resume-rendering git:20261108.a3ce67aA

Immutable. This exact content never changes and is served at /api/v1/blob/a2ad370046a45ec7.

---
name: resume-rendering
title: "ATS-Friendly Resume PDF: Typeset Resumes with RenderCV"
description: "Turn a tailored resume into an ATS-safe PDF with RenderCV, plus a DOCX twin and cover-letter PDF. Use when a resume or CV must ship as a PDF or Word file."
license: Apache-2.0
compatibility: "Requires: rendercv (installed with uv), poppler-utils; doc-export with pandoc and typst for the DOCX twin and cover letter. macOS/Linux."
capabilities: shell resume-render documents
domains: coach
rules:
  - session(resume)
  - content(rendercv)
  - match(\b(resume|cv|curriculum vitae)\s+(pdf|docx|word|file|template|format)\b)
  - semantic(make my resume into a pdf)
  - semantic(give me the tailored resume as a word document too)
---

## Overview

A tailored resume only helps once it is a file that parses cleanly and looks professional. This skill turns the tailored content into a typeset PDF with RenderCV, checks it the way an applicant tracking system reads it, and produces the Word twin and cover letter some portals ask for. It replaces hand-made HTML-to-PDF conversions and two-column templates whose text comes out scrambled.

## Mental model

- Content and design are separate. The candidate's facts live in `cv.sections` of a YAML file; the look lives in the `design:` block. Tailoring changes the content; the design stays fixed.
- The parser reads the text layer, not the picture. A resume is checked by extracting its text and reading it top to bottom.
- One source, three files: `<Name>_Resume.pdf`, the same content as `.docx`, and the cover letter as PDF.

## Rules

### Build the YAML

Start once with `rendercv new "Full Name" --theme engineeringresumes`, then replace the sample content. Structure:

```yaml
cv:
  name: Jane Doe
  location: Berlin, Germany
  email: jane@example.com
  phone: "+49 30 1234567"
  website: https://janedoe.dev/
  social_networks:
    - network: LinkedIn
      username: janedoe
  sections:
    summary:
      - Backend engineer, 7 years in payments; led the PSD3 migration at a 40-person fintech.
    experience:
      - company: Finly
        position: Senior Backend Engineer
        location: Berlin
        start_date: 2022-03
        end_date: present
        highlights:
          - Cut payment failure rate from 2.1% to 0.6% by redesigning retry logic (Go, Kafka)
    education:
      - institution: TU Munich
        area: Computer Science
        degree: MSc
        start_date: 2014-10
        end_date: 2017-03
    skills:
      - label: Languages
        details: Go, Python, SQL
design:
  theme: engineeringresumes
  page:
    size: a4
    show_top_note: false
    show_footer: false
  header:
    connections:
      show_icons: false
      phone_number_format: international
  templates:
    experience_entry:
      main_column: "**POSITION**, COMPANY -- LOCATION\nDATE\nSUMMARY\nHIGHLIGHTS"
      date_and_location_column: ""
    education_entry:
      main_column: "**INSTITUTION**, DEGREE_WITH_AREA -- LOCATION\nDATE\nSUMMARY\nHIGHLIGHTS"
      date_and_location_column: ""
    normal_entry:
      main_column: "**NAME** -- **LOCATION**\nDATE\nSUMMARY\nHIGHLIGHTS"
      date_and_location_column: ""
```

Section titles are free text (`experience`, `Projects`, `Berufserfahrung`); Markdown `**bold**` works inside entries. Dates as `YYYY-MM` or `present`.

### ATS-safe design

| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| `theme` | `engineeringresumes` (alternatives `sb2nov`, `ember`) | Single column, dates next to each entry, links printed as full URLs |
| `header.connections.show_icons` | `false` | Icon fonts put private-use characters into the text layer |
| `page.show_top_note`, `page.show_footer` | `false` | Otherwise "Last updated in ..." becomes the first line parsers read and "Name – 1/2" lands between sections |
| `header.connections.phone_number_format` | `international` for cross-border applications | Prints +49 30 ... instead of a national 030 ... |
| `templates.<entry>.main_column` | `DATE` on the line under the title, `date_and_location_column: ""` | A right-hand date column is a separate text box; parsers can read it after later sections, so a date ends up far from its job or degree |
| `page.size` | `us-letter` for US/Canada, `a4` elsewhere | Market convention; prints without scaling |
| Photo | Only where the market expects one | See the market's conventions |

Avoid `classic`, `engineeringclassic`, `opal`, `moderncv`, and `ink` for portal submissions: they render social links as bare usernames or icon glyphs, or move dates away from their entries.

### Render and check

```bash
rendercv render Jane_Doe_CV.yaml --pdf-path Jane_Doe_Resume.pdf --markdown-path Jane_Doe_Resume.md -nohtml -nopng
doc-export check Jane_Doe_Resume.pdf --max-pages 2 --text 40
```

Read the text output: name and contact first, then sections in order, each job's title, company, and dates together, no junk characters, no lost bullets. With the templates above every date follows its entry's title line; if a date still lands elsewhere (a custom entry type without the template), add that entry type to `templates` the same way and re-render. Cut content rather than shrink fonts when the page count is over the market's norm.

### Word twin and cover letter

- DOCX: replace the first line of the generated Markdown (`# Jane Doe's CV`) with `# Jane Doe`, then `doc-export docx Jane_Doe_Resume.md -o Jane_Doe_Resume.docx --font Calibri --size 10.5 --margins 0.75in --paper a4`.
- Cover letter: write `cover-letter.md`, then `doc-export pdf cover-letter.md -o Jane_Doe_Cover_Letter.pdf --font Calibri --size 11 --margins 1in --paper a4 --max-pages 1`.
- File names carry the candidate's name, never "resume_final_v3".

## Examples

### Example 1: icon theme

❌ `theme: classic` with icons on. `pdftotext` shows `` before the email and "janedoe" instead of the LinkedIn URL.

✅ `theme: engineeringresumes`, `show_icons: false`: the text layer starts `Jane Doe | Berlin, Germany | jane@example.com | linkedin.com/in/janedoe`.

### Example 2: two-column template

❌ A two-column HTML template printed to PDF: the parser reads the skills sidebar in the middle of the first job.

✅ RenderCV's single-column theme; the check shows each job's title, company, dates, and bullets together.

## Checklist

- [ ] Content in YAML matches the tailored resume exactly; nothing invented.
- [ ] `engineeringresumes` (or `sb2nov`/`ember`), icons, top note, and footer off, paper size for the market.
- [ ] `doc-export check` clean: within the page count, no private-use glyphs, text in reading order.
- [ ] DOCX twin when a portal or recruiter wants Word; cover letter PDF in the same style.
- [ ] Files named `<First>_<Last>_Resume.pdf` / `.docx` / `_Cover_Letter.pdf` and saved next to the YAML source.

## Composition / References

- `ats-optimization` — what goes into the content and how it is tailored.
- `resume-conventions` — market rules: length, photo, personal data, date formats.
- `document-export` — the DOCX and cover-letter exports and the PDF check.
- [RenderCV documentation](https://docs.rendercv.com)