In today’s digital age, having an online presence is crucial for job seekers. An online resume allows you to showcase your skills, experience, and personality to potential employers across the world. Website builders provide an easy way to create an effective online resume without needing to know any coding. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk through the entire process of building your resume website using these user-friendly builders.
Benefits of an Online Resume
An online resume provides many advantages over a traditional paper resume:
- Broader reach – Your resume is available globally, allowing you to apply for jobs anywhere in the world. Employers can find you through search engines and LinkedIn.
- More details – You aren’t restricted by page limits, so you can elaborate more on your experiences, skills, and projects. You can even include multimedia like photos, videos, presentations, portfolios etc.
- Trackable – You can include analytics to see how many people viewed your resume, what content interested them, and monitor the employer traffic.
- Customizable – You can tailor your resume easily for each application by reorganizing sections, adding/removing content.
- Professional image – A well-designed online resume showcases your tech-savviness.
- Cost-effective – Building your resume website is much cheaper than designing and printing paper resumes.
- Live and updateable – You can constantly make changes to your online resume to keep it updated.
Choosing the Right Website Builder
With so many website builders out there, how do you pick the right one for your online resume? Here are key factors to consider:
- Purpose-built for resumes – Some builders like Resumonk and Zety are designed specifically for resume websites. They provide readymade sections, themes and customizations for resumes.
- Simplicity – Pick a builder which is straightforward to use without extensive learning curve. You don’t need complex functions meant for full websites.
- Customizability – Choose a builder which offers enough themes, layouts, fonts and color schemes to let you design your resume as per your liking without coding.
- Mobile responsiveness – Your resume must be optimized for mobile devices as most people will view it on phones. So the builder must make mobile-friendly websites.
- Budget – Consider free or low-cost builders if you have budget constraints. However, free ones may limit features and customizations.
- employer analysis – Some builders integrate analytics to reveal who viewed your resume and for how long. This provides useful insights.
- Hosting features – Many builders provide free web hosting for the resume. Some also handle domain registration.
- Customer support – Pick a builder with responsive technical support via phone, chat or email to resolve issues.
After evaluating different options, I have shortlisted the top three website builders ideal for online resumes.
Top 3 Recommended Builders
Based on the criteria mentioned above, these three website builders stand out for building resume websites:
1. Resumonk
Resumonk is designed exclusively for professional resume websites. Their sole focus on resumes shines through in the varied customization options and features tailored for resume building.
Key features:
- Inbuilt resume sections with preloaded content
- 100+ resume themes and color palettes
- Options for columns, text, fonts and margins
- Drag and drop reorganization of sections
- Downloadable as PDF
- Analytics to see visitor details
- Free basic hosting
- Chrome extension for quick updates
Pricing: Free and paid plans starting $6 per month
2. Zety
Zety is another resume-focused website builder with powerful customizations and professional resume samples.
Key features:
- Zety resume assistant provides content suggestions
- 70+ customizable resume designs
- Collaborate with other users to improve resume
- Track opens, clicks and comments on your resume
- Identify hiring patterns with analytics
- Auto-save prevents data loss
- Embed portfolio work using Zety’s widget
Pricing: Free and paid plans starting $6 per month
3. Wix
Wix is popular for full websites but also works great for online resumes. It provides more design flexibility and features than typical resume builders.
Key features:
- 500+ customizable templates
- Drag and drop editor with no coding
- Mobile responsive designs
- SEO tools to optimize web content
- Forms, blogs, galleries and videos can be embedded
- Free domain name for 1 year
- Wix Blog lets you highlight thought leadership
- Connect social media channels
Pricing: Free and paid plans starting $14 per month
These were my top recommendations after evaluating 20+ website builders. Let’s now see how to use these builders to make a professional online resume.
Building Your Resume with Resumonk
I will explain the step-by-step process of building your resume website using Resumonk as it is purpose-built for resumes.
Step 1) Sign up for an account
Go to Resumonk.com and click on “Get Started Now”. You can register using your email, Facebook or Google account. The signup process is quick without lengthy questionnaires.
Once signed up, you will be redirected to the Resumonk dashboard.
Step 2) Select a resume template
Click on “Build my resume” to start designing your resume. You can browse through the gallery of resume templates categorized by industry and style. Or click on “Start from scratch” to begin with a blank template.
Identify a template that closely matches your preferred design. Then customize it further as needed.
Step 3) Fill out the resume sections
The resume editor will open up with preloaded sections like Summary, Work Experience, Skills etc. All you have to do is fill in the right content for each section.
Replace the placeholder text with information tailored to your professional profile. Expand or reduce sections as per relevance. You can rearrange sections by dragging and dropping them in the left menu.
Step 4) Enhance resume design
Now refine the look and feel of your resume as per your brand. Resumonk provides ample customization options under the Design tab:
- Change colors for backgrounds, fonts, icons
- Alter fonts, sizes and spacing
- Replace default icons with your own photos
- Enable or disable borders and dividers
- Add custom CSS or JavaScript
Keep previewing on desktop and mobile to ensure legibility. The editor automatically saves all changes.
Step 5) Add finishing touches
With the content and design finalized, add any remaining elements to your resume page:
- Embed a professional profile photo at the top
- Include a call-to-action with your contact information
- Add logos of top companies you’ve worked at
- Hyperlink key achievements or publications
- Insert icons to highlight areas of expertise
- Enable social media buttons
Step 6) Publish your resume
Once ready, publish your online resume with one click. You can preview it live to experience the final version.
Resumonk instantly generates a unique link for your resume. You can choose to make the resume public or private.
And just like that, your resume website is ready! You can further enhance it by adding custom domain, analytics, blog etc.
Building Your Resume with Zety
Let’s see how the process works on Zety, another top resume builder:
Step 1) Create an account
Go to zety.com, click on “Sign Up” and enter your email and password to register. Zety offers the option to import your LinkedIn data to prefill the resume.
Step 2) Pick a template
Zety provides readymade templates tailored for different industries, like tech, finance, healthcare etc. Browse through and select one aligning closest to your field.
You can always customize it further as required. Click on “Use This Template” when you’ve finalized the template.
Step 3) Populate resume sections
The resume editor will open with different sections on the left sidebar. Start filling in your career details, qualifications, skills, accomplishments etc. in the relevant sections.
Replace the placeholder text with the actual content. Change, add or remove sections as needed.
Step 4) Revise and enhance resume
Now you can tailor the resume design and content:
- Zety provides smart content suggestions. Accept relevant ones.
- Change text formatting using options in the editor.
- Modify structure by adding, deleting or moving sections around.
- Preview on mobile view to check responsiveness.
- Add multimedia content like charts, videos or PDFs.
Keep revising till you are completely satisfied. Zety will autosave your progress.
Step 5) Finalize resume design
Go to the Design tab on the left sidebar. Here you can:
- Change layouts, colors, fonts of resume sections
- Pick from graphical headers, dividers and icons
- Show or hide borders around content
- Enable dark mode for modern look
- Add your own logos or watermarks
Keep the overall design consistent throughout the resume. Avoid clutter.
Step 6) Publish and share
Once ready, click on “Publish” and your resume will go live. You can preview how it looks.
You will get a custom URL to share your resume. Opt for public or private access.
That’s it! You now have an online resume with Zety that looks impressive and professional.
Building Your Resume with Wix
Now let’s explore creating an online resume using Wix, the popular website builder:
Step 1) Create a free account
Go to Wix.com and click on “Get Started”. Sign up with your email or Google account.
Verify your account and choose the website purpose as “Resume” when prompted.
Step 2) Search for resume templates
The Wix editor will open. Click on “Explore Templates” to browse options.
Search for “Resume” in templates and select one you like. There are plenty of professional designs to choose from.
Step 3) Customize the template
Now customize the style of your selected template:
- Change background colors and images
- Modify text formatting like fonts, sizes and alignment
- Add your own logos, icons or graphics
- Rearrange, add or delete content blocks
- Ensure the design fits with your personal brand
Step 4) Build resume sections
With the framework ready, start creating key resume sections within the content blocks:
- Add an engaging ‘About Me’ summary statement
- List work experience in reverse chronological order
- Highlight core skills and proficiencies
- Include education qualifications and certifications
- Embed multimedia samples from projects or portfolio
Step 5) Enhance design
Use Wix’s advanced design features to further refine the resume:
- Change layout across devices using the mobile editor
- Animate page elements for visual impact
- Add custom CSS or HTML code
- Embed videos, PDFs or presentations
- Enable dark mode for modern look
Keep optimizing for mobile responsiveness and faster load speeds.
Step 6) Connect domain and publish
Link a custom domain to your Wix resume. For example www.yourname.com
Once set up, click “Publish” to make your resume live online!
Share the link or embed it on your existing websites. Your online resume is complete and will help attract more job offers.
Tips for an Outstanding Online Resume
Follow these tips to make your resume website truly stand out and represent you in the best light possible:
- Craft an Impactful Headline – Create an impressive tagline highlighting your specialization under your name to capture attention.
- Showcase Your Best Achievements – List measurable accomplishments from each role. Use facts and data to quantify your contributions.
- Optimize For SEO – Use target keywords in headings and content to get found by recruiters.
- Improve Readability – Break up text into smaller paragraphs. Use bullet points and lists. Left align text.
- Demonstrate Skills – Structure your skills section strategically. Validate proficiencies with certifications or examples.
- Attractive Design – Use colors, fonts, layouts, multimedia effectively to design an aesthetically pleasing resume.
- Consistent Branding – Maintain the same color scheme, fonts, tone on your resume and other profiles.
- Check for Errors – Proofread carefully. Review on multiple devices to catch issues. Fix any bugs.
Follow these best practices and your resume website will impress recruiters and help you land more interviews!
Conclusion
An impressive online resume provides a major edge in your job search. Website builders make it easy for anyone to create one without technical expertise. Follow the step-by-step guidance in this guide to design your own resume website using recommended platforms like Resumonk, Zety and Wix.
Remember to customize your resume for each application and keep updating it regularly. A well-crafted online resume will boost your chances of getting hired by your dream company!