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First impressions count. And in this digital age, many professional first impressions happen online. By creating a resume website, you can establish your online presence in a way that fits with your personal brand and shows recruiters your professional goals.
An online resume is one way to showcase your experience and interests and can help future collaborators and hiring managers understand the unique value you can bring to a project. The process of distilling your resume or CV into a website may even lead you toward a new career path.
Here’s our step-by-step guide to building a professional resume website, from designing your website to sharing your work experience to help you land your dream job.
1. Choose a template for your resume website
When choosing a template for your website, preview examples and choose one with a layout and design elements that speak to your style and highlight your work best. For example, someone looking for a new job in graphic design will want a template that makes it easy for them to show some visuals, whereas a copywriter will show their work with writing samples. Squarespace offers a variety of customizable templates that provide the perfect starting point for a personal website.
Or build a custom template and get some help putting your site content together with Squarespace Blueprint, which guides you through some simple design choices and uses AI to draft some website copy for you.
Add visual elements, like a headshot or eye-catching work you’ve created, and key messages that will catch visitors' attention and reinforce your job search goals. Experiment with curated site styles like custom font packs and color palettes or customize your own. You can use the built-in photo editor to crop photos or source free high quality stock images to add relevant visuals to your site.
2. Craft your pitch
Once you have a design framework, it’s time to start telling your story. Make your homepage concise and easy to digest while also giving people the opportunity to learn more through examples. Try outlining the ideas that demonstrate your expertise before adding them to your website. Show your experience by highlighting how you have applied your skills to different problems or industries and share testimonials from former clients and colleagues. Make sure you mention any specialities or certifications, so potential employers or collaborators can see what type of work excites you and where you excel.
Consider including your hobbies and side projects on an About page as they may relate to your core skill set and ambitions.
Learn more about designing your homepage
3. Lead visitors to learn more and get in touch
Make your personal site easy to navigate by focusing on what’s most important to visitors—learning about you and getting your contact information. You might decide to keep your pitch and work examples on one page or add a Portfolio page to showcase your projects. Encourage potential clients and employers to contact you by creating a Contact page or Contact section on your homepage. Consider connecting and displaying your LinkedIn profile or your social media accounts if they’re relevant to your work history.
If you’re adding a downloadable PDF of your complete resume or CV, add it to a separate page and make it intuitive to find from your homepage. Embedded PDFs won’t show up in search engines, but including one makes it easy for visitors to download and print a hard copy. Take a moment to review our search engine optimization (SEO) checklist for best practices on SEO and keywords.
To ensure you upload your best resume, double check for typos and file errors. If you’re starting from scratch, look at other resume examples and professional resume templates to get a sense of what to include and how to style your new resume.
4. Register a domain
A custom domain for your personal website is key. If you already have a domain, you can transfer it to your Squarespace site or you can register a new domain through Squarespace. Either way, be sure to use a domain that includes your full name or your business name. Consider using a domain that ends in .me, .work, .bio, .info, .studio, or .online for your personal website.
Read more about domain name considerations
5. Share with your network
Once you have your personal website updated with all the relevant information, it’s time to go live. Share your new site with your network so they understand your experience and what kind of professional project or new job you're looking for next. When they hear of a relevant opportunity you’ll be top of mind, and your site will be easy for them to share.
Consider creating social posts that announce your new website and add it to your email footer and social media link in bio. This way you’ll make sure that you’re expanding your potential reach to everyone who already knows you or follows you online.
Learn how to promote your resume website
This post was updated on September 21, 2023.