A resume website that recruiters actually open, and how to build it

A resume website is the address you put on the application: a page a recruiter reads on a phone in the time it takes to decide, a PDF they download when the process asks for a file, and both from the same content, so the two never disagree. This is the FolioPage guide for anyone applying for work - engineers and product managers, nurses and teachers, lawyers and accountants, graduates and executives - on what such a site has to do, how the resume page and its PDF work, what counts as proof, the templates built for it, the plan that fits, and how to have it live this afternoon.

What a resume website has to do

A recruiter with forty applications gives each one about the time it takes to read this paragraph. In that time your site has to answer, in order: is this the person from the application, what have they actually done, is there proof I can look at, and how do I get the file or reach them. A PDF alone answers the first two and stops. A profile on a network answers them in someone else's layout, next to a button that suggests other candidates.

So the site has four jobs:

• Match the application. The same name, the same headline, the same dates as the file they already have, so nothing raises a question.
• Show the work. Projects, case studies, publications, certifications - the things a bullet point can only name.
• Hand over the file. The PDF, current, one click, no permissions dialog.
• Make contact easy. An email address that is checked, and the two or three profiles that matter for your field.

The reason a PDF in a cloud folder does not do this: the link asks for access, the file is the version you uploaded in March, and the phone opens it as a document, not a page. A resume website is the fixed address; the file behind it changes without the link changing.

The pages that earn their place

A resume site is small on purpose. One page can hold all of it; two or three pages give the proof room to breathe:

An About page is optional here; the resume's summary does its job. If you have publications, talks or certifications, give them a section on the resume rather than a page of their own, unless the list is long.

Keep the menu short and literal: Resume, Projects, Contact. A recruiter is not exploring; they are looking for the file.

The Resume app: one document, two outputs

This is the part that makes a resume website different from a page with a PDF attached. On FolioPage the Resume app is a structured document you fill in once: your basics (name, headline, summary, email, phone, location, website, an optional photo), then sections - experience, education and skills to start, plus any section you add, such as certifications, publications, languages or volunteering - each with entries you drag into order and can hide without deleting.

From that one document the app publishes two things:

• The resume page on your site, at an address you choose. The default is /resume; the templates in this category use /cv.
• The PDF, generated on request from the same content, so every edit shows in both the moment you save. There is no file to re-upload and no old version anywhere. The page carries a download button for it, which you can switch off if you would rather send the file yourself.

The PDF is a real document with selectable text, not an image of the page, so the software recruiters use to parse resumes reads it the way it reads any other PDF. Seven resume layouts are available; the Free plan uses the default layout, and Pro and Max choose from all seven and can switch at any time. The layout, the download button and the two addresses live in the app's settings.

A related detail for the homepage: the section library includes resume cards that pull your headline and latest roles onto any page, so the homepage can show the top of your resume without you typing it twice.

Proof: the pages that a bullet point cannot be

"Led the redesign of the checkout" is a claim. A project page with two screenshots, the numbers before and after, and what you personally did is proof, and it is what separates a site from a file. The Portfolio app gives each project its own page with images, a description and a category, and a grid on the homepage that updates itself.

What proof looks like by field:

• Engineers and data people: the problem, the stack, your part of it, the outcome, a link to the repository or the live thing.
• Product, project and operations managers: the situation, the decision you made, the result in a number, what you would do differently.
• Designers: the brief, two or three process images, the shipped result.
• Marketing and sales: the campaign or the account, the target, the result, the team size.
• Teachers, nurses and clinicians: certifications and training with dates, a unit or a protocol you built, outcomes you are allowed to share.
• Researchers and lawyers: publications, cases or matters described at the level you are permitted to, with links where they exist.

Three good project pages beat twelve thin ones. The Free plan holds ten projects, which is more than a job search needs.

One link for every application

The Links app publishes a links page on your address: LinkedIn, GitHub, Behance, Google Scholar, a publication list, your calendar link, and the PDF itself, in one column under your name. It is the one address that goes in every application, every bio and every email signature, and it never changes when a profile does. Five links on the Free plan, unlimited on Pro and Max.

Privacy, and who gets to see what

A job search has its own privacy needs, and a site of your own handles them better than a profile:

• Hide a page from search engines with a switch in its settings, so a resume you would rather not have indexed still opens for anyone with the link.
• Password-protect a page on Pro and Max, for the version you share with one recruiter or one committee.
• Keep the site private for now. Every page can stay unpublished until you want it seen.
• Your own domain on Pro and Max, so the address reads as you rather than as a platform, and no FolioPage branding on the page.

What changes with what you do

The pattern is the same; the emphasis moves. A short map:

Each of these deserves its own guide, and they will follow in the Guides section, one at a time.

Templates made for resume sites

Six FolioPage templates were built for this category, all with the Resume app switched on and a resume page at /cv. Three of them show the range:

Preview any of them live, on desktop and on a phone, since a phone is where a recruiter will open it. The structure is what you are choosing; the content will be yours within the hour.

The full set is on the Resume / CV templates page.

The plan that fits

• Free covers most job searches for as long as they last: the resume page and the PDF in the default layout, six sections with three entries each, ten projects, five links, five pages, and a folio.page address. No card, no time limit.
• Pro, $12 a month or $108 a year, is for a longer career or a longer search: unlimited sections and entries, all seven resume layouts, a domain you own, no branding, a contact form, password-protected pages, and a hundred projects.
• Max, $24 a month or $216 a year, adds the Blog app and larger limits. Few job searches need it; a researcher or a consultant who publishes might.

The one limit worth checking on Free is three entries per section. A career with more than three roles you want listed is a Pro career, or a Free one that lists the most recent three and puts the rest in a summary line. The pricing page has the full comparison.

Build it this afternoon

The steps, in the order that works, assuming your current resume file is at hand.

The longer version, with the schedule by the hour, is the guide on how to build a portfolio website in a day.

Keep it current

• Update the resume, not the file. A new role, a certification, a publication goes into the Resume app the week it happens; the PDF follows on its own.
• Re-read the headline every application round. It should name the role you want now.
• Retire proof that no longer helps. Three current project pages beat six aging ones.

Does the PDF update when I edit the resume?

Yes. The PDF is generated from the same content as the resume page whenever someone opens it, so there is no file to re-upload and no old version anywhere.

Will recruiting software read the PDF?

The PDF is a real document with selectable text, not an image of the page, which is what parsers need. It is still worth checking the PDF once yourself, as with any resume file.

Can I keep the resume off search engines?

Yes. Every page has a switch to hide it from search engines, and on Pro and Max a page can be password-protected for one recruiter or one committee.

Can I skip the portfolio and show only the resume?

Yes. Apps are switched on and off per site; with Portfolio off, the site is your homepage, the resume page and the PDF.

Do I need a photo?

No. The photo is optional, and it can be shown on the page and the PDF or left off both, so the same site works in countries where a photo is expected and where it is not.

Other fields have their own page in the Made for section, and every general how-to lives in Guides.