How to Use Jake’s Resume Template: Step-by-Step (No LaTeX Required)

This is a hands-on tutorial for building a Jake’s Resume without touching LaTeX code. You will use IhateLaTeX’s visual form editor, which generates the same ATS-optimized LaTeX that millions of engineers compile manually on Overleaf — but in about 15 minutes instead of an afternoon of debugging.

Step 1: Open the editor and enter contact info

Go to ihatelatex.com. The editor opens with Jake’s Resume as the default template. Fill in the contact card: full name, phone number, professional email, city and state, LinkedIn URL, GitHub URL, and portfolio/website if you have one. The PDF preview updates live on the right panel.

Step 2: Add your education

• Institution name, degree, and major.
• Graduation date (or expected date for current students).
• GPA — include only if 3.5+ or if the job posting asks for it.
• Relevant coursework — 3–5 courses that match the target role.
• Honors, dean’s list, scholarships — one line each.

Step 3: Add experience (the most important section)

For each role: company name, job title, location, and date range (Mon YYYY – Mon YYYY format). Then write 3–5 achievement bullets using the XYZ formula: "Accomplished [X], as measured by [Y], by doing [Z]."

Step 4: Add projects (especially for students)

Personal projects, open-source contributions, hackathon wins, and class projects all belong here. Include the project name, tech stack, a one-line description, and 1–2 achievement bullets. Projects compensate for thin experience sections — they are often the deciding factor for new grads.

Step 5: Add skills

• List 8–30 skills, spelled exactly as they appear in your target job descriptions.
• Group by category if you have many: Languages, Frameworks, Tools, Cloud, Databases.
• Skip proficiency bars or star ratings — ATS parsers cannot read them.
• Put your strongest, most relevant skills first within each category.

Step 6: Customize design

Open the Design & typography panel. Jake’s Resume is already selected. Adjust accent color (blue is the classic default), font size (11 pt is standard; 10 pt for one-page squeeze), and bullet style. If content overflows to page two, open Advanced editing: reduce margins to 0.5–0.6 in, set bullet density to Compact, and reduce section gaps to 4–6 pt.

Step 7: Run the ATS Score check

Click the ATS Score button. It audits your resume locally for: contact completeness, quantified achievements, action-verb strength, skill density, standard section hierarchy, and single-column readability. Each check includes a specific fix. Apply the suggestions and re-run until you are green.

Step 8: Export and apply

• Download PDF — name it Firstname_Lastname_Resume.pdf.
• Save JSON backup — preserves all data for editing on another device.
• Download .tex source — if you want to continue in Overleaf later.
• Install as PWA — keep editing on this device during your job search.