Show HN: Resume maker with no sign-up or subscription(luckyresumemaker.com)
luckyresumemaker.com
Show HN: Resume maker with no sign-up or subscription
https://luckyresumemaker.com
140 comments
> Photos on resumes are never a good idea
Except when they are the standard in a culture other than yours. A CV without a picture in France is a bit suspect and it will leave the feeling of something incomplete.
When you search for "photo cv" in French, you will see a lot of sites that start with claiming that the photo is not compulsory, cannot be required and that the lack of a photo cannot be a reason not to assess your CV. Just this shows that the reality is that it is expected.
A lot of discussions is around discrimination. If your name sounds [put your most feared origin here], you can hide the picture as much as possible but this will not make a 12th generation Brittany-ion (no idea how someone from the Brittany region is called).
Then there is the address which also reveals a lot and at the end of the day the fact that you did not put a picture is likely to be against you.
Except when they are the standard in a culture other than yours. A CV without a picture in France is a bit suspect and it will leave the feeling of something incomplete.
When you search for "photo cv" in French, you will see a lot of sites that start with claiming that the photo is not compulsory, cannot be required and that the lack of a photo cannot be a reason not to assess your CV. Just this shows that the reality is that it is expected.
A lot of discussions is around discrimination. If your name sounds [put your most feared origin here], you can hide the picture as much as possible but this will not make a 12th generation Brittany-ion (no idea how someone from the Brittany region is called).
Then there is the address which also reveals a lot and at the end of the day the fact that you did not put a picture is likely to be against you.
That's life my friend. Anything you do that sticks out from the other sheeps will make some people wonder about you.
Personally I'm fine with that since my end goal in life is not about bending over for others to gain advantages or avoid disadvantages.
I never use Web cam at work for example. I'm usually the only person not on camera in phone conferences. I'm sure it's a disadvantage but I'm somehow still doing fine. :)
Personally I'm fine with that since my end goal in life is not about bending over for others to gain advantages or avoid disadvantages.
I never use Web cam at work for example. I'm usually the only person not on camera in phone conferences. I'm sure it's a disadvantage but I'm somehow still doing fine. :)
Of course it is fine. Until your CV is seen as "unusual" and among 100 others it just gets less attention.
If you are unique, sure, you can have an extravagant and highly exotic CV. It is not the reality of many people, especially when someone needs to ask whether they should put a picture or not.
If you are unique, sure, you can have an extravagant and highly exotic CV. It is not the reality of many people, especially when someone needs to ask whether they should put a picture or not.
I'm french and I don't think I have ever put my picture on a CV and I never had anyone tell my something about that. But maybe I'm not in the norm?
I also am often reading CVs and they never have a picture. Most of them don't even have a name, just initials.
I also am often reading CVs and they never have a picture. Most of them don't even have a name, just initials.
This is interesting. Which industry are you in?
I think I never saw a CV without a name, and rarely one without a photo. This is in high tech.
I think I never saw a CV without a name, and rarely one without a photo. This is in high tech.
I'm in web development. We usually ask a recruiting company to send us CVs and they don't have any photo or name.
That way we make our choice based only on the person's experiences (thi also prevents us from contracting this person directly, which is fair game I think).
The only time we see names is if the person does not come from a recruiting company, and even then there are not pictures.
That way we make our choice based only on the person's experiences (thi also prevents us from contracting this person directly, which is fair game I think).
The only time we see names is if the person does not come from a recruiting company, and even then there are not pictures.
Address isn't mandatory either.
As a matter of fact, photos are getting less and less common on CV's in France.
As a matter of fact, photos are getting less and less common on CV's in France.
Nothing is mandatory on a CV. You could send an anonymous one too.
As for the photos, i am not sure how many CVs you see, but the ~100-200 I saw in tech across the last 5 years all had a picture (except a very few ones, which I noticed). I do not pay much attention to the picture because of experience (I am horribly bad on pictures, and some of the best people I worked with were extravagant), but this is me.
There is nothing legal or illegal there, just a matter of tradition and therefore not having one makes you stad out, not necessarily in a good way.
As for the photos, i am not sure how many CVs you see, but the ~100-200 I saw in tech across the last 5 years all had a picture (except a very few ones, which I noticed). I do not pay much attention to the picture because of experience (I am horribly bad on pictures, and some of the best people I worked with were extravagant), but this is me.
There is nothing legal or illegal there, just a matter of tradition and therefore not having one makes you stad out, not necessarily in a good way.
This is very dependent on the country / culture.
In Germany, for example, a resume without a photo will most likely not even get considered.
In Germany, for example, a resume without a photo will most likely not even get considered.
As someone with experience on the hiring side, I occasionally help newbies by providing reviews of their resumes/portfolios. I typically tell them to drop photos because that's the norm here in North America, but if I had to generalize, my advice would be to follow the norms of the country/city where you are applying.
The rationale is simple and pragmatic: employers want to find the gold nuggets, but snowflake resumes scream lack of experience and can easily be filtered out in early stages of the funnel.
Inexperienced people often make these intricate resumes w/ fancy templates, but all that tells me is they're fluffing it up to compensate for lack of content - sometimes in a quest for beauty, they don't even spell out their contact information!
My advice to those people is to go talk to a recruiting agency or a local job board. They can help find and correct all of those faux-pas, catered to the local market expectations.
The rationale is simple and pragmatic: employers want to find the gold nuggets, but snowflake resumes scream lack of experience and can easily be filtered out in early stages of the funnel.
Inexperienced people often make these intricate resumes w/ fancy templates, but all that tells me is they're fluffing it up to compensate for lack of content - sometimes in a quest for beauty, they don't even spell out their contact information!
My advice to those people is to go talk to a recruiting agency or a local job board. They can help find and correct all of those faux-pas, catered to the local market expectations.
> they don't even spell out their contact information!
I suffered with 10 years of Indian recruiter spam in my voicemail. They're never getting my phone again.
I suffered with 10 years of Indian recruiter spam in my voicemail. They're never getting my phone again.
I've lived in Germany for 7 years and never once have I added a picture to my resume. It's been no trouble in getting interviews and job offers. I work in tech though. So the experience could vary depending on your industry
Why do they require a photo in the resume?
I'm curious about the reason.
I'm curious about the reason.
You are asking the wrong question. They expect it because it's the norm in Germany. Human is psychology is such that a resume with a photo is just more memorable, so it became the norm because applicants do it. Bias is less of a concern in a country that is historically more homogeneous.
They just want to know whom they're dealing with. And I don't think it's such a big deal because once they invite you to an interview, they will know what you look like anyway.
And they can skip your resume if they don't like your looks or skintone.
If that were the case, getting to the interview phase wouldn't provide you much benefit anyway.
True. But sometimes one person looks over resumes and different people, or a couple people, handle the interview itself.
It is a big deal. How you look has absolutely nothing to do with how you’ll perform at a job. Photos only enable discrimination, there really is no other purpose.
It is a big deal, though. Getting to the interview is the first hurdle.
There have been several variations of a famous study where they sent identical resumes to hundreds of companies, with the single change that there was a stereotypical "white" name vs "Black" name at the top.
The studies consistently find that the "white" names get far more call backs.
Granted, those studies were in the US, but I'd be very surprised if a similar effect did not show up in most European countries.
There have been several variations of a famous study where they sent identical resumes to hundreds of companies, with the single change that there was a stereotypical "white" name vs "Black" name at the top.
The studies consistently find that the "white" names get far more call backs.
Granted, those studies were in the US, but I'd be very surprised if a similar effect did not show up in most European countries.
It’s also not just race but beautiful people, especially with symmetric facial features are subconscious biases that presumably plays a role. I don’t know if there are studies around this, I’d bet there would be a huge bias.
Photos are completely unnecessary and mostly nuisance IMO.
Photos are completely unnecessary and mostly nuisance IMO.
Yep, they did studies in Germany with German sounding names and Turkish sounding names: https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/2010-02/studie-bewerber-aus...
Always beware 'studies' and 'experts'...
Note that these studies were done with resumes without photos. You don't need a picture to be biased.
Right, exactly. The name alone was enough.
Who says the picture would have the same affect? What if it turns out there's less racial bias when a picture is added?
This is a really good point, one I hadn't throught about. What if the name creates a bias because it conjures up an image that is nothing like the person - while their picture "undoes" that.
Not saying I necessarily believe that happens, but I really appreciate the logic of your point/question.
Not saying I necessarily believe that happens, but I really appreciate the logic of your point/question.
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While it's worth pointing out the limits of our knowledge, I wonder why you appear to think it's just as likely that the photo will eliminate the racial bias? If studies have shown that a black-sounding name means fewer jobs, I would think the default hypothesis, until proven otherwise, would be that a black photo would result in the same ends.
Thinking that it might as well go the other way seems to imply that there's just something weird about names, and that people don't really have racial biases. But this charitable view of the world has been shown false time and again.
In any case, a version of the study with live people, instead of photos, has also been done, and, not surprisingly, shown the same result:
> Other studies have also examined race and employment. In a 2009 study, Devah Pager, Bruce Western and Bart Bonikowski, all now sociologists at Harvard, sent actual people to apply for low-wage jobs. They were given identical résumés and similar interview training. Their sobering finding was that African-American applicants with no criminal record were offered jobs at a rate as low as white applicants who had criminal records.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/upshot/the-measuring-stic...
Thinking that it might as well go the other way seems to imply that there's just something weird about names, and that people don't really have racial biases. But this charitable view of the world has been shown false time and again.
In any case, a version of the study with live people, instead of photos, has also been done, and, not surprisingly, shown the same result:
> Other studies have also examined race and employment. In a 2009 study, Devah Pager, Bruce Western and Bart Bonikowski, all now sociologists at Harvard, sent actual people to apply for low-wage jobs. They were given identical résumés and similar interview training. Their sobering finding was that African-American applicants with no criminal record were offered jobs at a rate as low as white applicants who had criminal records.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/upshot/the-measuring-stic...
I assume this depends on the role as well? I'm not German (nor do I live there), but if someone told me I'd have to put a picture on my CV for an engineering role, and I'd be very weirded out, especially as a foreigner.
Not in IT, though.
Depends very much on the country. With a photo, in some, your resume will immediately thrown out to avoid any repercussions for a possible bias that did not lead to hiring. In others, without a photo, your resume will not be read.
To play Devil's advocate, are they really never a good idea? I agree with your logic about bias but bias can cut both ways. If someone's look tends to help them get hired why wouldn't they play that card?
I don't have a photo on my resume and have never seen one used in the US, but my LinkedIn photo (which I assume everyone involved in hiring sees) is carefully chosen to represent the mix of attributes (friendlynes, confidence, curiosity, and many others) that I think are relevant for roles I go after. Surely my photo also 'reveals' my enthinicy and gender - but my name does too.
I don't have a photo on my resume and have never seen one used in the US, but my LinkedIn photo (which I assume everyone involved in hiring sees) is carefully chosen to represent the mix of attributes (friendlynes, confidence, curiosity, and many others) that I think are relevant for roles I go after. Surely my photo also 'reveals' my enthinicy and gender - but my name does too.
There are also countries and industries where a photo is anywhere from expected to required.
I had a lawyer friend who said that photos were expected on resumes and websites, something she hated despite the fact that she felt she benefited from it. Part of it is that firms and clients want to see a professional image, but yeah, it also brings in all the usual gender/age/ethnic biases.
To answer "why wouldn't they play that card" - plenty of women know their looks/gender might get them in the door when it wouldn't otherwise, and feel like imposters even if they are highly qualified and a great match for the position.
They may want to work at the kind of company that hires them because of their accomplishments, not one that says "oh, we need more women." One reason: a company that hired them because they were a woman may have done so just to fill a quota and there's no genuine interest in them succeeding and advancing...whereas another employer might see their talent and work to help them succeed. Or a company that hires just to fill quotas might put women in positions they aren't actually qualified for. Etc.
I had a lawyer friend who said that photos were expected on resumes and websites, something she hated despite the fact that she felt she benefited from it. Part of it is that firms and clients want to see a professional image, but yeah, it also brings in all the usual gender/age/ethnic biases.
To answer "why wouldn't they play that card" - plenty of women know their looks/gender might get them in the door when it wouldn't otherwise, and feel like imposters even if they are highly qualified and a great match for the position.
They may want to work at the kind of company that hires them because of their accomplishments, not one that says "oh, we need more women." One reason: a company that hired them because they were a woman may have done so just to fill a quota and there's no genuine interest in them succeeding and advancing...whereas another employer might see their talent and work to help them succeed. Or a company that hires just to fill quotas might put women in positions they aren't actually qualified for. Etc.
> not one that says "oh, we need more women."
First time I heard about "minority quotas" I just didn't believe it. But then YouTube got sued for doing exactly that [0]
Do quotas actually help minorities? To me it sends the signal that everyone from a top N school who is a white or asian male is here because he's qualified. The others who knows? Maybe the recruiter was so close to hitting his incentive that he lowered the bar.
[0] https://www.wsj.com/articles/youtube-hiring-for-some-positio...
First time I heard about "minority quotas" I just didn't believe it. But then YouTube got sued for doing exactly that [0]
Do quotas actually help minorities? To me it sends the signal that everyone from a top N school who is a white or asian male is here because he's qualified. The others who knows? Maybe the recruiter was so close to hitting his incentive that he lowered the bar.
[0] https://www.wsj.com/articles/youtube-hiring-for-some-positio...
To add, it's common to see a headshot in an acting resume.
If I was white, I would definitely put my photo on my resume. But I'm not.
I'm a senior executive with impeccable credentials: top 1 bank, top 3 engineering school, ivy league undergrad, executive at Series A firm. top notch names on my resume.
Except on LinkedIn, the majority of inbounds i get are recruiters trying to get me to join in as entry level. I'm not speaking about mass-mailings, i'm speaking about entire screening conversations where they are telling me about this "promising" entry level role. Occasionally, i'll get a good recruiter pitching me a VP or CTO role (as I would expect) but these are rare.
My white friends say they are constantly pitched with VP and Director roles.
I'm a senior executive with impeccable credentials: top 1 bank, top 3 engineering school, ivy league undergrad, executive at Series A firm. top notch names on my resume.
Except on LinkedIn, the majority of inbounds i get are recruiters trying to get me to join in as entry level. I'm not speaking about mass-mailings, i'm speaking about entire screening conversations where they are telling me about this "promising" entry level role. Occasionally, i'll get a good recruiter pitching me a VP or CTO role (as I would expect) but these are rare.
My white friends say they are constantly pitched with VP and Director roles.
As a counter-anecdote, I haven't held a job with a title including anything less than "senior" in 10 years, have worked for both startups and companies with very recognizable names, and at least half of the recruiter requests are for entry level positions.
I have only once been pitched a position that was equivalent or higher than my highest sounding job title, and the recruiter responded with "Sorry, we reached out to you by mistake."
I have only once been pitched a position that was equivalent or higher than my highest sounding job title, and the recruiter responded with "Sorry, we reached out to you by mistake."
It's pretty tough to predict which way that's going to go. I'm positive I've been immediately rejected from jobs because I'm a white guy that went to BYU and that's pretty clear on my resume, but there are probably other jobs where that would help me out.
I know forum comments are throwaways and mean nothing mean here -- but if you're job hunting with a resumé you might be judged by spelling and you have a mangling pattern to your spelling of "friendliness" that, if replicated elsewhere, could be making you look bad.
On LinkedIn photos really should be removed as well, you're correct about bias. I don't put a photo on LinkedIn, and I don't think anyone should. You do not need to know anything about my physical appearance when I'm applying for jobs. This is in sharp contrast to certain countries where you're supposed to take the most attractive photo you can to send it with your resume. I swear to God some of these resumes look more like personal ads.
LinkedIn is still my go-to resource for job hunting, but I want to vomit a bit when I see people trying to turn it into Facebook. Get your validation somewhere else, and let me have a website where I can look for a job.
LinkedIn is still my go-to resource for job hunting, but I want to vomit a bit when I see people trying to turn it into Facebook. Get your validation somewhere else, and let me have a website where I can look for a job.
Aren't resumes technically personal ads?
Brag as much as you can in your resume. Never be humble.
Well, some people do remember visuals. Imagine HR who's been going through hundreds of profiles a day. Photo may be a good tool to create association (for example, HR can think: 'that guy in red shirt had experience in Google). On the other hand, just any picture can be used, not a photo to solve this problem:)
LinkedIn is in a weird place. It’s half a networking tool and half a recruiting tool. In my opinion photos are fine for networking but should be verboten for hiring and recruiting.
In truth, I really don’t know what to think about photos for LinkedIn. Both sides of the argument are compelling.
In truth, I really don’t know what to think about photos for LinkedIn. Both sides of the argument are compelling.
This is childish. You could say the same thing about putting your name or even the company names you worked for on your resume. People hiring want to get to know you, they have to work with you, if you want some pretend construct that focuses in the appearance of some being "unbiased" you can probably look for a government job. Otherwise, people will see you, interact with you, and learn about you eventually.
That said, I have rarely seen a photo on a resume. Most people have LinkedIn now so hiring folks have a photo that way regardless. The only place I consistently see photos is on professional services (consulting etc.) "resumes" which are usually more a blurb about you and the kind of projects you've worked on. In that case they are standard, and they would be on a lawyer or accountants website.
That said, I have rarely seen a photo on a resume. Most people have LinkedIn now so hiring folks have a photo that way regardless. The only place I consistently see photos is on professional services (consulting etc.) "resumes" which are usually more a blurb about you and the kind of projects you've worked on. In that case they are standard, and they would be on a lawyer or accountants website.
This is true. In fact many larger companies will automatically delete any resume with a photo, regardless of your fit for the role.
This is because they'd like to avoid any liability for any kind of bias, so they make it an across-the-board policy.
Source: I'm a recruiter and have worked with over 400 companies, of which about 20 have this policy.
This is because they'd like to avoid any liability for any kind of bias, so they make it an across-the-board policy.
Source: I'm a recruiter and have worked with over 400 companies, of which about 20 have this policy.
They are an advantage if you think your physical appearance will be an advantage.
If you are the same 'colour' as the place your applying to (i.e. if that's relevant) it might help.
If you are physically attractive (but not too attractive) - it can help.
Basically - it allows a kind of discrimination which usually we don't want ... unless you think you're going to be on the positive end of that!
And I beg to disagree with 'memorable' - we are designed to remember faces - not resumes.
While maybe not so 'impressionable' - a nice photo definitely helps the memory.
It also adds a human connection.
For technical roles, it might not make much of a difference but for almost all non-technical roles, it will probably help if you have a 'charismatic face'.
If you are the same 'colour' as the place your applying to (i.e. if that's relevant) it might help.
If you are physically attractive (but not too attractive) - it can help.
Basically - it allows a kind of discrimination which usually we don't want ... unless you think you're going to be on the positive end of that!
And I beg to disagree with 'memorable' - we are designed to remember faces - not resumes.
While maybe not so 'impressionable' - a nice photo definitely helps the memory.
It also adds a human connection.
For technical roles, it might not make much of a difference but for almost all non-technical roles, it will probably help if you have a 'charismatic face'.
I remember one time some person included a photo on their resume and it was passed around the office with everyone laughing. The photo wasn't even bad. It was just funny to have a photo on the resume.
If you are good looking, they are a very good idea.
If you old and look younger than you are, they are an even better idea since they distract from your age.
If you old and look younger than you are, they are an even better idea since they distract from your age.
I do think that photos on resumes vary in some countries. Some countries prefer photos, but others don't. But I agree with you that they don't print well and don't look good.
You must be American. All over SEA they are pretty normal.
I think it depends a lot on the industry as well. In some industries it is common to paste photos, in others it will look very strange
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It really depends. If you're attractive and certain beneficial information can be gleaned from your resume (e.g. things that recruiters are measured on come performance review time), I can certainly see it helping.
Author here. I made this using Haskell for the web server, and Preact for the JavaScript. The resume is converted to PDF by translating HTML into canvas and using JSPDF to turn the canvas into a PDF. Hosted on Linode. Cached with CloudFlare.
If you ever wanted to chat more about how you built and deploy your app I'd love to have you on my podcast at https://runninginproduction.com/.
There's 0 Haskell episodes so far, you'd be the first one!
There's 0 Haskell episodes so far, you'd be the first one!
I enjoy your podcast.
Nice tool. If possible add a collection of random data to generate a random resume so that people can see a real resume before filling out their actual personal data.
Thanks for the feedback, I hope to add better preview with fake data in the future.
Do you have any plans to open source this? I love the function and have always wished something like this exists. I have my own dumb opinions on resumes like format and multiple pages, so I'd like to be able to tweak the design a bit.
No plans to open source it. If you want to make a PDF in the browser, look at using html2canvas to generate canvas from html, and passing that canvas to jspdf to make a PDF. I generate the canvas manually because html2canvas has some issues, but for most uses it works well.
This is neat! What was your experience like using this stack? Were any of these first-time or learning-oriented (rather than comfort) choices?
I’ve used Haskell and Preact before. I love Haskell. I’ve arrived at this stack after a decade of developing webapps. The foundation to my approach is simplicity. I don’t have a JS build step at all (no npm, no transpiling, no bundling, etc.), and avoid frameworks and libraries if possible. I don’t use a traditional component approach with Preact, but a purely functional approach (like Elm). I would prefer to use a purely functional type-safe language on the front end, but the friction with browser APIs and build pipelines is not worth it.
Very clean, nice work!
My main feedback would be to make the photo optional - it's quite culture and job dependent whether a photo is included on a CV.
My main feedback would be to make the photo optional - it's quite culture and job dependent whether a photo is included on a CV.
Cool idea, I suggest you add some disclaimer about data policy. My first thought on the landing page was "neat way to gather some personal data" :D
As a technical person who hires people occasionally, the one guaranteed thing that will make me read a resume is LaTeX. I dislike profile pictures because it causes me to have unavoidable bias.
Just a data point
Just a data point
As someone who has applied for a lot of jobs in the past year and loves TeX, it's a bad idea for applicants. Greenhouse consistently pulls data incorrectly from resumes made in TeX and this puts you at a huge disadvantage within a pool of applicants. My response rate went up massively as soon as I abandoned my well-crafted TeX resume and went to a bare-bones resume made in Apple Pages.
I never knew about this...is this true for resumes converted to pdf from latex? Is there a way I can check my resume to see if it is getting parsed correctly?
I'd say it's true for any nonstandard pdf form resume; I don't use latex to make mine but I've yet to find an application tool that actually pulled my information correctly. I keep a plain text version which I use for the upload portion then when I get to the attachments portion (typically trying to get a cover letter out of me) I remove the plain one and add my nice pdf version. Saves tons of headaches dealing with the various application software. If I think they'll be doing the processing after app submission, I'll send both versions. I've even had hiring managers flat out ask for plain text resumes too.
This validates my LaTeX usage, but honestly, can’t you only detect it if I’m using Computer Modern? I am, precisely because of people like you, but I don’t think you could tell a XeTeX-built resume with a Unicode font from one done in Word. And conversely a Word user could simply download CM Unicode and reap the LaTeX bonus points, no? :)
I include \latex in my resume under "skills" for this reason. But I agree, it's hard to tell.
Sometimes not even an commonly talked about bias like race or gender. It can be as simple as "this person looks annoying".
Isn't it even illegal to have pictures in some countries, precisely to avoid such biases?
> it causes me to have unavoidable bias.
Admitting you're susceptible to bias is one thing (we all are, I think). Calling it unavoidable makes it seem like something innate and implies you lack free will. I'm curious why you see it as unavoidable.
Admitting you're susceptible to bias is one thing (we all are, I think). Calling it unavoidable makes it seem like something innate and implies you lack free will. I'm curious why you see it as unavoidable.
It's honestly very self-aware to accept that there are some biases that are very hard to control, or even realize you're being influenced by, and so try to avoid being influenced at all be putting barriers between you and them, like preferring no photos.
I think it's fairly self-deluding to simply think you can choose not to let an unconscious bias influence you.
I think it's fairly self-deluding to simply think you can choose not to let an unconscious bias influence you.
Extremely self-deluding.
Because once you accept you are susceptible to a bias, and you know that a person fits that bias, -what do you do-? You can ask "if this person was (not this bias) what would I do", but -can you be sure-? Do you have an exactly equivalent data point to compare against? Of course not; everyone is a bit unique. Can you be certain, if you pass on the person, it was due solely to the heuristics you've built up around resume and etc, and not you reinterpreting them through your bias? Can you be certain, if you hire a person, it was solely due to the heuristics you've built up around resume and etc, and not you overcompensating to try and account for your bias?
It's going to influence you. It -may- not change the outcome, but if you aren't concerned about that, no matter what steps you take, then you're deluding yourself.
Because once you accept you are susceptible to a bias, and you know that a person fits that bias, -what do you do-? You can ask "if this person was (not this bias) what would I do", but -can you be sure-? Do you have an exactly equivalent data point to compare against? Of course not; everyone is a bit unique. Can you be certain, if you pass on the person, it was due solely to the heuristics you've built up around resume and etc, and not you reinterpreting them through your bias? Can you be certain, if you hire a person, it was solely due to the heuristics you've built up around resume and etc, and not you overcompensating to try and account for your bias?
It's going to influence you. It -may- not change the outcome, but if you aren't concerned about that, no matter what steps you take, then you're deluding yourself.
Its more sad to watch your display of learned helplessness.
Our biases are inherent from millions of years of evolution that gave us the ability to look at another person and instantly form a perception "this person is of my tribe" or "this person is an outsider."
It must have had a valuable survival benefit when we were hunter-gatherers but probably not so much today.
It must have had a valuable survival benefit when we were hunter-gatherers but probably not so much today.
It’s quite likely that we do, in fact, lack free will.
To be honest, not even sure how free will would work in theory.
To be honest, not even sure how free will would work in theory.
It doesn't need to be complicated. I don't have free will, but good luck deciding what the meat inside my skull does in response to a given set of inputs, so it doesn't matter.
I like it. Very to-the-point.
One thing that annoys me is when I click "Job #5" it expands a new form and jumps to it immediately. It is very confusing. For me it would be better if the whole form was expanded at all times. Then I can just scroll up and down and know what I am editing. Same thing when I click "+ Education", it takes me out of the flow.
Good job.
One thing that annoys me is when I click "Job #5" it expands a new form and jumps to it immediately. It is very confusing. For me it would be better if the whole form was expanded at all times. Then I can just scroll up and down and know what I am editing. Same thing when I click "+ Education", it takes me out of the flow.
Good job.
Thanks for the feedback. I think that’s a good point. One reason I have collapsible work/education is being able to reorder them.
Ah I see. You could still offer re-ordering even when sub-forms are expanded. The sub-forms are not that tall if I am correct.
Perhaps add outlines/borders around sub forms, so that users know what they belong to.
I know the page looks fresh & clean now, but it takes away from user friendliness IMHO. Anyway, just my 2c :-)
Perhaps add outlines/borders around sub forms, so that users know what they belong to.
I know the page looks fresh & clean now, but it takes away from user friendliness IMHO. Anyway, just my 2c :-)
Great tool! What's your business model though?
Collecting data comes to mind first. If it's not the case, I would recommend to say this explicitly on the page somewhere.
Collecting data comes to mind first. If it's not the case, I would recommend to say this explicitly on the page somewhere.
There’s a paid download option which has no watermark at the bottom of the resume.
I had the exact same thought. Decided not to fill in with any PII for that reason.
I disconnected Internet to see if it would still generate the resume. It renders on client side so preview is fine but I can't download the resume.
I really loved the design but I don't want to keep resume on the site forever so I am afraid I will not be using this even though I really want to.
I really loved the design but I don't want to keep resume on the site forever so I am afraid I will not be using this even though I really want to.
This looks like a solid tool. Love that there is no mandatory account creation. A couple tiny constructive criticisms:
+ All instances of "resume" should be "résumé" or at least "resumé".
+ Maybe add some help formatting phone numbers to the one true format of (###) ###-####.
+ Finally maybe consider adding color to the most important buttons, like the Save buttons, so people's eyes are drawn to them
+ All instances of "resume" should be "résumé" or at least "resumé".
+ Maybe add some help formatting phone numbers to the one true format of (###) ###-####.
+ Finally maybe consider adding color to the most important buttons, like the Save buttons, so people's eyes are drawn to them
Good points. Thanks for the feedback.
Nice UI but the generated PDF is an image?! That's not a good idea... the resume parsers won't be able to parse that.
Not sure what is going on in the hiring world, since I have been in the same job for a long time, but there seems to be a misalignment about the proper length of a resume.
This app suggests to keep it to one page. When I've been involved in hiring new people, the resumes that get attention are the ones with detailed descriptions of project experience. They are 3 or 4 pages long. The managers want something to read because the candidates without adequate education and/or experience for the posted position will not make it into their hands.
In my field (computer engineer), the "short" description that matters is 1 line: masters degree, 15 years experience, security clearance, not a diversity hire.
After that, they want deep detail about skills.
This app suggests to keep it to one page. When I've been involved in hiring new people, the resumes that get attention are the ones with detailed descriptions of project experience. They are 3 or 4 pages long. The managers want something to read because the candidates without adequate education and/or experience for the posted position will not make it into their hands.
In my field (computer engineer), the "short" description that matters is 1 line: masters degree, 15 years experience, security clearance, not a diversity hire.
After that, they want deep detail about skills.
I religiously keep mine to 1 page, and even shorter if possible. Imagine your potential interviewer. He or she is booked in back-to-back meetings all day. Has not a lot of time to prepare. In the 2 minutes between his last meeting and your interview, he scrambles to print off a copy of your resume and give it a quick review. His eyeballs scan the top of the page for interesting "headline" material, and then maybe look at the first two or three bullet points from your most recent employer. That might be it! All that labor you put into that detailed technical info on page 4 might not even make it out of the printer, let alone get into your interviewer's head. The only person who is likely to read all four pages is your hiring manager, and if by page 3 it's just a bunch of technologies you used in a now-defunct company back in 1996, it's not going to impress anyone.
Additionally, the ability to summarize a highly technical and detailed topic down to a very short "executive review" is an important and sought-after job skill. Keep it short and include only the best results of your work.
Additionally, the ability to summarize a highly technical and detailed topic down to a very short "executive review" is an important and sought-after job skill. Keep it short and include only the best results of your work.
Your post got a variety of responses. My take as someone who did hiring (as a manager) for a high profile tech company for 10+ years (not a FAANG but we competed with FAANGs for talent.) I've probably seen close to ten thousand programmer resumes over that time.
My big advice is not to take resume length guidelines literally. Crafting a resume requires balancing terseness and completeness. Terseness out respect for the reader, completeness to ensure your candidacy is well represented.
It is an art to capture your essence concisely. Someone in the thread said they only list the company and the tools they use, which to me is a huge mistake. If you just say something like "Developed in Node, React, CSS" you give the reader no idea of your actual contribution. It could mean "made tweaks to existing system based on explicit direction from a product person" or it could mean "Drove re-design of the system in these technologies, achieving X improvement in performance, Y improvement in maintenance cost. Partnered with business SMEs to develop requirements, and ensured high technical standards on the team." The second is a much more senior/desirable candidate and if you are that but don't capture these ideas in your resume, you won't stand out.
On the other hand I have seen resumes where each job has a half-a-page narrative description. Almost universally, these descriptions are actually filled with job/company specific terms that are totally meaningless to anyone outside of that company. I am strongly biased to not hire anyone with such a resume because it's a sign that the person's communication ability/relevance filter is low.
Anyway, as a practical guide, I do advise people to shoot for a terse 1 or max 2 page resume, BUT if you find yourself cutting out really important points to fit the space, then don't do that.
My big advice is not to take resume length guidelines literally. Crafting a resume requires balancing terseness and completeness. Terseness out respect for the reader, completeness to ensure your candidacy is well represented.
It is an art to capture your essence concisely. Someone in the thread said they only list the company and the tools they use, which to me is a huge mistake. If you just say something like "Developed in Node, React, CSS" you give the reader no idea of your actual contribution. It could mean "made tweaks to existing system based on explicit direction from a product person" or it could mean "Drove re-design of the system in these technologies, achieving X improvement in performance, Y improvement in maintenance cost. Partnered with business SMEs to develop requirements, and ensured high technical standards on the team." The second is a much more senior/desirable candidate and if you are that but don't capture these ideas in your resume, you won't stand out.
On the other hand I have seen resumes where each job has a half-a-page narrative description. Almost universally, these descriptions are actually filled with job/company specific terms that are totally meaningless to anyone outside of that company. I am strongly biased to not hire anyone with such a resume because it's a sign that the person's communication ability/relevance filter is low.
Anyway, as a practical guide, I do advise people to shoot for a terse 1 or max 2 page resume, BUT if you find yourself cutting out really important points to fit the space, then don't do that.
I may not be representative, but I tend to keep it to a page or maybe two. You can fit a lot of info into a page and the 3+ page resumes I've seen have been way too dense. For me it's not an exhaustive list of work history and tasks, but things applicable to the new role. Ideally, I'd restate the job requirements (which is, what, usually a paragraph or 4-5 bullet points?) using my work history.
I often find the just degree too vague and job titles aren't representative. So if you filled the page with that info I find that isn't helpful, either.
I often find the just degree too vague and job titles aren't representative. So if you filled the page with that info I find that isn't helpful, either.
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this makes contrast with every other opinion I've ever heard about keeping the CV short and clean
There is a certain niche that’s impressed by a long CV, but it’s not he kind of niche I’d want to impress. They’re people who say things like “look how many versions of PHP he can use. And he knows how to use The Linux!”.
That's why I bring it up.
I'm sure it's important for the first page to be concise and eye-catching. But why would more info be bad?
I'm sure it's important for the first page to be concise and eye-catching. But why would more info be bad?
Many hiring managers don't look at resumes longer than 6 seconds. More information is not necessarily better and arguably worse for competitive job openings.
I’ve always kept it short. I try to summarize things I’ve done to a high level (the impact and what tools I used). If a bullet point stands out to an interviewer they can ask more during.
To be clear, "not a diversity hire" above is not intended to be a positive attribute.
Are you from Europe perhaps? Or do the skillsets in your field stay relevant longer?
Two column resumes are not ideal since a lot of (shitty) resume scanners can’t figure them out.
Looks good! An alternative is https://resumake.io/, which also allows one to export and then later import the JSON which defines the resume.
Here's another alternative which I built. The exported pdf is text based and thus optimized for resume scanning softwares used by companies.
https://resumetopdf.com/
https://resumetopdf.com/
This is awesome, thanks for putting it together. My only request would be the ability to change text size
Thanks, I will add that in an update. Do you plan on making the size smaller or larger?
Do you guys store information on backend and if you do, how long?
No I don’t.
Privacy policy TL;DR
We DO NOT collect your resume data and it NEVER leaves your device. The service DOES NOT contain ads, trackers and other such garbage.
https://resumetopdf.com/privacypolicy.html
Privacy policy TL;DR
We DO NOT collect your resume data and it NEVER leaves your device. The service DOES NOT contain ads, trackers and other such garbage.
https://resumetopdf.com/privacypolicy.html
Thank You!
Be nice if a service like this allowed us to keep all the responses as meta data so that we can auto-fill every recruiters and job application site's fields automatically with our pre-existing answers.
I'm sure there is a browser extension somewhere that does this.
"Thanks for uploading your resume! Now forget we ever asked and fill all the same details out for us again!"
I'm sure there is a browser extension somewhere that does this.
"Thanks for uploading your resume! Now forget we ever asked and fill all the same details out for us again!"
This looks absolutely solid, nice work. Super easy to build. Only reason I use latex is for formatting and crappy word indents, this solves that problem.
Would be great with a few more templates, and some way to "pazzazify" each one. Maybe a little streak of color.
I did not realize you were hosting the resume as well.
Would be great with a few more templates, and some way to "pazzazify" each one. Maybe a little streak of color.
I did not realize you were hosting the resume as well.
This is a slick tool. I like how the thumbnail and PDF preview is live updating with changes.
It'd be a really nice addition if the tool could output the resume data in other supporting formats (plain text, Markdown, JSON, etc.)
It'd be a really nice addition if the tool could output the resume data in other supporting formats (plain text, Markdown, JSON, etc.)
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Can you link it to LinkedIn?
Do you mean generate it based on a LinkedIn profile? That’s something I may add in the future. I don’t use LinkedIn, I thought they already have a resume generator, is that true?
Yes, LinkedIn has a resume builder: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/94034/linkedin...
I may just lack imagination, but I am struggling a bit to see the niche for the linked tool vs using LinkedIn (lower effort, consumes existing data) or a downloadable template (high/same effort, but more customizable and no leaked PII).
I may just lack imagination, but I am struggling a bit to see the niche for the linked tool vs using LinkedIn (lower effort, consumes existing data) or a downloadable template (high/same effort, but more customizable and no leaked PII).
I use LinkedIn as a memory dump for job history and to keep tabs on old co-workers, but I actively try to avoid it otherwise. I didn't know they had a resume builder and wouldn't have looked, but it makes sense to have one. Even knowing they have one I'd be very interested to actually build my resume outside of it, but I don't know how representative I am.
Honestly, it fills the niche of not being LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is by far the worst user experience of any website or application I have ever used, one of the few that deserves the distinction of being both morally and technically broken. Not everyone is as drastic as I am, but in my circle it's universally disliked.
LinkedIn is by far the worst user experience of any website or application I have ever used, one of the few that deserves the distinction of being both morally and technically broken. Not everyone is as drastic as I am, but in my circle it's universally disliked.
Resumes aren't memorable when there's a picture but rather when they are well written.