Did I Need to Turn Resume Buddy into a Desktop App? Absolutely Not — and yet, here we are.
How it Started
A few months ago, I started a pet project. The goal was simply to build something functional and explore some new ideas, ideally - to solve some simple problem. Resume optimization came to mind, so I started assembling the first version. Initial prototype was basically an Airtable form and a n8n workflow doing the heavy lifting. You'd submit a form -> an automation would be triggered to grab the data, generate an optimized version and upload it to Github repo in markdown format file. Then any final edits could be done manually in Obsidian (syncing to Github) and in the end the final result would be exported to PDF.
This flow kinda worked, but felt tedious. Not enough control over generation, manual edits, copy-pasting, no fun. That's when the idea of Resume Buddy came to me. Basically adding some nice friendly UI and a helpful mascot to make the boring part a little bit less unbearable.
The first version of UI was generated in v0 - partially to see if it would nail it with one-shot. I described all the screens, gave some reference and v0 did a somewhat ok job.
It had some retro vibes, every element was bugged or didn't have any kind of logic/functionality (except for navigation), but it was ok for the first draft. A couple of versions later it added a really annoying jumpy animation and completely broken screen transitions - that's where I said bye-bye to v0 and started working locally.
I did several iterations with design and tried looking into some CSS frameworks like NES.css, but went with a custom thing in the end. I used this project to try out a lot of modern AI tools (with some missed opportunity with Code Rabbit trial, but I'll talk about it some other time).
So there it was - Resume Buddy.
At this point it was still just triggering n8n workflow and loading content to editor from Github. At one point I considered turning Resume Buddy into a SaaS, but the more I thought about it, the more I resented the idea. Eventually, I set the project aside while I switched to another one (more on that later). Still, something kept nagging at me and I wanted to at least bring it to a proper conclusion.
How it's going
I decided to keep experimenting with the tool. It's like a personal buffet - why not try everything a little? I was thinking of maybe making open-source, but then I remembered that I wanted to experiment with Electron for a while, so instead I decided to make Resume Buddy a desktop application. Retro-approach for more retro-vibes, eh?
By this time, I already ditched the n8n and moved all the logic into the app, extending it even further. Now it is a resume builder and application tracker with light gamification and a mascot sidekick to make job search in today’s job market a little less soul-crushing. It includes an AI resume generator (to get rid of the blank sheet; powered by OpenAI API with bring-your-own-key setup), job-specific optimization, PDF export, and several style options. You also have some quick support from the Buddy and chat with him for some light coaching-style experience.
To give it a go just scroll down to Downloads section below. Don't forget to check out the instructions - I didn't do the code signing so launching an app may trigger system defenders; follow the instructions to allow it to run.
Where it might go
Buddy is pretty solid for v.1.0.0, but there are probably a few things left to fix and polish. It might receive more updates in the future - stay tuned. I might also return to the SaaS idea, but it would probably be done in a more traditional SaaS-y look and feel. We'll see.