Leibrug

Why I wrote my CV in JSON

15.09.2016

Have you heard about a project called JSON Resume? Give it a try. You’ll enjoy it like I did, I promise.

The basics

The idea behind JSON Resume is really simple. You write down all your information in JSON file according to schema. You can export that information to e.g. PDF or HTML file - multiple formats and different layouts all come from the single file and CLI command. Finally, you may publish your resume to the online registry so it’s discoverable and can be previewed as a webpage.

Format for the future

I guess only a developer would like the idea of storing their career data in object. The project’s website suggests that. But I think everyone, regardless of the industry, can take advantage of this format.

JSON helps in separating your information from how it’s presented. How do you make edits to your CV today? Let’s assume you have it prepared in Word. To add something, you need to be careful about maintaining styling and space. Want easy adjustment for a specific employer or field? No way to show and hide parts of the document, just lots of cut & paste. Used to have sophisticated layout, but lost an editable file when it came to update? Have fun re-creating both data and presentation from scratch.

What my setup looks like

I have my resume hosted at http://registry.jsonresume.org/leibrug.json. When one opens my actual CV page, it’s downloaded from there and put into Mustache template. I can freely modify the style and content of the resume, i.e. by giving dates my own format. Here, I also add some sections not available in the specs, like “Links”. When I need a PDF version, I do “Print to file” from my browser.

I do the web and print versions (semi)manually, because I wanted an individual look & feel for my CV, but was too lazy to develop a universal template. I think you’d want to take a look at available themes before jumping into coding.

Most importantly, it works for me and I really enjoy JSON Resume being a single source of truth (that is, my career data).

The disadvantages

JSON Resume: