Overview

The barbara_resume_golden.json file serves as the single source of truth for my professional experience data. It powers the Experience page with dynamic filtering, and is designed to support multiple output formats (web, PDF, TimelineJS, etc.).

Visual Schema Map

Resume JSON Schema Diagram

Data Flow Architecture

Resume Data Flow Diagram

Why This Architecture?

Problem: Maintaining multiple resume versions (PDF, Word, web) leads to inconsistencies and manual sync work.

Solution: Store all professional data in one structured JSON file, then generate outputs programmatically.

Benefits

  • ✅ Single source of truth - Update once, reflect everywhere
  • ✅ Version controlled - Track changes via Git
  • ✅ Queryable - Filter and search programmatically
  • ✅ Portable - Easy to transform into any format
  • ✅ AI-friendly - Structured data for digital assistants

Schema Structure

Core Sections

Section Purpose Used By
meta Version tracking, source files Documentation
profile Contact info, headline, summary About page, contact forms
education Academic degrees About page, CV generation
certifications Professional credentials Resume, LinkedIn sync
skills Technical capabilities (6 categories) Resume, skills matrix
experience Work history with filtering /experience/ page
projects Portfolio projects Projects page
publications Research papers Publications page
display UI configuration (colors, filters) Experience page styling

Experience Section (Most Important)

The experience array is what powers the /experience/ page with dynamic filtering.

Required Fields

{
  "title": "Job title",
  "employer": "Company name",
  "start_date": "YYYY-MM",
  "domains": ["category1", "category2"],
  "highlights": ["Achievement 1", "Achievement 2"],
  "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"]
}

{
  "employment_type": "Full-time | Contract | Consulting | Founder | Research",
  "end_date": "YYYY-MM or null for current",
  "location": "City, State or Remote",
  "outcomes": [
    {"metric": "cycle-time", "value": "↓ 25%"}
  ],
  "skills": ["Python", "SQL", "PowerBI"]
}

How Filtering Works

The experience page uses domains for the filter buttons:

  • Each role can have multiple domains (e.g., “public sector”, “data governance”)
  • Clicking a domain button shows only roles in that category
  • Domain colors are configured in display.style.domainColors

First 3 highlights from each role are displayed on the card. Keep these concise and impactful.

Usage Examples

Adding a New Role

  1. Open _data/barbara_resume_golden.json
  2. Add new object to the experience array (at the top for most recent)
  3. Follow the schema structure
  4. Choose appropriate domains from existing filter list or add new ones
  5. Rebuild the site: bundle exec jekyll build

Updating Skills

The skills object has 6 predefined categories:

  • programming - Languages and tools
  • ml - Machine learning libraries
  • genai - GenAI/LLM frameworks (new in 2024)
  • data_viz_bi - Visualization and BI tools
  • cloud_data - Cloud platforms and databases
  • governance_nlp - Data governance and NLP
  • methods - Methodologies and approaches

Customizing Filter Buttons

Edit display.filters.domains to change which filter buttons appear on the experience page:

"display": {
  "filters": {
    "domains": [
      "public sector",
      "healthcare",
      "AI engineering",
      "enterprise transformation"
    ]
  }
}

Technical Details

Date Format

All dates use YYYY-MM format:

  • start_date: "2024-01" → January 2024
  • end_date: null → Current role (displays as “Present”)

Multi-Domain Roles

Roles can belong to multiple domains for richer categorization:

"domains": [
  "enterprise transformation",
  "analytics enablement",
  "web analytics"
]

Currently, filtering uses the first domain only. Future enhancement: support multi-domain filtering.

Validation

Use the companion schema file for validation:

# Validate JSON structure
python3 -m json.tool _data/barbara_resume_golden.json > /dev/null && echo "✓ Valid JSON"

# Or use the JSON schema validator
# jsonschema -i _data/barbara_resume_golden.json _data/barbara_resume_golden_SCHEMA.json

Files & Locations

File Purpose Location
barbara_resume_golden.json Main data file _data/
barbara_resume_golden_SCHEMA.json JSON Schema definition _data/
experience.md Template that renders the data _pages/
resume-json-schema.mmd Mermaid source for diagram assets/diagrams/
resume-json-schema.svg Visual schema diagram assets/diagrams/

Maintenance Tips

Keep It DRY

  • The JSON is the source of truth
  • Don’t duplicate data in markdown files
  • Generate outputs from JSON when possible

Version Control Best Practices

  • Commit JSON changes with descriptive messages
  • Tag major versions (e.g., resume-v2.0)
  • Keep old versions in git history

Content Guidelines

  • Highlights: Action verb + impact (quantify when possible)
  • Domains: Keep list manageable (4-6 categories)
  • Tags: Specific technologies/methodologies
  • Skills: Group by category, avoid duplication

Future Enhancements

Ideas for extending this system:

  • Python script to generate PDF resume from JSON
  • Automated sync to LinkedIn
  • TimelineJS export for visual timeline
  • Multi-domain filtering on experience page
  • “Clear filters” button
  • Schema validation in CI/CD pipeline
  • API endpoint to serve resume data

Questions?

This schema powers my experience page and maintains consistency across my professional presence. If you’re building something similar or have suggestions, let’s connect!

Last updated: April 8, 2026 • View raw JSON