Jobs a link field does better than a text box
In a hiring form, a portfolio link says more than any self-description. A designer who pastes a working link has already passed the first filter.
In a bug report, «the checkout page» could be any of five pages. A pasted address removes the guessing and saves a round of questions.
Contractor and partner forms are the third case: a website address lets you check a company before the first call.
There is one case where a link is the wrong tool: private documents. A CV behind a sharing link may expire or require access rights, and you find out only when you click it weeks later. For files the respondent owns, a file upload keeps a copy with the response.
Make the field optional when not everyone has something to show. A junior candidate without a portfolio should still be able to apply, and an empty required field only teaches people to paste any link at all.
How to phrase a request for a link
- Link to your portfolio or recent work
- Paste the address of the page where the error appeared
- Your company website
Say which link you want. «Your link» gets you a mix of profiles, websites and file shares.
Placeholder, validation and the results view
Besides the question text, the block has one setting: the placeholder. By default the empty field shows https://example.com, which quietly reminds people to paste the full address.
The field is a URL input, so a phone keyboard offers the slash and dot keys. If the answer is not a valid address, the respondent sees «Enter a valid link» and fixes it before moving on.
In the results the links are grouped by domain, with the six most common shown, plus sample answers. For a hiring form this shows at a glance where candidates keep their work.
What you can set
- hint inside the empty field