Methods/Jake's Resume Template Converter
Paste your resume; we parse it into structured fields and emit a populated .tex file using Jake Gutierrez's canonical CS resume template. Copy, download, or open in Overleaf to compile a PDF.
0 characters · we parse the text into structured fields and fill the Jake's template. Plain text works fine — the parser is designed for messy paste.
Free · 1 conversion per request · no signup
Definition
Jake's Resume is a single-page LaTeX resume template created by Jake Gutierrez and published at github.com/jakegut/resume under the Apache 2.0 license. It is — by a wide margin — the most widely used resume template among CS students applying for internships and entry-level engineering roles.
The template uses a tight single-column layout with bolded headings, dense bullet packing, and a consistent vertical rhythm that fits more content on one page than most resume builders manage. It compiles with stock pdflatex and avoids the structural traps (multi-column, embedded images, exotic fonts) that trip up most ATS parsers.
On r/EngineeringResumes — where most CS-applicant resume feedback happens — Jake's template is essentially the expected baseline. Reviewers spend their time on content; they don't debate your formatting choices because everyone's running the same template.
Adoption
Single column, no tables for layout, no images, no exotic fonts. The rendered PDF avoids the structural failure modes that trip up most ATS parsers on fancy two-column resumes — multi-column scrambling, image-trapped text, custom-font character encoding.
Tight margins, calibrated spacing, and small section headings let you fit 4 experiences + 3 projects + skills on one page without it feeling stuffed. Most Word templates hit the ceiling at 2 experiences.
r/EngineeringResumes reviewers default to Jake's structure. Posting a resume in this format gets faster, content-focused feedback because the layout discussion is already settled.
Step-by-step
Plain text out of your existing PDF or DOCX. Section headers, bullets, line breaks — the parser handles messy paste fine. No need to clean up first.
Same parser the full Laxu Resume tailor uses: extracts your contact, education, experience (per role with bullets), projects, and skills into a typed schema. The preview block shows you what we found before you commit.
Each parsed field maps to a slot in the canonical .tex. We escape LaTeX special characters automatically (no broken builds because your bullet had a $ in it), and we keep Jake's attribution comment in the output.
The .tex source comes back with three actions: copy to clipboard, download resume.tex, or open directly in Overleaf where it compiles to PDF in your browser without an install.
Compile to PDF
Overleaf is the standard browser-based LaTeX editor — free tier covers everything you need for a resume. Click “Open in Overleaf” and the populated .tex opens as a project. Click “Recompile” once and you've got the PDF.
Local install is optional. If you prefer a local toolchain: MacTeX (macOS), MiKTeX (Windows), or TeX Live (Linux) all compile this with pdflatex resume.tex. No non-standard packages — the preamble pulls only stock CTAN libraries.
The PDF that comes out is a single page. If your content spills to two pages, the fix is content (cut weak bullets, not font size). Two-page resumes for entry-level roles are a signal the bullets aren't tight enough; see the companion guide How long should a resume be in 2026?
Watch out
Jake's template fits one page when bullets are tight. If yours overflows, the fix is content (cut weak bullets, compress the situation in STAR bullets, drop your high-school education) — not changing margins or fonts.
Stock LaTeX chokes on $ # % & _ { } ~ ^. Our converter escapes these automatically, but if you edit the .tex by hand and add raw special characters, the build will fail. Always escape: $ → \$, & → \&, etc.
Jake's is the cultural default for engineering applicants. For consulting, business, or humanities roles, recruiters expect different conventions (often two-column with more whitespace). Use Jake's where its conventions match the field.
Apache 2.0 only requires keeping the license / attribution. Our converter leaves Jake's credit comment in the output — don't strip it. It costs you zero pixels and respects the work.
FAQ
Jake's Resume is a single-page LaTeX template created by Jake Gutierrez, hosted at github.com/jakegut/resume under Apache 2.0. It became the de-facto standard CS resume template after taking off on r/cscareerquestions and r/EngineeringResumes — the layout is dense, parseable by ATS, and unmistakably the resume look used by most software engineering applicants in 2024-2026.
Three reasons: (1) it's a clean single-column layout that ATS parsers handle reliably, (2) it fits a lot of content on one page without looking cramped, and (3) it's the format reviewers on r/EngineeringResumes default to — meaning peer feedback assumes Jake's structure. Using it puts you inside the conversation rather than asking it to adapt to your layout.
Paste your resume text. We use AI to parse it into structured fields (contact, education, experience, projects, skills) — same parser the main tailoring flow uses. Then we populate Jake's canonical .tex template with your content and return the source. You can copy it, download as resume.tex, or open it directly in Overleaf to compile a PDF.
No. Click 'Open in Overleaf' — it's a free in-browser LaTeX editor that compiles your .tex to PDF in seconds. Most students never install LaTeX locally; Overleaf handles it. If you do install locally (TeX Live, MiKTeX), the output compiles with pdflatex without modification.
Yes — that's the entire flow. We don't fabricate any content; everything in the output .tex comes from your pasted text. If a field comes out wrong (e.g. a job title was misread), edit the .tex directly in Overleaf — it's plain text and the structure is straightforward.
Yes. No signup, no email capture. Anonymous users get 3 conversions per IP per day; logged-in free users get 10/day; paid users are unlimited. We don't store your resume content beyond what's needed to generate the response.
Jake's Resume is Apache License 2.0 — free to use, modify, and distribute, including for commercial work. Credit Jake by leaving the comment header in place; that's the only practical requirement. Our tool keeps the attribution comment in the generated .tex.
Jake's template works for most technical and quantitative roles — data, product, design, engineering-adjacent. For consulting, business, healthcare, or humanities resumes, it's still usable but not the cultural default. If you're applying to non-tech roles, the Harvard one-page template or a clean two-column layout often reads better.
Jake's gives you the layout. Tailoring gives you the right keywords for each job you apply to. Paste a JD, upload your resume, and we'll rewrite weak bullets, score the keyword match, and write the cover letter — usually under fifteen seconds. First one is free.
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