[PLUG] Your Resume

[Dhruva B. Reddy]

I recently had a related idea of my own.

There are a lot of HR folks (and most headhunters) who insist on
receiving resumes as an M$ Word document.  This annoys me for several
reasons.  In addition to the obvious, I've recently found using a word
processor messy and tedious (especially since I discovered LaTeX :-)

Also, many organizations are switching to web based job applications.
If you have ever used one of these, you know what a PITA it is to cut
and paste your resume to fit their form.

Anyway, my idea is to come up with a format (open, of course!)
specifically for resumes, based on XML (called, say, CVML--Curriculum
Vitae Markup Language).  The point of this is to separate the content
from the formatting. 

My vision includes a desktop application that takes the content and
formats it however desired (HTML, LaTeX, RTF, even *shudder*...a Word
document).  This application would also let the user edit the content,
without worrying about the formatting.  Since the candidate would have
access to the same application, they could format the resume themselves,
if appropriate..."Here's my resume, both in CVML and Postscript"...

If successful, this would have the following benefits:
	-Resume content would be standardized to an open format.
	-You come up with the format for a resume exactly once.  Once
	you get it right, you can change the content without ever having
	to fiddle with the formatting again.
	-The standardization opens up all kinds of possibilities in
	information exchange and archival.
	-The obvious--freedom from M$'s stranglehold.

What would you folks think of this concept, and of using this
directory/database as a launching pad for it?

Dhruva

On Tue, May 28, 2002 at 02:13:02PM -0700, quoth Alex Daniloff:
> Your reply gave me an idea to create PLUG members resume database.
> What if we have some directory/database on PLUG server to store
> PLUGers resumes who were laid off and desperate to find a new job.
> This directory should be accessible by everybody over TCP/FTP.
> So PLUG membership could serve as some kind of reference for potential
> employers and benefit unemployed PLUG members.
> 
> Alex
> 
> -------------------
> > On Tue, 28 May 2002, Alex Daniloff wrote: