Which code where
| Job | Code type | Static or dynamic | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio or work samples | URL | Dynamic | Top right, first page |
| LinkedIn profile | URL | Dynamic | Top right, first page, or in the contact block |
| Video introduction | URL | Dynamic | Contact block, where the role suits it |
| Links page (all of the above) | URL | Dynamic | Top right, first page |
| Contact card | vCard | Static | Printed CVs handed over in person |
The portfolio
For a designer, a developer, a writer or an architect, the work matters more than the CV, and the CV’s job is to get the reader to the work. A code beside your contact details that opens the portfolio does that in one movement, from the printed page in an interview or the PDF open on a second screen.
Make it dynamic. A job search can run for months, and the portfolio changes. A dynamic code means the PDF you sent in March still points at the work you finished in June. Point it at the portfolio’s front page, not one project, so it stays right.
Where the profile is the record, for example in sales, recruitment or management, a code to the profile saves the reader typing a long address. Print the address in text as well, so the ATS and the human both have it. The LinkedIn type page covers the address format and what happens on a phone without the app.
If you want the portfolio and the profile both available, use one dynamic code to a short links page rather than two codes. Two codes on a CV look like an advert.
The video introduction
A short video introduction lets a reader hear you before the phone screen. It suits roles where speaking is the job and it is a risk everywhere else, because a video invites judgements a CV does not. If you use one, keep it under a minute, host it on a page you control, and make the code dynamic so you can replace the video or take it down.
Getting the A4 code right
- Position: top right of the first page, in the contact block, where a photo would sit. Not in the footer or the margin.
- Size: 2 to 2.5 cm. The reader holds the page at 30 to 40 cm or views it on a screen. The size calculator confirms it.
- Contrast: black on the white page. No colour, no tinted background. It should look like part of the document.
- Level M. A CV lives in a folder and on a screen; it does not need level H, and the extra modules make it denser.
- Export: save the CV as PDF with the code as a vector, not a pasted screenshot. The export formats guide explains which format to place.
- Words: “Portfolio” or “See my work” beneath it, and the web address in text beside or below it.
- Screens: many readers will scan the code from a laptop screen with their phone. That works if the code is 2 cm or more at 100 percent zoom.
Do this
A 2.2 cm level M black-on-white code in the top right of page one, 'Portfolio' beneath it, the web address in text beside it, exported as a vector in the PDF, pointing at a dynamic link to the portfolio front page.
Not this
A 1.5 cm code in a brand teal in the footer of page two, no label, pasted in as a screenshot, pointing at one project page that was taken down when the client changed their site.
In practice
Open the PDF on a laptop at 100 percent, scan the code with your phone from where you would sit, then print the page and scan it again. Both must work in under two seconds. If either fails, go a size up or shorten the link.
Do not replace the details
The code is an extra route. Every piece of information a reader or a system needs, name, phone, email, location, LinkedIn address and portfolio address, stays in text on the page. An ATS ignores images. A printed CV photocopied by an HR team may lose the code. A recruiter skimming for thirty seconds does not scan anything. The code rewards the reader who is already interested; the text does the work for everyone else.
Privacy note
Your CV is passed around. Do not put your home address or date of birth in a code or on the page behind it, and check that the portfolio does not reveal a current employer’s confidential work. A dynamic code lets you take the destination down when the search is over.
Try it yourself
Paste your portfolio address into the payload builder and check the code it produces at 2 cm. Make it dynamic in QR Studio so the PDF you send today still points at your latest work in six months.