A student or graduate website that recruiters actually read

What a recruiter or tutor wants to know

1. Who are you, and what are you studying or have you studied? Name, course, university, graduation date.
2. What are you looking for? Internship, graduate role, part-time job, research position, or a place on a course.
3. When are you available? A date or a range.
4. What can you do? Skills they can check, backed by projects.
5. What have you made or achieved? Projects, results, awards, responsibilities.
6. How do I contact you, and can I see your CV? A professional email, a LinkedIn link and a downloadable CV.

What to put on the page

Show projects that persuade

A project description should let a stranger understand what you did in 30 seconds. Use a simple pattern: the problem, what you did, what you used, and the result or what you learned.

Library queue tracker
A web app that shows how busy the university library is, so students can choose when to go.
My part: I built the back end and the counting logic with two teammates.
Tools: Python, a small database, and a simple web interface.
Result: Used by about 300 students in the first term; it cut the time people spent queuing at peak hours.
Link: github.com/example/library-tracker

• Be honest about your part in group work. “With two teammates, I built…” is more credible than “I built”.
• Include links people can check: a repository, a document, a live demo, a published piece.
• Choose projects that match the roles you want, and put the most relevant first.
• If you can show a number, show it, and say how you know it.
• Short and finished beats long and unfinished.

If you have no job experience

You have more evidence than you think. Anything where you were responsible for something real counts.

• Coursework projects, dissertations and group assignments, described as projects.
• Society, club and committee roles: what you organised, how many people, what changed.
• Volunteering, tutoring, part-time jobs, family businesses.
• Competitions, hackathons, case challenges, moots and debates.
• Self-taught work: things you built, wrote or designed for yourself.
• Languages and certifications, stated accurately.

A website and a CV together

• Many employers ask for a CV or application form, and their systems read plain text. Keep a clean, text-based CV and offer it as a download from your page.
• Make the page and the CV agree: same dates, same job titles, same spelling.
• Use the page to say more than the CV can: projects, links, a short introduction in your own words.
• Put your web address in your CV, your LinkedIn profile and your email signature.
• Keep your LinkedIn profile consistent with your page. See do you still need a website if you have LinkedIn?.

What to keep private

• Home address, date of birth and any national ID or student numbers: leave them off. Add your city or region if useful.
• Phone number: optional. An email address and a LinkedIn link are enough, and a booking link is better still.
• Photograph: customs differ. In some countries, such as the UK and the US, applicants often leave photographs off to avoid bias; in others, including parts of Europe and India, they are common. Follow the norm for where you apply, and use a clear, simple, professional photograph if you include one.
• Other people’s details: do not name or show friends, tutors or employers without permission.
• Anything you would not want an employer to read, including old public posts.

Choosing what to be called

• Use your real name, as on your CV and LinkedIn, in the page title: “Mia Thompson, Computer Science Graduate in Manchester”.
• Use a professional email address with your name.
• If you share a name with someone else, add your field or university.
• Use the same name and spelling everywhere, so search engines and recruiters can find you.

Common mistakes

• A page that lists every module and no projects.
• Skills with no evidence: “team player”, “hard-working”.
• A personal email like “partyking99@…”.
• A broken link, or a project that no longer exists.
• Out-of-date dates, or “available from” a date that has passed.
• Publishing your address, birth date or ID numbers.
• No way to contact you, or no CV.
• A huge page of text instead of a short, clear one.

For ready-made sections for students, see websites for students.

Where BeVisible fits

BeVisible has a setup for students and recent graduates with “Skills”, “Education & experience”, “Projects & work”, “Awards & activities” and “Recommendations” sections, features for what you are open to, your availability and your degree, and a CV that visitors can download. You can build and preview free, and publish free for 7 days with no card needed; after that one yearly plan keeps a website online, and one plan covers one website. Start from a photo or type your details.