A LaTeX package for writing classy job applications.

• commands and environments for basic cv elements

  Such as

  • cover letter
  • resume
  • attachment

• various easy-to-use commands for drawing components

  Such as headings with icons and small charts.

• provision of default components

  For cover letter and resume.

• high level of customization

  Through command and enviroment options as well as custom component definitions.

• support for standardized letter formats

  For example

  • US business letter format
  • German DIN-5008 format

Create a folder for your cv (not required but recommended). Simply copy the file at the path

classycv/source/classycv.cls

within the LaTeX repository into the same folder. Then create a cv file <file-name>.tex and follow the instructions in the section below.

Note: Another option is to add source/classycv.cls as a local class file. Typically, this only involves putting the class file into a directory indexed by your LaTeX distribution. This Stack Overflow answer lists the commonly used directories on various platforms.

In your <file-name>.tex file set the document class to classycv using the \documentclass command (the options a4paper, 12pt for default paper size and default font size are recommended but not required).

	\documentclass[a4paper, 12pt]{classycv}

A typical document created with this class contains

1. one cover letter (using the CoverLetter environment)
2. one resume (using the Resume environment)
3. multiple attachments (using the attachment command)

You can find a starter template for a basic cv document in the examples section.

Another way is to adapt one of the example cvs in the folder classycv/examples.

classycv exposes the global configuration commands

• \classycvSet (set the value of the data entry associated with the given key)
• \classycvGet (get the value of the data entry associated with the given key)
• \classycvClear (clear the value of the data entry associated with the given key)
• \classycvDefineComponent (define a component identified by a path)

as well as the commands and environments.

• \attachment
• CoverLetter
• Resume

Additional commands become available within environments through local aliases. These are listed in subsections for the respective command or environment.

Basic syntax for this environment is

\begin{CoverLetter}[<options>]{%
	<submitter-information>%
}{%
	<recipient-information>%
}{%
	<subject-line>%
}{%
	<opening-line>%
}{%
	<closing-line>%
}%
<body-text>
\end{CoverLetter}

where identifiers in angle brackets (e.g. <options>) signify a code or text place holder.

Options keys and their meaning depend on the cover letter format and are shown in the respective section.

Provides a pgfkeys key-val interface (entries of format <key>=<value> delimited by commas) to setting submitter information. Example submitter information entries are title, name and the address values (street, house, zipcode, city, country).

Available keys:

• title: submitter title (such as "Dr.")
• name: submitter full name (first and last name)
• organisation: submitter organisation name (such as "Apple Inc.")
• position: submitter job position (such as "CEO")
• street: submitter street name
• house: submitter house number
• zipcode: submitter postal zipcode
• city: submitter city name
• country: submitter country of residence
• phone: submitter landline phone number
• mobile: submitter mobile phone number
• fax: submitter fax number
• email: submitter email address
• website: submitter website address
• date: submission date
• attachments: attachment file names or description

Note: Unless otherwise indicated all values are initially and by default set to \@empty. If no value is provided the corresponding lines or components are omitted.

Provides a pgfkeys key-val interface (entries of format <key>=<value> delimited by commas) to setting recipient information. Example recipient information entries are title, name and the address values (street, house, zipcode, city, country).

Available keys:

• title: recipient title (such as "Dr.")
• name: recipient full name (first and last name)
• organisation: recipient organisation name (such as "Apple Inc.")
• position: recipient job position (such as "CEO")
• street: recipient street name
• house: recipient house number
• zipcode: recipient postal zipcode
• city: recipient city name
• counter: recipient country name

Note: Unless otherwise indicated all values are initially and by default set to \@empty. If no value is provided the corresponding lines or components are omitted.

The letter subject such as

"Application — Senior Software Developer (f/m)"

The letter opening line such as

"To who it may concern,"

The letter closing line such as

"Kind regards,"

A standard US business letter in block format.

This format left aligns the whole letter and adds a bold subject line after the salutation.

NOTE: You can select the US business letter (block format) by adding

\classycvSet{/settings/cover letter/format}{us-block}

to your document preamble.

This cover letter format conforms to the DIN 5008 A letter format with a few liberties.

DIN 5008 A format positions the address field such that the address field is shown in the window of a standard german "Großbrief" envelope.

NOTE: You can select DIN 5008 A format for your cover letter format by adding

\classycvSet{/settings/cover letter/format}{din-5008-a}

to your document preamble.

The format uses the following components:

• header (creates the cover letter header; key: /cover letter/header, default: yes)
• footer (creates cover letter footer; key: /cover letter/footer, default: yes)
• recipient information (creates the cover letter recipient information, e.g. the address lines; key: /cover letter/recipient information, default: yes)
• submnitter information (creates the cover letter submitter information usable for additional information not contained within the header; key: /cover letter/submitter information, default: no)
• subject (creates the subject line in the letter body; key: /cover letter/subject, default: yes)
• date (creates the date line in the letter body; key: /cover letter/date, default: yes)
• opening (creates the opening line in the letter body; key: /cover letter/opening, default: yes)
• closing (creates the closing line in the letter body; key: /cover letter/closing, default: yes)
• attachments (creates the attachments line in the letter footer; key: /cover letter/attachments, default: yes)

Note: (to be added)

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Note: (to be added)

The commands

• \heading (draws a simple heading with optional label)
• \bar (draws a simple horizontal line)
• \progress (draws a progress bar)
• \semicircle (draws a semicircle with optional label)
• \doughnut (draws a doughnut chart with labels)

and the environments

• Table (a wrapper for the environment tabular with additional options)
• List (a wrapper for the itemize environment with additional options)
• Entry (for a simple entry in a chronological cv)

are provided locally within the Resume environment.

Note: (to be added)

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classycv provides an extension and modification mechanism by exposing \classycvDefineComponent. This command allows the user to define a custom command for any of the components used by the output creating commands and environments (such as CoverLetter, Resume and attachment).

Components are identified by pgfkeys paths (e.g. /cover letter/header identifies the the component creating the header of the cover letter). The keys reflect the logical structure of the document. Defining a component identified by <key> changes the command used for creating the output. This allows in-depth customization.

You can remove any component identified by <key> through

 \classycvDefineComponent{<key>}{}

where <key> is a placeholder for a component identifier key.

The modern resume format defines an—initially empty—component identified by the key /resume/left/extra data. Providing a definition for this component allows you to add something to the left part of the resume page. If you for example want to add the following quote by Frédéric Chopin

"La simplicité est la réussite absolue."

— Frédéric Chopin

simply add the following code to your document preamble.

\classycvDefineComponent{/resume/left/extra data}{%
    \begin{adjustbox}{padding=12pt, minipage={\linewidth}}
        \bar{white}%
        \larger%
        {\textit{``La simplicit\'e est la r\'e\-us\-site ab\-so\-lue.''}}
        \\[0.5\baselineskip]%
        --- Fr\'ed\'eric Chopin%
    \end{adjustbox}
}

Note: The definition has to be put before the call to the Resume environment which is supposed to add the component.

All examples may be found in the folder examples of this repository.

\documentclass[a4paper, 12pt]{classycv}

%
% Chose cover letter and resume format
%
\classycvSet{/settings/resume/cover letter}{%
	% COVER LETTER FORMAT
}
\classycvSet{/settings/resume/format}{%
	% RESUME FORMAT
}

\begin{document}

%
% Cover letter.
%
\begin{CoverLetter}[%
	% COVER LETTER OPTIONS
]{%
	% SUBMITTER INFORMATION
}{%
	% RECIPIENT INFORMATION
}{%
	% SUBJECT LINE
}{%
	% OPENING LINE
}{%
	% CLOSING LINE
}%
	% COVER LETTER TEXT
\end{CoverLetter}

%
% Resume
%
\begin{Resume}[%
	% RESUME OPTIONS
]{%
	% RESUME DATA
}%
	% RESUME TEXT
\end{Resume}

%
% Attachments
%
\attachment[%
	% ATTACHMENT OPTIONS
][%
	% ATTACHMENT NAME
][%
	% PDF OPTIONS
]{%
	% FILE PATH
}
\end{document}

The output for this example can be found at ./examples/classic/cv.pdf. It is compiled from the the source file ./examples/classic/cv.tex.

We are using a german example cv from the European Union's Europass program as inspiration (to be found here).

Output samples are provided below.

This is an english cv using the US business letter format for the cover letter and the modern resume format.

The output for this example can be found at ./examples/modern/cv.pdf. It is compiled from the the source file ./examples/modern/cv.tex.

NOTE: A resume in modern format does not have margins for printing. If you intend to print your resume (or expect it to be printed at some point), you should choose a resume format with margins (e.g. classic) instead.

Output samples are provided below.