Open source project to
Automate Your Resume with GitHub Pages
With real-time updates and an interactive interface hosted for free
Imagine having a resume that updates in real-time as you grow your skillset and experience. Check out https://github.com/HendrikPrinsZA for an example. You can clone this repo, edit the static references, register for the relative services, and publish it on your profile.
The history
Since starting my career ten years ago, in the tech industry as a developer, I’ve always had an online resume. This approach helped me stand out and land quite a few great opportunities. It is also something I often find lacking when reviewing potential candidates. A static PDF CV is just not flexible enough to highlight your skills in the best way.
A static CV requires you to maintain it periodically, which is quite a time-consuming and tedious task. My first version was a basic HTML + CSS site. It was a pain to maintain, and I never touched it again after landing my first job. When I had to enter the market again, I transitioned to a WordPress template, which I’ve changed and updated many times. The convenience of maintaining a static site in WordPress was an upgrade, but it still took time, and I often got stuck with getting the format and features to behave optimally.
In the last year, I geared up to enter the market again and decided to experiment with the recent trend of a personalised profile on GitHub.
GitHub’s profile readme
When GitHub released the personal resume in 2020, developers took hold of it and there are some really creative implementations out there. However, I could not find something that is automated and self-maintained.
Some innovative solutions originated from this feature. For example, check out Armaan Jain’s story about using static generators.
My approach
I decided to approach it as a learning opportunity to experiment with new technology and integrate with interesting developer-focused platforms; including CodersRank to showcase your programming experience based on your commit history and WakaTime to track your coding activity in real-time via your editor.
Profile views badge
It is always nice to track the progress of your views. Check out Anton’s approach with the GitHub Profile Views Counter. Very simple and elegant.
Last updated badge
This is a simple approach to show the last time your profile was updated. You can accomplish this with GitHub Actions on the frequency you desire. Since your repository will be public, it comes at no cost.
Public GitHub stats
I found Anurag’s GitHub Readme Stats project perfect for this. It is still actively maintained and to his credit has achieved a remarkable 52k stars. It is very simple to plug in and also quite flexible. I’m sure I could hide the ugly Pascal stats, but I don’t care about it too much.
GitHub trophies
Ryota’s GitHub Readme Stats is perfect for dynamically generating your tropes. Showing off your recognised achievements gives an interesting layer to your profile and provides a sense of gamification to your daily operations.
CodersRank skills
CodersRank is a great platform, that allows you to use your code to narrate your developer journey. They provide a variety of plug-and-play widgets to promote your skillset. For private repositories, they also provide a Repo Info Extractor to include your commit history directly from private repositories.
Most recent blog posts
A great way to share your knowledge and have it validated by the community is to write about it in the public domain. I chose Medium for this as they have an active community in the tech space and a very simple way to give your stories life. This is also something you should highlight on your profile as it will promote your knowledge, experience, and communication skills.
I found Gautam’s blog post workflow perfect for this, a simple GitHub Workflow to list your most recent publications. It supports multiple platforms and has enough flexibility to suit your style and needs.
Interactive mode
When you host an open-source project on GitHub, you also have the option to publish your site via GitHub Pages. It is a great feature to deploy and host a more dynamic version of your site for free. Check out https://hendrikprinsloo.io for the more interactive version.
Calling the community
In the last year, we’ve experienced a radical correction in the technology industry with mass layoffs from the big firms causing the smaller markets to follow suit. It caused the industry to become more saturated than ever.
I believe that this change was long overdue. Technology has improved at such a dramatic rate, but salaries kept increasing. As a developer, our jobs have been simplified radically over the last ten years. We are now forced to adapt to these changes.
In the past, you could land a job with minimal qualifications or evidence of skill, but today you need to find a way to break through the noise to get that first interview.
What is next?
Hopefully, someone with a better design eye and enough energy to make this repository generic could take it over. The challenge is open, and I’ll be monitoring it closely.
