resume. $ cd ~/cv_resume/ $ mkdir sections
• Now, you are ready to develop the content. Open the project directory in your favorite TeX editor. For instance, I use VSCode: $ code ~/cv_resume

Writing Content

For every section that you plan to add to your CV or resume add a corresponding file to the sections subdirectory. For instance, my sections directory contains the following list of files, each of them correspond to a separate section either in CV/resume or both:

Now, fill these files with the content using the commands provided by the ModernCV package. I will not explain in details how to develop the content using the commands provided by the package. If you know LaTeX, just open template.tex , and there you will find the examples and explanations how to use different commands. For instance, my education.tex file contains the following content:

Open your cv.tex and resume.tex files and modify the body adding as inputs paths to the corresponding section files located in the sections directory. For instance, below is the body of my cv.tex file:

Such file structure allows me to add, move and remove sections quite easy: you just need to modify the corresponding lines. The resume.tex file looks similarly:

As you can see, the bodies of two documents are easy to modify and have just few differences. First, to the resume I have added an introductory sentence (the \vspace{-6ex} command moves this line a little bit closer to the top). Second, the list of the sections in these documents are different, however, you can still find education and experience sections in both of them. Thus, if I want to make a modification in these sections, I need to do this only in one place.

Preamble Modifications

In addition to the modifications described in the previous section, I have also modified the preambles of CV and resume a little. Let us consider them in details.

Note that you can use different themes for these documents. For instance, one document could be greeny, while other document will be blue. Personally, I use the same ModernCV theme for both documents:

First of all, so as resume is quite a short document, I decrease the size of the basic font to 11pt :

Then, I set the font style for name and title:

In the preamble, I also specify doctype . I have added this command to the ModernCV package. Later, I explain why I need this and how to modify the ModernCV template:

Also, you will need to modify the parameters related to your personal data. I use the same commands as in the standard template, you will need to change the values accordingly.

The modifications in CV are similar. So as CV is a quite lengthy document, I increase the font size to make it easier to read:

Similarly, I change the font style for personal name and title. You can play with these parameters so that the elements in your CV look proportional and pretty:

Set the doctype to CV : \doctype{CV} and modify your personal information.

ModernCV Template Modifications

When you open the document in a pdf application, the title of the window should be different — you need to see what document you have opened. For instance, if you open my CV the title of the window would be Yury Zhauniarovich, PhD - CV , while if you open my resume the window title would be Yury Zhauniarovich, PhD - Résumé . Unfortunately, I have not found a way to modify hypersetup properties in the preamble of the documents, therefore I have modified the ModernCV package file called moderncv.cls in order to achieve this behavior.

First of all, I have created a new parameter doctype . Open the moderncv.cls file and in the “overall design commands definitions” section add this new command definition:

Then, modify hypersetup values:

With such modifications (and definition of the doctype in CV and resume documents’ preamles), the properties of the document will be changed accordingly.

You can download the modified version of the moderncv.cls file here . Just copy it to ~/cv_resume directory and substitute the corresponding file.

Skill Matrix Widget Modifications

In the recent versions of the ModernCV package, you can add a skill matrix widget to your application. To my point of view, this is a very informative widget, and I expect it to be widely used in job seekers’ resumes. However, I do not like its default view shown in Figure 1 :

• To my point of view, the data in the “Years” column is not informative. You cannot measure your experience by the amount of years. Therefore, I think that this is an unnecessary column.
• To my opinion, the “Skill” column should follow after the category. So as I read from left to right, I expect the categorization happing in the same direction. If the second column is “Level” as in the default widget, then I expect the information to be grouped by the knowledge level, i.e., in a category at first I expect to see all the skills with the level equal to 1, then all skills with the level 2, and so on.
• So as the “Comment” column is expected to contain quite extensive description, I would like to decrease the font size in this column because the size of the resume is limited.

I spent some time modifying the code of the skill matrix widget addressing the aforementioned issues. In Figure 2 , you can see how the skill matrix widget looks after the modifications I have made:

In the repository, you can find the file with my modifications . Note that these are quite “dirty” hacks, however, they address my needs, and therefore, I do not see the value in spending additional time improving them to be more generic.

So as I removed “Years” and rearranged other columns, the command format to add a skill is also changed. For instance, the following code adds the widget shown in Figure 2 :

In order to use the code my modified widget, just copy it to your ~/cv_resume/ directory substituting the corresponding file from the ModernCV package.

With all these modifications, the process of updating my CV and resume is much easier. Now, I just need to update my information from time to time in one place. Hopefully, this article will help someone to find a dream job and facilitate HRs’ lives.

Yury Zhauniarovich

Assistant professor.

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A modern curriculum vitae class for LaTeX

xdanaux/moderncv

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#moderncv: a modern curriculum vitae class#

Moderncv provides a documentclass for typesetting curricula vitae in various styles. Moderncv aims to be both straightforward to use and customizable, providing five ready-made styles (classic, casual, banking, oldstyle and fancy) and allowing one to define his own by modifying colors, fonts, icons, etc.

Most commands are defined in such a way that arguments are optional.

Until a decent manual is written, one can always look in the "examples" directory for some examples. Documents can be compiled into dvi, ps or pdf.

Author: Xavier Danaux [email protected] Licence: The LaTeX Project Public Li­cense, version 1.3c URL: https://github.com/xdanaux/moderncv

Contributors 5

CVs and Resumes

A curriculum vitae (CV) and resume are documents used to communicate your work history, education, skills and achievements to a prospective employer, or for entry into a program such as graduate school. In the USA, a distinction is made between a CV and a resume, with the former being a long summary of your entire career while the latter is a shortened version specific to the job being applied for. Most templates in this category can be used as both CVs or resumes by including more or less information as required.

Medium Length Professional CV

This template features clearly delimited sections and structured CV/resume content inside. A main feature of the template is the bullet point descriptions of work experience.

• View Template Information

This template features a stylish header and footer which include your name and contact information. Work experience and education are housed in custom gray boxes which, along with the large header and footer, instantly draw the eyes of the reader to the most important information in the CV. The template is just one page suitable for a recent graduate, but can be expanded to several pages for a longer CV.

Freeman CV/Resume

This flexible template arranges your categories of skills and achievements in two prominent columns. It features elegant typography and subdued use of colors to highlight the most important elements at a glance.

Awesome Resume/CV and Cover Letter

This gorgeous Resume/CV template comes with a matching cover letter template to help simplify the process of applying for your next job. Both templates feature a clean header listing your essential contact information and fields of expertise as well as a subtle matching footer. Clear sectioning within the resume/CV template ensures your achievements are easily navigated and extensively described by major heading, then minor heading, then sub-heading. The location and date(s) of each achievement or event are clearly highlighted. The cover letter template is also sectioned by major heading but these headings are not mandatory if only simple paragraphs are required.

Compact Academic CV

This curriculum vitae/resume template is designed to succinctly display your career information and works particularly well for showcasing academic careers. Academics tend to have many appointments, honours and publications which this template compresses down to single lines to maximise readability and minimise length. The design is minimalist with plenty of whitespace and a central feature of the template is the optional year labels for all entries in the CV. Entries can be easily modified to house multiple lines or further delimited in sub-sections as shown in the publications section.

Developer CV

This curriculum vitae/resume template is tailored for software developers to display their skills and experience in a clean and simple way. The top of the template contains space for profiles and contact information on various platforms and uses familiar FontAwesome icons. Skills in various technologies and platforms are displayed at a glance in a skill bar chart and bubbles of varying sizes. Experience at different firms is listed in an ordered list and includes examples of technologies used at each position. Finally, a free-form set of side-by-side sections let the user add any other information they would like to include.

Twenty Seconds Resume/CV

This simple Resume/CV template features a large sidebar with key information about you neatly presented for quick perusal. Your main skills can be quickly highlighted using progress bars ranging from novice to expert, this is particularly useful for programming languages and other skills where time is required for mastery. The template body is then presented delimited by large colored section titles (alternating gray and blue). Inside these, you can further divide content by subsection or simply write paragraphs. Lists of achievements or timelines can be constructed using one of two environments: long lists with descriptions or short one-line lists.

ModernCV CV and Cover Letter

This template uses the ‘ModernCV’ class to create a multi-page CV and cover letter. The CV is clearly structured with large section titles and important dates on a sidebar. Contact information is clearly displayed in a gray block. This class features four document themes which completely change the layout of the document, to get a preview of each of these themes see the PDF previews below. Changing themes is as simple as changing one word.

Wenneker Resume/CV

This simple and clean Resume/CV template features a two column layout with your most important information displayed in the left column for immediate overview by potential employers. This template would suit an early-mid career graduate looking for a clean, simple and elegant CV with minimal fuss.

Wilson Resume/CV

This Resume/CV template features a spacious layout with a conservative style designed to clearly and simply put forward your work experience and information. The layout is most suited to longer CVs as job descriptions can be quite extensive and can be organized with bullet points or paragraphs of text. The inclusion of a personal profile allows you to succinctly state your career goals and achievements while the skills section lets you list large amounts of technical expertise. Your contact information and your referees’ contact information is displayed in customizable blocks allowing you to expand them as needed.

Cies Resume/CV

This Resume/CV template features a compact information-rich layout suitable for a mid-career professional. A defining feature of the design is a relatively large block of two-column text at the start of the template to include a summary of interests, achievements, history, etc. This acts as a useful place to communicate information with the potential employer that may otherwise be overlooked by simply reading a list of achievements and job titles. The content is arranged primarily by employer with the ability to list multiple positions within the same company.

Deedy Resume/CV

This Resume/CV template features a large header with your name and contact information clearly displayed. The Resume/CV content is then in a two-column layout which concentrates a large amount of information in a small space. This allows you to choose which aspects of your academic and professional life to focus on depending on their importance for the position you are applying for. Major sections and their subsections are strongly deviated to grab the attention of the hiring manager.

Plasmati CV

This CV/Résumé template is perfect for students or early-career graduates with relatively little work experience. The layout is concise and best suited to few entries per section. The inclusion of grade tables on the last page of the template provides a measure of academic success in lieu of work experience and makes this template ideal for a graduate school application or the first several jobs out of college/university. The template could also be adapted for an individual with more work experience but be careful not to fill it out to much longer than two pages.

Classicthesis-Styled CV

This template combines the Classicthesis style with the currvita document layout to create a beautiful CV/Résumé. The margin is moved to the left of the document and now holds employer names, degrees or descriptions which makes for quick reference by potential employers. Major headings are clearly separated as blocks within which each entry is styled with the date, title and description. The template is quite compact and manages to squeeze references and grades for courses into small blocks of text.

Long Professional CV

This curriculum vitae template is clearly structured with bold centered category names for each section. The descriptions of tasks for each job are in bullet points. This template is conducive to longer CVs since there is no aesthetic limit to how much information can be placed in each section. Would suit a professional in the mid- to late-stage of their career.

Medium Length Graduate CV

This curriculum vitae template has section headings on the left side of the document with section content on the right. Bullet points are used to separate different tasks within each job. This document layout makes this template more suited to a short or medium length curriculum vitae taking at most two pages. Would be best used by a recent graduate with limited experience looking for their first job.

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moderncv – A modern curriculum vitae class

The class provides facilities for typesetting modern curriculums vitae, both in a classic and in a casual style. It is fairly customizable, allowing you to define your own style by changing the colours, the fonts, etc.

The template.tex file can be used as an example.

Download the contents of this package in one zip archive (334.1k).

Community Comments

• 2015-07-30 CTAN Update: moderncv
• 2013-05-01 CTAN Update: moderncv
• 2013-02-11 CTAN Update: moderncv

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LaTeX forum ⇒ Curricula Vitae / Résumés ⇒ ModernCV and Cover Letter

Moderncv and cover letter.

Post by shreyasharsha » Tue Feb 07, 2017 1:23 am

Post by Johannes_B » Wed Feb 08, 2017 4:52 pm

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