Links to your LinkedIn profile, portfolio or GitHub can strengthen an application. But how you add them decides whether they survive the trip through an applicant tracking system.
What happens to a link during parsing
A hyperlink has two parts: the visible text and the address behind it. Resume parsers extract text, so they generally keep the visible part and often lose the address. If your resume says Portfolio with a link underneath, your candidate profile may contain only the word "Portfolio", with nowhere to go.
Risky vs safe ways to add links
| Risky | Safe |
|---|---|
| "LinkedIn" as linked text | linkedin.com/in/janedoe |
| "My GitHub" as linked text | github.com/janedoe |
| A LinkedIn icon with a link | The URL written out as text |
| "Click here to see my work" | janedoe.design/case-studies |
| A long URL with tracking codes | The short, clean address |
Keep them clickable for people
Writing the URL as text does not stop it from being a link. In Word or Google Docs, select the written URL and add the hyperlink to it. The ATS keeps the readable address, and a recruiter who opens your file can still click it.
Which links to include
- LinkedIn: almost always, with the URL customized to your name.
- Portfolio or personal website: for design, writing, marketing and other creative roles.
- GitHub or a similar profile: for technical roles, if it shows relevant work.
- Publications or projects: only when they support the job.
Two to four links is plenty. Leave out the https://www. part to keep them short, and make sure every link works and is public.
Email addresses
Write your email address in full as plain text. Adding a mailto link to it is fine, because the visible text is the address itself.
Where to put your links
Put them in your contact block in the main body of the page, not in the header or footer, which some parsers skip. See why headers and footers are risky, and check the rest of your formatting with the ATS-friendly resume checklist.