Using Netlify and LaTeX to keep my resume updated

Because Over-Engineering Is Fun

Let's face it, resumes are boring. You know what's not boring? LaTeX (citation needed). What if we combine resumes, LaTeX, and an automated build pipeline to solve a problem no one has? The end result is a Git repo with my resume and a URL that always has the latest version.

I'm not the first person to have this idea, which was great because it means less work for me. There are two ways to approach this:

1. Compile the PDF locally, then upload it to Netlify (Share LaTeX Document on Netlify)
2. Compile the PDF on Netlify (LaTeX on Netlify)

I elected to use approach #2 because it was relatively simple to get running.

Redirecting to my resume

Now, my resume compiles automatically with each commit, but there's one more step. The URL for my resume is https://pensive-knuth-5b8e67.netlify.app/resume.pdf which isn't exactly memorable. johngeorgesample.com/resume should ideally redirect to my new Netlify site. Luckily, Netlify kicks ass and makes this trivial — all I need to do is create a redirect in netlify.toml in the repository that houses JohnGeorgeSample.com.

/resume https://pensive-knuth-5b8e67.netlify.app/resume.pdf 200!

That's it. Now, /resume redirects straight to my resume!

See It in Action

Check it out live: JohnGeorgeSample.com/resume