I have a template I make minor alterations to that I send out as a cover letter. Mostly, it’s just a pain in the ass to have to print out a personalized PDF or copy/paste it each time I apply.
I haven’t changed jobs in quite some time, but back when I was applying, I wrote a Python script that would generate a PDF from a YAML file. Maintaining the YAML file was easier than maintaining a whole document.
This involves changing a few words in a few places. Like the name of the company and the job I’m going for. Again, that seems like it would be a lot more complicated.
Sure, writing the script is more complicated than changing a few words in a document, but after the initial effort of writing the script I would argue that changing a few words in a YAML file is approximately the same amount of effort as changing a few words in a word document.
I wrote the script because I enjoy scripting, plus now I can change the format of the output if I want to (as I was doing at the time), plus I built versioning into the script so I can easily refer to older versions. Of course if none of that applies to you, maintaining a document is probably the way to go! (Edit: Though I can easily edit YAML with vim, which I find strongly preferable to Word or the more open alternatives.)
edit: stupid client posted half a comment initially.
I have a template I make minor alterations to that I send out as a cover letter. Mostly, it’s just a pain in the ass to have to print out a personalized PDF or copy/paste it each time I apply.
https://latex-tutorial.com/quick-start/
That is exponentially more complicated than changing a few words in a document, hitting print, and then clicking Print as PDF.
I haven’t changed jobs in quite some time, but back when I was applying, I wrote a Python script that would generate a PDF from a YAML file. Maintaining the YAML file was easier than maintaining a whole document.
edit: spelling.
This involves changing a few words in a few places. Like the name of the company and the job I’m going for. Again, that seems like it would be a lot more complicated.
Sure, writing the script is more complicated than changing a few words in a document, but after the initial effort of writing the script I would argue that changing a few words in a YAML file is approximately the same amount of effort as changing a few words in a word document.
I wrote the script because I enjoy scripting, plus now I can change the format of the output if I want to (as I was doing at the time), plus I built versioning into the script so I can easily refer to older versions. Of course if none of that applies to you, maintaining a document is probably the way to go! (Edit: Though I can easily edit YAML with vim, which I find strongly preferable to Word or the more open alternatives.)
edit: stupid client posted half a comment initially.
Are you 80% of my university professors in disguise?