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QR Code for a Resume

A small code beside your name that opens your portfolio, sized so it still works on the printed copy somebody is holding in an interview.

Download the SVG and place it in your layout. It stays sharp at 20mm, which is roughly two lines of body text.

Add your link or content

Only http and https links are allowed. Missing schemes become https.

Customize your QR code

Finder squares stay square whichever you pick. They are what a scanner locates the code with.

The blank margin scanners need. 4 is the standard minimum.

Download your QR code

✓ Scan-tested: this code reads back correctly.

Contrast 21:1, Strong

Version 2 · 33 modules · print at least 13.2 mm wide

First, Whether You Should

If your CV will only ever be read as a PDF on a screen, do not use one. Nobody points a phone at their own monitor. A plain clickable link does the same job better, and the code is just an unexplained square taking up space you could spend on a line of experience.

It earns its place when the CV gets printed: an interview panel with paper copies, a careers fair, a portfolio handed over in person, a leave-behind after a meeting. In those situations a code is the only way anything on the page is one action away.

Either way, print the address as text next to it. Applicant tracking systems parse text and cannot see a QR code, so anything only reachable through the code is invisible to the first system that reads your CV.

Which Link Fits the Space You Have

A CV gives a code somewhere between 15mm and 22mm. That is tight enough that the link you choose decides whether the printed code works, so here are the usual candidates against the usual positions.

Four links a CV might carry, against three places to put them. Measured when this page was built, at error-correction Qand 0.4mm per module, with every symbol decoded back first. “Tight” means it clears the minimum by less than half again, which is the margin that print and lighting spend.
What the code points atCharsNeedsBeside the header22mmMargin strip15mmFooter corner18mm
LinkedIn custom URLThe most common thing to put on a CV, and short enough to behave.4616.4mmtighttoo smalltight
Personal siteThe smallest code here, and the only link you control forever.2914.8mmtighttighttight
Portfolio with a pathEvery path segment is more modules for the same square.4718mmtighttoo smalltight
GitHub profileShort, and worth its space for engineering roles.3616.4mmtighttoo smalltight

A personal domain wins on every measure: it is the shortest, so it prints smallest, and it is the only address here that you keep when a platform changes its URL scheme or your employer changes. If you have one, use it, even if it only redirects to LinkedIn.

Two variants worth knowing. A code that opens a pre-addressed email to you puts a subject line in the recruiter's draft, and a phone code is the smallest thing you can print, which matters when the margin is 15mm.

Whichever you choose, point it at a domain you keep. A CV outlives most profile URL schemes, and the reasons a printed code goes dead are set out on the permanent codes page.

Making It Look Deliberate

  • Keep it around 20mm and align it to something: the top of your name, the margin, the footer rule. An unaligned code reads as an afterthought.
  • Label it in two or three words. "Portfolio" or "See my work" is enough. An unlabelled code asks a stranger to scan an unknown link, which many people will not do.
  • Black on white. This is the one document where a brand colour buys you nothing and costs contrast on an office laser printer.
  • Leave the quiet zone. Do not tuck the code against a border or a photo, and never crop the white margin to save a few millimetres.
  • Print it and scan the print, on a phone that is not yours. This takes a minute and catches the failure that matters.

What This Does Not Do

  • No tracking of who scanned it. Recruiters would be scanning, and quietly logging them is a bad look for a first impression.
  • It does not host your portfolio. It encodes a link to wherever it already lives.
  • A code cannot be read by an applicant tracking system. Always print the address as text too.
  • If you want your details to land straight in a phone's contacts rather than opening a page, the contact card tool does that, at the cost of a noticeably larger code.

Resume QR Code Questions

Should you put a QR code on a resume?

Only if the CV will be printed or read on paper, and only pointing at something a recruiter benefits from opening. On a PDF read on screen a plain clickable link is better, because nobody scans their own monitor with their phone.

How big does a QR code need to be on a CV?

Around 20mm for a short link, which is about the height of two lines of body text. The measured minimum for each link form is on this page. Below its minimum the code will scan on your screen and fail on the printed copy in somebody's hand.

What should a resume QR code link to?

A personal site or a portfolio, ideally one you own. A LinkedIn profile is the common choice and it works. Avoid pointing it at a file download, which is a poor experience on a phone and looks like a security risk to a stranger.

Will an applicant tracking system read the QR code?

No. Tracking systems parse text, so a code is invisible to them and so is anything only reachable through it. Print the address as text next to the code so both a machine and a person can follow it.

Does a QR code on a CV look unprofessional?

It looks deliberate when it is small, aligned to the layout, and points somewhere worth going. It looks careless when it is oversized, unlabelled, or leads to a login wall. Print a two-word label beside it saying what it opens.

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