Jake’s Resume on Overleaf vs IhateLaTeX: Which Is Faster?

Jake’s Resume originated on Overleaf, and thousands of engineers still fork it there. But Overleaf was built for papers and theses — not resumes. Here is an honest comparison of the two workflows for the same template output.

The Overleaf workflow

1. Search Overleaf for "Jake’s Resume" or fork from GitHub (sb2nov/resume).
2. Read the .tex source to understand the structure.
3. Manually edit LaTeX commands for each section (\section, \resumeItem, etc.).
4. Compile and fix errors (unescaped &, missing braces, package conflicts).
5. Tweak margins and spacing by editing \usepackage and \geometry commands.
6. Download PDF. Repeat for every update.

Typical first-time setup: 1–3 hours including debugging. Each subsequent edit: 5–15 minutes. Requires LaTeX literacy.

The IhateLaTeX workflow

1. Open ihatelatex.com — Jake’s Resume is pre-loaded.
2. Fill the visual form for each section.
3. Adjust design in the panel (no code).
4. Download PDF. Done.

Typical first-time setup: 15–30 minutes. Each subsequent edit: 2–5 minutes. No LaTeX knowledge required.

Feature comparison

When to use Overleaf for Jake’s Resume

• You already know LaTeX and enjoy fine-grained control over every macro.
• You want to heavily customize the template beyond what a form editor offers.
• You are collaborating with someone who also edits LaTeX.
• You are writing a paper and a resume in the same Overleaf project.

When to use IhateLaTeX for Jake’s Resume

• You want Jake’s Resume quality without learning LaTeX syntax.
• You need to update your resume quickly for each job application.
• You care about privacy — your resume should not live on someone else’s server.
• You want on-device processing and unlimited compiles.
• You want built-in ATS scoring and bullet-quality checks.