How I created my CV in latex format

I started from the twentyseconds latex theme.

I like the two column layout but not the left column created outside of the document. To replicate this two column configuration I thought to use this clever solution based on tcolorbox package.

First of all I created this basic latex document:

% twentyonesecondcv.cls
\ProvidesClass{twentyonesecondcv}[2017/01/08 CV class]
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{geometry}
\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox}
\geometry{margin=0pt}

\definecolor{gray}{HTML}{4D4D4D}
\definecolor{sidecolor}{HTML}{E7E7E7}
\definecolor{mainblue}{HTML}{0E5484}
\definecolor{maingray}{HTML}{B9B9B9}
\newtcolorbox{bgbox}[1][]{nobeforeafter,leftright skip=0pt,boxrule=0pt,enhanced jigsaw,sharp corners,#1}

\newcommand{\sidesection}[1]{
    \noindent
    \begin{bgbox}[height=\paperheight,colback=sidecolor,width=0.33\textwidth]
    #1
    \end{bgbox}%
}
\newcommand{\mainsection}[1]{%
    \noindent
    \begin{bgbox}[height=\paperheight,colback=white,width=0.67\textwidth]
    #1
    \end{bgbox}%
}

% tex document
\documentclass[letterpaper]{twentyonesecondcv} % a4paper for A4

\begin{document}
\noindent
\sidesection{col 1, pag 1:: \lipsum[1-3]}
\mainsection{col 2, pag 1:: \textit{\lipsum[1-5]}}
\newpage

\noindent
\sidesection{col 1, pag2:: \lipsum[3-5]}
\mainsection{col 2, pag2:: \textit{\lipsum[3-7]}}
\end{document}

You can notice that this example is already on two pages: it's ok to keep your cv simple and quick to read, but what if you have a long list of experiences to show?

Of course latex is good because the markup engine should keep you free to think about your content, not concentrating on handle manual placements of borders, paragraph positions and so on. My biggest problem about this was filling empty space: commands like \vfill aren't working within newtcolorbox because the box has no fixed height.

Luckily (should be from version 3.70) it's possible to change this behavior; for this you need the options

• height=<value>
• text fill

As already said, the box can't use \vfill because initially haven't a fixed height so these options are changing that. I use height=\heigthpage because my boxes height are equals to entire page height.

Last precaution is to avoid commands enforcing fixed value settings like the tikzpicture one used within the custom command \makeheaderprofile.

For some reason instead the custom commands used to create the skill sections (\skills and \skillstext) works fine.

Finally here the result!

I published this latex template on this overleaf page.

Updates

2024-06-26

• Add LICENSE file
• add alternative commands to create the side footer text

2024-01-24

• pull request from giocic2: fixed unwanted bfseries redefinition

2024-01-04

• fixed wrong \cvlinkedin command

2023-12-31

Added options to transform address and skype rows into urls

2023-09-01

• now it's possible to add an arbitrary number of skill bar sections with custom section titles, custom legends and custom skill values (see \customskills command)
• improved clarity of \skills command
• added some explanations about header and info profile sections
• renamed \cvdate to \cvbirthdate, changed its icon to faCalendar
• accepted a pull request from JeromeHen

2023-05-15

I added some options about:

• a way to hide the picture and display only the name / surname and job description row
• custom side sections
• removed a broken command (\skillstext)