This is my resume, available in 2 formats: Plain text and HTML, aswell as the original raw XML document. You may wonder why there is no Word format document. I get asked all the time by prospective employers for a "Word format resume". This is the dumbest thing I have to respond.

Let's first take into account the fact that I do not run Windows. I am a Linux programmer, and I run Linux on my desktop and all of my development systems (some 15 systems in all, located here at my home office). I am perfectly able to do everything I need to do in this manner, including respond to the lame HTML formatted email that I get so often from Outlook users.

Second, let's look at the fact that Microsoft Word is not a standard. It's a closed proprietary document format that Microsoft is unwilling to open, so that other products cannot compete with Word. There are plenty of portable and open formats available that allow for the easy exchange of documents on the internet. One of the most common is PDF (Portable Document Format) pioneered by the leading PostScript company, Adobe. The good thing about PDF is that it is very easy to translate other formats into it. So you can write in whatever document creation tool you want and still be able to export to a PDF document that others can easily read.

Given these criteria, and my inherent dislike for being locked into a specific tool (I like my right to choose), I have written my resume in what's called XML. This is a tagged document format, similar to HTML. In fact, HTML finds it's roots in XML, and is a subset of that language. It allows me to write the document once, without any specific formatting, but using tags to mark what specific text is (e.g. a group for past employer, with text that represents items specific to that employer).

Using this document tool, I can export my resume in many formats, and quickly change the way it is layed out, from the fonts used for different portions of the resume, to ordering of the sections of the resume, and even fine tuning portions to a particular employer that I am targeting. None of the "Office" word processors allow for this much flexibility and creativity.

In conclusion, if you don't like my choice to use a truly open document format, that gives me the freedom to do what I want with my document, then you can simply overlook my resume. I've turned down jobs with head-hunters that mocked me for not using Microsoft Word. I've had some that made insulting sarcastic remarks about my intelligence because of it. I wont stand for ignorance.