Introduction

In today’s world, employers and recruiters are increasingly looking for candidates to apply online. In order to have your CV stand out, be sure to include an online portfolio website which will enable you to showcase your skills and achievements.

Creating a portfolio website is a great way to show off your work history, skills and passions. It’s thought that around 80% of the jobs on offer today are found through online recruitment methods. Using an online CV website will help you to stay in touch with potential employers and recruiters and be at the forefront of their minds when vacancies arise.

Online CV template

Have you ever wondered why you aren’t getting any calls even after mailing your CV a thousand times to different HRs?

The answer is simple: Your CV fails to grab any attention!

Long gone are the days when you had to take a printout of your CV and deliver it personally to HR. Soon, the method of emailing your CV will be outdated, too. But you know what’s the latest trend? Online CV Websites!

However, if you are not yet aware of online CV websites, you are missing out on a huge opportunity.

Let me walk you through the whole concept of an online resume and help you create an eye-catching CV website so that you can secure the job of your dreams.

What is an online CV website?

An online CV website is a website that allows job-seekers to post their resume online. These websites are often free and are used by job-seekers to reach potential employers in the digital age. Online CV websites are an easy and convenient way to store your resume online, making it available for potential employers to find you.

An online CV is simply a digital portfolio wherein you upload all your previous work and personal details onto a website developed by yourself. In this way, you have complete freedom to choose what goes on your website, align it to capture the attention of potential recruiters, and what not to highlight. The reins are entirely in your hands.

Download free CV HTML templates

If you’re in the market for a new job, it’s time to get your résumé in order. Want to make it stand out among the competition? Take advantage of this free resume template and send a strong message to recruiters with an attractive, professional design that will illustrate how committed & competent you are.

Download free HTML resume

If you’re in the market for a new job, it’s time to get your résumé in order. Want to make it stand out among the competition? Take advantage of this free resume template and send a strong message to recruiters with an attractive, professional design that will illustrate how committed & competent you are.

Advantages of having an Online CV website

Before having an online CV website, many applicants would send their employer their CV in the mail. Nowadays, this is becoming increasingly difficult to do. Companies are buying your resume online and you are losing out on potential opportunities if you don’t have one!

An online platform provides a professional look, easy access to important information like your education and work experience, as well as the chance to build up a career profile that can be shared with people of interest. Simply put, it saves time for all parties involved.

Still not convinced of how an online CV is worth your effort? Well, here are a few reasons in its favour:

Can be easily shared

Have you ever wanted to share your resume with a potential employer? Once you have created your online resume, it is easy to share it with prospective employers. This can be done by sending an email or by uploading the resume to a job portal.

It is important that you keep up with your professional career by sending out resume’s to various companies. One way that employers can look for potential candidates is through resumes online and looking on social media sites like LinkedIn.

Can be found on Google

An important advantage of online resume is that can be found on Google. Google is the most popular search engine and is also the best when it comes to finding things on the internet. This allows the resume to be seen by potential employers and recruiters.

Content can be easily updated

You’ve created an online resume that showcases your skills and experience, but now you’re wondering if it is actually fairly accurate. That’s where the resume HTML template comes in! It allows you to update the skills listed on your CV with ease. One of the most important things that you can do to improve your chances of getting a job is update the resume with relevant information.

Your online resume will always be up-to-date and ready to impress employers as soon as they get their hands on it.

Any potential recruiter can access it

From the moment your CV website is online, it becomes bait for recruiters. Simply link the website to your LinkedIn account, and recruiters can quickly get a holistic idea of who you are and what skills you possess.

Further, the barrier of unsupported files is eliminated. No matter which device the recruiter uses, if the website is appropriately optimized, the CV can be viewed the same way you intended it to be seen.

Creates a great impression

In this digital era, anyone can create a resume using free online resume creators. However, it takes some practice and skill to develop a CV website. You will have to invest some time to ensure that the website is optimized and presents information in the best way possible. This requires extensive talent and patience.

Imagine a recruiter receiving tons of email attachments, and he finds an online CV among the lot. Indeed, the person will be a little curious to know who opted for a different approach. Further, it’s a testament to how committed you are to this job opportunity.

Present details the way you want

Do you know that, on average, an HR views the CV for just 5 to 7 seconds? That’s it!

The human brain can’t focus or concentrate on something it already deems to be boring. So the best way to instill interest in your portfolio is to include figures, numbers, or even charts that will quickly help HR make their decision whether to hire you or not. An online CV website will help you with this.

As said earlier, the full power is entirely in your hands. You get to decide if you want to include long paragraphs or tables or even statistical charts. This option isn’t available if you plan to submit your CV as a .pdf file.

Since the boundaries of page count do not limit you, you can include all your previous work and every achievement relevant to the job role.

What’s even better is that there is no barrier to what goes on the website. It could be photos of you receiving an achievement, a copy of your certificate, or testimony from your previous boss. You can include whatever you feel would increase the chances of you getting the job.

8 Steps to create an online CV website

Whether you are a recent graduate or have been out of college for decades, a resume is still the most important step in job hunting. It should tell employers who you are and what your skills are as well as where they can find more information about you.

These 7 simple steps will help you create an attractive online CV with ease.

Choose how you build your CV website

This is the most crucial part of building your CV online. You can either go for professional online CV templates/themes offered by various creators or get a personal resume HTML template.

If you are a professional, you can create one from scratch, too. However, this would require extensive coding knowledge and would be ideal for people planning to venture into that particular field. You might also want to purchase a good web hosting service to manage your website better.

As far as the resume website templates (HTML templates) are concerned, you can either opt for a free version with a limited toolkit or purchase a template for yourself and make maximum use of it.

That’s not all. Online CV websites can be of two types.

  • Long scrolling one-pager websites
  • A classic website with separate sections

If you are a fresher or someone with limited experience, a long-scrolling website would be sufficient to accommodate all your information.

On the other hand, you might have to stick to the classic website version if you are an established artist or someone with years-long experience. This way, you can easily dedicate each section to your different expertise and showcase whatever achievements you want.

Choose a professional website domain name

Be professional while choosing a domain name. For example, since it will be the face of your CV to a fresh recruiter, you don’t want your URL as www.candylandmary.com.

Thus, keep it simple and intellectual.

You can either use your name or a pseudonym by which you are known. Frame the domain name in such a way that the recruiter can figure out what you are trying to convey or that it is a CV website.

Choose a web host for your website

For a website to function, it needs a web host. A web host is the computer that serves your site’s website files on the internet. The hosting company provides you with space on their server so that your website can be delivered to people who visit your site from remote computers or devices.

Include a picture and a logo if possible

The landing page of your website should contain a professional picture of you. With that said, you need not necessarily be in a coat or a heavy suit for the same.

Avoid candids and make sure your eyes are facing the camera. The picture should be impactful and professional. You can either smile or choose a semi-serious grin. Try not to look sad or quite serious in your professional picture. Your first impression should be a lasting one, and you don’t want to come off as someone cold.

Since it’s a CV website, you can place the photo wherever you want and in whichever size you deem fit.

Adding a logo to your CV website can give it a professional touch and convey that you pay attention to even the minute details. You can either create a logo yourself or go for a online logo website like www.rovenlogos.com to download it for free.

Are you starting your own business, non-profit organization or club? Do you need a logo to represent your brand? Rovenlogos is changing all that with free downloadable logos that anyone can use – whether they be a revered designer or someone just starting out.

Download free logo

Add the relevant information

When it comes to including information on your website, you have absolute freedom to choose what goes live and what doesn’t. Although just like a conventional CV, there are certain sections you must include in your online CV website so that the recruiter can get a clear idea of who you are, professionally and skill-wise.

Whether you are creating a resume for the role of a content writer or a website developer, you have to include the following sections to make the resume appear legit and valuable.

A short bio or intro

Welcome your potential recruiters with a brief description on the homepage of who you are, both professionally and personally. Keep it sweet and simple. A three-line intro with your photograph would probably be suitable enough for a recruiter to figure out your interests and skills.

Previous experience

This is where you can get to the crux of your skill set and explain in detail your professional talents and how resourceful you are. You can list down all your previous experiences with proofs of your past work or testimonies from your previous managers.

You can showcase every bit of expertise you have in different areas and impress the recruiter with a glimpse of what you offer as a professional. With that said, long clumsy paragraphs won’t yield any benefits. Instead, try including statistics or figures or something that will hook your recruiters’ attention.

Education and other qualifications

Include the educational qualifications that are most relevant to the job role you are applying for. If you have earned any additional badges or certifications, you can highlight them as well. As a rule of thumb, it’s best to list out the recent three educational qualifications.

Skillset

Even though you have explained your previous experience in detail, you can dedicate a separate section to showcase your skill set. This is where you can include any additional abilities apart from the ones relevant to the job role you are applying for. The additional skill sets help shape your personality g in the recruiters’ mind, enabling them to get to know you better.

The skill set section can include any software you are proficient in, any hobbies you are really good at, or any foreign language you are fluent in.

Previous projects

You might have already explained the previous projects you undertook earlier. Still, it’s always good to include a dedicated section to highlight these projects. Recruiters go straight to the project section many times to see if you are worthy of the high words you used before.

You can classify the projects and use subsections to increase the readability. This way, the recruiter can easily find the one relevant to the job role you are applying for and assess your performance accordingly.

Recommendations

You always check the reviews before purchasing a product, right?

Similarly, testimonies and recommendations from your previous managers and co-workers act as reviews for recruiters. They can get an impression of how you behave with your teammates and how productive you are on the job.

Further, don’t forget to include the contact details of the people who wrote your testimonies. This would make background verification quite easy for the HR team.

Social Media Handles

After your CV, the HRs directly visit your social media handles to see what content you share online.

The digital personality and the real personality are quite different for a person. If your CV and your social media handles tell different stories, then the recruiters are most likely to ignore your candidature. For that, make sure you include what’s true and avoid boasting in your CV. Finally, and most importantly, maintain a good persona online.

Additional resume sections used in online CVs

Make your CV SEO optimized and mobile-friendly

Before you freak out, hear us out. To SEO optimize your CV website, you don’t have to be an SEO specialist as it requires just some simple techniques. Remember, the more optimized your website is, the higher it ranks on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

For starters, take care of the domain name and, if possible, try to include your profession in it. Further, throw in some keywords relevant to your job role at appropriate places. In short, optimize the text on your website. Include only the relevant information and try not to make it too wordy.

Coming to the mobile-friendly part, your potential recruiter need not view your website on their laptop. They could be using a mobile phone or a tablet. So whatever you include should be visible on screens of all sizes. Keep this in mind while uploading images and choosing font sizes.

If the images are too large, it takes forever to load on your mobile devices. The chances are that the recruiters may not even wait for it to load completely. Instead, they might click back and leave the site, and that’s not something you want.

Ask for a second opinion

Once you think your website is ready to go online, show it to your friends and relatives for a second opinion. Ask how they feel about the CV and implement the constructive feedback they provide.

“One Grammar mistake, and your CV gets chucked.”

The more people you show it to, the better are your chances to improve and get noticed by potential recruiters. Additionally, you can rule out any grammar mistakes that you might not have noticed earlier.

Publish and continuously track it

Once you have completed all the above steps, it’s time to hit the publish button. Now it’s time to monitor and better your CV  constantly. You might achieve something new every day. Update the CV regularly so that whenever a recruiter opens it, they get to see the most recent achievements in your professional life.

Another advantage of having an online CV website is knowing the number of users visiting your profile. You will be well aware of the traffic your website is generating and who is visiting your CV website. If you have trusted your website with a good web host, then you can easily know the statistics and make the necessary changes to improve it.

Conclusions

Now that you have your CV website live, all you have to do is make sure that it reaches potential recruiters. You can leave the domain link in your social media handles, mail it to potential recruiters, or SEO optimize it to rank on SERP.

Whatever you do, make sure you are getting good traffic to your website. Above all, update your CV website regularly and step-by-step, one at a time, try your hand at various SEO optimization tactics. It will surely yield good results by ranking your page higher and attracting important recruiters.

Until then, Best of luck!