Luke Sutton’s CV https://www.behance.net/gallery/12130339/CV-Portfolio-Booklet
Trying to find work as a graphic designer can be challenging. Sometimes it seems that whatever you do you simply can’t nail the right way of showcasing your abilities, experience, features that make you stand out from competitors.
Graphic design is a growing industry that doesn’t plan on stopping its ascension, so you should try and keep up with its constant development. A simple way to market yourself as a professional is creating a top-notch resume that will teach a potential employer everything there is to know about you as a graphic designer, without taking up too much of their time and bore them with excessive details.
Young designers often struggle with creating an effective resume. Most of us know the basic layout of a resume, what information should be mentioned, and what personal data we should share with the employer. However, being a graphic designer poses its own demands onto a CV, which should be addressed if you want to attract the right employer and present yourself as an experienced professional. Read below and learn how to make a CV pop!
Designer resume by Charlotte Allen https://www.behance.net/gallery/13497273/CV-Portfolio-Mailer
Remove These Features from Your Graphic Designer Resume
Most modern companies require the services of a graphic designer. However, choosing the right person is a painstaking search that calls for ruthless search and elimination.
Many companies do not take seriously designer’s CVs that contain:
- Archived portfolios.
Imagine the extra work that a potential employer will have to put into reading your resume. You should eliminate the need to download separate files, unpack and shuffle through them. Even if your works are awesome, such unnecessary steps will not be in your favor when an employer will be choosing between you and other candidates.
- Projects with big amounts of texts.
Even if you don’t have much practical experience, don’t include student projects with bulky text into your CV, regardless of how good they are. If you wish to include certain projects, edit them, so they are easy to review.
- Links to resources where an employer can learn more about the applicant.
The point of a resume is presenting an employer with all the necessary information about the candidate. If you post links to websites where employers can learn more about your work, you are forcing them to take an extra step, which is not necessary. You should include all the required information into your resume and cut back on the amount of work the employer must do in learning about you. However, this point does not cover separate portfolios – you can include links to them in your CV.
- Excessive imagery.
Many are wary of ultra-creative resumes that feature a lot of pictures, infographics, charts that designers often utilize to showcase their personal style and jazz up their CV. However, they often cause a bit of sensory overload and draw attention from important information – the applicant’s skills and experience.
https://elements.envato.com/cv-resume-MTCCD5Z?_ga=2.181296487.1732791518.1615391271-731594709.1615391271
10 Practical Tips to Get an Effective and Creative Resume
Take some time out of your day and look through your resume – maybe it needs some upgrading. Here are a few tips one can review before giving your CV another look:
- A good CV, even if you have tremendous experience, shouldn't be big. The time a recruiter will spend studying it probably will not exceed 2-3 minutes. If your CV features a presentation, it should not exceed 10 slides. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point.
- Before editing your resume, paint a picture of an employer in your head, and think about what they would like to see. Make them see how your design can elevate a brand. This is a good way to create a really effective resume.
- Remember to keep your resume interesting, evoke curiosity. Maybe you took an interesting course, worked with a famous company, got some professional practice abroad – if so, always mention it in your CV. Keep in mind that those who review resumes see dozens of them every day, and most of them blur together, so you should make yours stand out. How CV looks will showcase how good one is at creating strong graphic content that will go perfectly with the employer's content marketing strategies.
- If your potential employer works with foreign companies or customers – translate your resume into English. If you want to get a perfect translation without any mistakes, use the article rewriter tool or other software to help with perfecting text. It will look more professional and showcase language skills.
- Make sure your resume includes links to your social media, especially if it features your works – this is a good idea for designers as it can help employers form a better opinion about you if they wish to learn more personal information about you. You can also prepare an introductory video about yourself – it is highly beneficial nowadays when employees and applicants can not always meet face to face. You can utilize YouTube to your advantage and upload some educational video podcasts on graphic design – this will serve as extra proof of creativity and expertise.
- Don’t overdo the design of your CV – it is mainly a document, not a tool to express your creativity. It is better to showcase outside-the-box thinking in your portfolio. Don’t overfill CV with charts, infographics, etc. – keep it simple and easy to read.
- Showcase professionalism as a designer by organizing information in your resume correctly, using consistent formatting, spaces, etc.
- Stick to the truth – be clear about what you can and cannot do. Any false information will reveal itself when you start working, or maybe even during the interview. Even if you get the job, you will most likely have a probation period first, so if you lied in your resume there will be plenty of time for the truth to come out. If you are a beginner, simply state that you are excited to learn new things and eager to get practical experience.
- It's a good idea to highlight the skills one already mastered, as well as those they are currently working on and those which they want to develop later. This will show not just current expertise, but also plans for future growth. It's OK to talk about weaknesses – types of work that don’t give pleasure, that one wishes to abstain from. If such a section is included in a resume, one will save both their own and employer’s time on unnecessary interviews.
- Always update your resume for the company you are submitting it to. Consider the requirements they state in the vacancy and, if you meet them, indicate this in your resume. This will make an employer feel like you are perfect for the job and want to work specifically with their company. You can also browse other good ways to elevate your resume online.
Portfolio – Main Focus of Graphic Designer’s Resume
As opposed to most other professions, showcasing abilities as a graphic designer relies not just on words, but on providing visual proof of abilities. Remember that your job is not creating pretty images, but showing the employer how your design benefits product marketing.
You should always work on expanding and organizing your portfolio. It should be stylish, modern, easy to browse, and most importantly, showcase the best professional qualities, artistic taste, and style.
Stefanie Bruckler’s Design Portfolio
Source: https://www.creativebloq.com/career/design-resume-tips-11121145
Choose the best work for your portfolio. When making your choices, consider the employer’s target audience. If a portfolio is large, develop easy navigation. This is especially true for those designers who work in several fields at once. You can combine work by type (logos, labels, banners, and so on), by platform (online store, landing page, business card site, social media, by business area (construction, real estate, law, electronics, beauty industry, goods for children), etc.
Summing it Up
Being a designer means keeping all your creations unique and personal – and that includes your resume. For an employer to point you out, pick you from a myriad of other, sometimes more experienced, candidates, your CV must be flawless, engaging, attractive, and memorable. We hope that our tips will help you remaster your CV and make it truly outstanding!
Author’s byline:
Dorian Martin, an experienced writer and editor, is known for his remarkable expertise and a good eye for topics that need clarification. While working as a proofreader for several companies across the globe, Dorian developed the ability to create compelling articles that resonate with modern readers. Being an accomplished academic writer at Get Good Grade writing service, he can help you write the content of the highest quality. As a content writer and copywriting expert, Dorian has an extensive skillset that helps him always perform on top. You can get to know Dorian better through his Twitter account – https://twitter.com/DorianM29698360.
