How to center multiple tabular entries in different centered environments?

Question

I am about to pull my hair out. I was wondering if anyone could give me some tips or guide me to the proper way to correctly format my centered tabular entries. I just want the my centered tabular sections to be aligned but they always change based on the amount of text I enter. I was wondering if there was a quick fix to this problem. I have included my document in code below.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[top=2cm, bottom=2cm, left=1.5cm, right=1cm,headsep=1cm]    {geometry}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{calc}
\usepackage{comment}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\parindent=0pt
\fancyfoot{}
\begin{document}
\lhead{{\Huge Robert Plummer II}  
\hfill
\begin{tabular}{ l c  }
337-353-9679 &2609 South Vienna Street\\
[email protected] &Ruston, La 71270  \\
\end{tabular}} 

{\bf\Large Education:}  
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{ l c r  }
{\bf Louisiana Tech University \hspace{1in}2008-2012} \hfill \\  
\hspace{.25in}Bachelor of Science Degree, Computer Science Expected 5/12\\
\hspace{.25in}Minor: Mathematics\\ 
\hspace{.25in}Computer Science GPA: 3.06\\
\hspace{.25in}Cumulative GPA: 2.8\\
 \hfill\\
 {\bf Curriculum Highlights} \hfill \\
 \hspace{.25in}System Programming\\ 
 \hspace{.25in}Operating Systems\\
 \hspace{.25in}Advanced Algorithm Design\\
 \hspace{.25in}Networking\\
 \hspace{.25in}Digital Design and Computer Architecture\\
\hspace{.25in}Digital Forensics\\
\hspace{.25in}Cyber Security\\
\hfill\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

{\bf\Large Technical Skills:} \\ 
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{ l c r  }
{\bf Programming Languages} \hfill\\
\hspace{.25in} Experience using C/C++, Python, Java, Javascript, HTML, CSS, PHP.\\
\hfill\\
{\bf Platforms} \hfill \\
\hspace{.25in} Comfortable working on a Windows, OS X, or Unix machine.\\
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

{\bf\Large Coursework/Projects:} \\ 
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{ l c r  }
{\bf Networking} \hfill \\
\hspace{.25in}Implemented a chat program that uses TCP to communicate.\\
\hspace{.25in}Used raw sockets to implement TCP.\\ 
\hfill\\
{\bf Digital Forensics} \hfill \\
\hspace{.25in}Implemented a Windows Recycle Bin .info/R-I parser\\
 \hspace{.25in}Windows registry extractor that is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7.\\
\hfill\\
{\bf Software Engineering} \hfill \\
\hspace{.25in}Project Manager for new Computer Science website for Louisiana Tech University.\\
\hspace{.25in}Responsible for creating a web interface to interact with the SQL database for the new website.\\
\hspace{.25in}Wrote code that used AJAX and PHP to generate the web pages that use content from a database.
\end{tabular}
\end{center}

\begin{center} References available upon request \end{center}

\end{document}

Sorry if this is too much code but I wanted to make sure everyone could see the problem. Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

Overall, I must agree with the comments of @AlanMunn. Below is my attempt to (i) simplify the layout by not centering the stuff and, instead, using left-justified layouts throughout and (ii) make the whole document appear a bit more appealing by using Palatino (via the mathpazo package) with oldstyle numerals instead of Computer Modern.

\documentclass[letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage[vmargin=3cm, hmargin=1in, headsep=1cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{calc}
\usepackage{comment}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\parindent=0pt
\fancyfoot{}
\usepackage[osf]{mathpazo}
\frenchspacing
\begin{document}
\lhead{{\Huge Robert Plummer II}  
\hfill
\begin{tabular}{ l l@{} }
337-353-9679      & 2609 South Vienna Street\\
[email protected] & Ruston LA 71270  \\
\end{tabular}} 

\section*{Education}  

\begin{tabular}{@{}p{0.25in}p{0.25in}p{5.5in}}
& \multicolumn{2}{@{}l}{\bfseries Louisiana Tech University, 2008 to 2012} \\  
 & & Bachelor of Science Degree, Computer Science, exp.\ May 2012\\
 & & Minor: Mathematics\\ 
 & & Computer Science GPA: 3.06\\
 & & Cumulative GPA: 2.8\\[1ex]
 & \multicolumn{2}{@{}l}{\bfseries Curriculum Highlights}\\
 & & System Programming\\ 
 & & Operating Systems\\
 & & Advanced Algorithm Design\\
 & & Networking\\
 & & Digital Design and Computer Architecture\\
 & & Digital Forensics\\
 & & Cyber Security\\
\end{tabular}

\section*{Technical Skills}

\begin{tabular}{@{}p{0.25in}p{0.25in}p{5.5in}}
& \multicolumn{2}{@{}l}{\bfseries Programming Languages}\\
 & & Experience using C/C$+{}+$, Python, Java, Javascript, HTML, CSS, and PHP\\[1ex]
& \multicolumn{2}{@{}l}{\bfseries Platforms}\\
 & & Comfortable working on Windows, MacOS\,X, and Unix machines\\
\end{tabular}


\section*{Coursework and Projects} 

\begin{tabular}{@{}p{0.25in}p{0.25in}p{5.75in}}
& \multicolumn{2}{@{}l}{\bfseries Networking}  \\
 & & Implemented a chat program that uses TCP to communicate\\
 & & Used raw sockets to implement TCP\\[1ex]
& \multicolumn{2}{@{}l}{\bfseries Digital Forensics}  \\
 & & Implemented a Windows Recycle Bin .info/R-I parser\\
 & & Wrote Windows registry extractor that is compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7\\[1ex]
& \multicolumn{2}{@{}l}{\bfseries Software Engineering}  \\
 & & Project Manager for new Computer Science website for Louisiana Tech University\\
 & & Responsible for creating web interface to interact with SQL database for new website\\
 & & Wrote code that used AJAX and PHP to generate web pages that use content from  database
\end{tabular}


\section*{References}

\hspace{0.25in} Available upon request.

\end{document}

Answer 2

Maintaining a CV based on putting everything in tabular environments will make for nightmares in the future. Also, you shouldn't ever be manually formatting elements in a LaTeX document: the whole point of LaTeX is that you define semantic markup for document elements, and decide how those elements should be formatted once by modifying the markup definitions. That being said, even with very little special markup, we can make this into a nice document with very little effort, and keep something that is maintainable in the long run.

As I mentioned in my comment, I've implemented everything with two packages:

• titlesec With this package, and setting the secnumdepth to 0 we can use regular sectioning commands for the logical parts of the CV; The small option seems just about right for size, so no further modification is needed.
• enumitem With this package, we can use simple itemized lists for subparts of the subsections. This makes them easy to reorder or more around, since every element is simply an \item. I've eliminated the label, and set the spacing to very compact.

\documentclass[11pt]{article}
\usepackage[top=2cm, bottom=2cm, left=1.5cm, right=1cm,headsep=1cm]    {geometry}
\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\usepackage{calc}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\setlist[itemize]{label={},nolistsep}
\usepackage[small]{titlesec}
\usepackage{comment}
\pagestyle{empty}
\parindent=0pt
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{0}
\begin{document}
{\Huge Robert Plummer II}
\hfill 
\begin{tabular}{lc}
337-353-9679 &2609 South Vienna Street\\
[email protected] &Ruston, La 71270 
\end{tabular}
\hrule

\section{Education}  

\subsection{Louisiana Tech University \hspace{1in}2008-2012}
\begin{itemize}     
    \item Bachelor of Science Degree, Computer Science Expected 5/12
    \item Minor: Mathematics 
    \item Computer Science GPA: 3.06
    \item Cumulative GPA: 2.8
\end{itemize}

\subsection {Curriculum Highlights}  
\begin{itemize}
    \item System Programming 
    \item Operating Systems
    \item Advanced Algorithm Design
    \item Networking
    \item Digital Design and Computer Architecture
    \item Digital Forensics
    \item Cyber Security
\end{itemize}

\section{Technical Skills}
\subsection{Programming Languages} 
\begin{itemize}
    \item  Experience using C/C++, Python, Java, Javascript, HTML, CSS, PHP.
\end{itemize}

\subsection{Platforms}  
\begin{itemize}
    \item  Comfortable working on a Windows, OS X, or Unix machine.
\end{itemize}

\section{Coursework/Projects} 
\subsection{Networking}  
\begin{itemize}
    \item Implemented a chat program that uses TCP to communicate.
    \item Used raw sockets to implement TCP. 
\end{itemize}

\subsection{Digital Forensics}  
\begin{itemize}
    \item Implemented a Windows Recycle Bin .info/R-I parser
    \item Windows registry extractor that is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
\end{itemize}

\subsection{Software Engineering}  
\begin{itemize}
    \item Project Manager for new Computer Science website for Louisiana Tech University.
    \item Responsible for creating a web interface to interact with the SQL database for the new website.
    \item Wrote code that used AJAX and PHP to generate the web pages that use content from a database.
\end{itemize}
\section{References}
\begin{itemize}
\item Available on request.
\end{itemize}

\end{document}