A link is easier to share than an attachment. It fits in a WhatsApp message, an Instagram bio, an email signature, or the “Website” box on an application form. There are three common ways to get one. Each has a catch.
1. Google Drive
If you already have your CV as a PDF and a Google account, this takes two minutes.
- Upload the PDF to Google Drive.
- Open the file's menu and choose Share.
- Under General access, change “Restricted” to “Anyone with the link”.
- Copy the link.
Check it. Open the link in a private or incognito window. If it asks you to sign in or request access, step 3 didn't save, and that's what everyone you send it to would see.
The catches. The link is long and random, so you can't say it out loud or type it from memory. On a phone it opens Drive's file viewer, which can ask people to install the Drive app. And if you update your CV by uploading a new file, the old link still shows the old CV. Drive can replace a file and keep its link (look for “Manage versions”), but it's easy to miss.
2. Your LinkedIn profile
Your profile address looks like linkedin.com/in/yourname, and you can shorten the end of it in your profile settings. Recruiters use LinkedIn a lot, so it's worth keeping up to date either way.
The catches. People who aren't signed in to LinkedIn often see only part of your profile and a prompt to join. It's also LinkedIn's layout, not your CV: there's no way to choose what shows first, and it sits next to ads and other people's profiles.
3. A CV website
The third option is a page that is just your CV, at an address with your name in it. Some people build one themselves. Tools like folia (which is what this site is) do it for you: you fill in your details and get folia.work/yourname.
What that gets you over the other two:
- A short address you can say out loud or put on a business card.
- When you paste it in WhatsApp or iMessage, the preview shows your photo, name and role.
- It opens as a normal page on any phone, with nothing to sign in to or download.
- You can change it whenever you like, and every link you've already sent shows the new version.
The catch. It's one more thing to keep up to date. Some application forms also insist on a file upload, so keep a PDF too. On folia you can download a one-page PDF of your page for that.
Wherever your link lives, put it everywhere
- At the top of your PDF CV, next to your phone number and email.
- In your email signature.
- In the Website field of your LinkedIn contact info.
- In your Instagram, TikTok or WhatsApp bio, if you're looking for work.
- In the “Portfolio” or “Website” box on job applications.
Whichever option you pick, test the link on your phone while signed out of everything. That's how most people will see it.