QR code on a resume
A code on a CV gives a reader one tap to your portfolio, your profile or a project you cannot fit on a page. For anyone whose work is visual or technical, that is the difference between describing it and showing it.
It is also a choice that can work against you, and the circumstances where it does are worth knowing before you print.
Link to one thing, not to everything
A single code pointing at a portfolio, a profile or a personal site works. Three codes for three networks reads as clutter and gets ignored, and a code pointing at a link tree adds a step between the reader and the work.
If you want one destination that covers several, make it a simple page of your own with the two or three links that matter, so you control what appears and can change it without reprinting.
Where it goes on the page
Near your contact details at the top, at about 2cm square with its margin intact. Bottom corners get lost, and anything smaller than 2cm is unreliable on a printed page read in an office.
Label it. "Portfolio" or "See my work" next to the code tells a reader why they would bother, where an unlabelled square asks them to gamble a camera on it. That is the same rule as any other printed code, and CVs break it more than most.
Most CVs are read on a screen
This is the argument people miss. The majority of applications are read as a PDF on a laptop, where a QR code cannot be scanned by the device reading it — the reader would have to pick up their phone and point it at their own monitor, which some will do and many will not.
So the code must never be the only route. Print the URL as text beside it. The code serves the printed copy in an interview; the text serves the screen, which is most of the time.
Applicant tracking systems ignore images
CVs are frequently parsed by software before a person sees them, and that software reads text. A code is an image: whatever it points at contributes nothing to how your application is parsed, matched or ranked.
Another reason the link belongs in text as well. Doing both costs a line and removes the risk that the most important thing about your application is the one part the system cannot read.
Check it the week you send it
A portfolio link that pointed somewhere real in March may point at an expired domain or a deleted account by September, and a dead link on a CV is worse than no link — it suggests carelessness in exactly the document meant to demonstrate the opposite.
Scan your own printed copy before it goes out, from a phone that is not yours if you can, and check the destination loads on mobile data rather than on home wifi.
Common questions
- Should I put a QR code on my CV?
- It helps if your work is visual or technical and you want a reader to see it rather than read about it. Use one code to one destination, label it, and always print the address as text as well.
- Where should the code go on a resume?
- Near your contact details at the top, about 2cm square with its margin intact. Bottom corners get overlooked, and anything smaller is unreliable on a page read in ordinary office light.
- Do QR codes work if my CV is read on screen?
- Not really, and most CVs are read as a PDF on a laptop. The reader would have to point their phone at their own monitor. Print the URL as text so the screen case is covered, and let the code serve the printed copy.
- Will an applicant tracking system read my QR code?
- No. Parsing software reads text and a code is an image, so whatever it points at contributes nothing to how your application is matched or ranked. That is the strongest reason to include the link as text too.
- What should the code link to?
- One destination — a portfolio, a profile, or a simple page of your own holding the two or three links that matter. Several codes for several networks read as clutter, and a link tree just adds a step before the work.
Related guides
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