Creating a job resume can become pretty baffling at times; especially, when you are creating it for the first time. And, it’s no different for someone who’s looking to get into the field of graphic designing.

A winning graphic design resume needs to comply with the same set of parameters as any other job resume in order to get noticed.

Yes! You can always work on the aesthetics of the resume to make it eccentric but, there are some aspects of creating a job resume which need to be involved in order to get you hired (almost) immediately.

So, if you are a seasoned designer looking for a professional jump, or someone who’s planning to start a career in graphic designing, we bring you some very effective graphic design resume ideas that will certainly help you with your objectives.

Let go off of the ‘Objective’

A lot of things have changed with time; including the ‘objective’ section in your resume is one of them. Today, it’s not recommended to use this section; let alone starting your resume with it.

Rather, use a short professional summary that would define your skills, knowledge, and career aspirations.

Keep it to the point

Let’s be honest! No recruiter has the time to go through paragraphs over paragraphs of information about you. That’s something the face-to-face round of interviews is meant for.

For your resume, try and keep the information as crisp, short, and brief as possible.

If you are a fresher or hold a couple of years of work experience in the field of graphic designing, then your resume can very well be confined to one single page.

Focus on soft skills

When creating a graphic design resume you need to remember to always include your soft skills.

While job-related skills are important, today’s hiring managers are becoming more attuned to non-technical skills such as problem-solving, flexibility, and time management.

Highlight examples that illustrate how you put these types of skills into action.

Show your work as a proof

A very interesting observation about recruiters is that they want to see professional accomplishments in your resume to judge your candidature. And, that can be a daunting void for someone who’s a fresher.

But, you need not worry!

If you are an experienced designer, you should have a few accolades to mention in your resume and highlight them for the recruiters to see. However, even if you are a fresher you can highlight your personal work or design accomplishments during your graduation time.

Avoid clichés

Always remember that your job resume would first go through someone from an HR department who may not be as well-versed with graphic design terminologies as you are.

So, it is always a good practice to keep those terms to a minimum and use only where there’s no other replacement for the word.

You need to keep your graphic design resume simple and easy to understand by anyone.

Include a well-written cover letter      

The very first interaction between your prospect recruiter and you happens through your job resume which you may have emailed them, or they may have found it on a job search platform online.

In either case, it is the soft copy of your resume which a potential recruiter finds. This makes it very crucial to include a well-written cover letter along with your job resume in order to get the recruiters’ attention.

However, remember not to create a cover letter which is nothing but a detailed version of your resume.

A cover letter is supposed to be targeted vis-à-vis the business you’ve applied for.

Include only work-related information

Let’s face it! The recruiters are not interested in your hobbies or how old were you when you won your first essay competition.

Your resume is your professional bio-data and should strictly include your professional experience and skill level. It should, holistically, focus on the information that would strengthen your candidature for the profile you’ve applied for.

Proofread (several times)

This is inarguably one of the most important aspects to keep in mind when creating a graphic design resume.

Even a single grammatical error or a typing mistake can potentially cost you a good career opportunity.

Therefore it is always a good idea to proofread the overall content of your resume once you are done preparing it.

Resort to DIY

Design It Yourself! That’s exactly what we discussed at the very beginning of this article.

Consider it as an opportunity to show potential employers and clients a bit of your personality, both as a person and a designer.

You need to be smart with your choice of colors and typography.

A good idea while creating a graphic design resume is to use infographics. 

Include relevant keywords

Often, your job application is fetched from an online job search site by recruiters. Using relevant keywords in your resume can help it in being found easily when recruiters filter for the most relevant profiles for the job.

Use proper file format for sharing

Using the PDF format to share your resume with potential recruiters is a very helpful technique and a recommended idea.

Apart from the fact that it looks professional to share and receive a document in PDF format, it also helps with the compatibility challenges.

Practically everybody can open a PDF, and it’s going to look the same across the board no matter what.

Also, it is not a good idea to name your pdf file as generic as something like ‘resume.pdf’.

Use quality paper

As a designer, you’d be expected to take care of the overall aesthetics of your job resume. And, the quality of the paper that you choose to print your resume is a part of this aesthetic circle.

Using a high-quality piece of paper would feel different in the hands to the recruiter giving you an instant distinction from the rest.

Therefore, it is a good idea to focus on the quality of the paper as well.  

Get feedback from your peers

It’s worth having a second set of eyes review your resume irrespective of what job profile you are applying for. However, with a graphic design resume, it is all the more important since your resume would most likely be screened at first by someone who’s not from the field of graphic design.

This is also a good litmus test for whether or not your creativity is overwhelming your content. Ask the person reviewing your resume if it’s easy to read and understand.

Keep your options

It is highly recommended to have multiple versions of your resume in order to cater to different industry segments.

Additionally, having multiple resumes allows you to perform A/B testing to find out which of your resume designs get the best response. You can then optimize your resume accordingly in order to improve your chances of getting hired.

 

Keep it updated

The thing with a job resume is that it is never really complete or finished ever. As long as you are working and moving forward in your career, your resume also keeps updating. It is, therefore, always recommended to keep your resume up to date with the latest stage you are in your professional life.

Additionally, taking the time to update your resume helps to make you excited about your resume all over again.

To conclude…

Creating a graphic design resume is not rocket science, to be honest. All you need is a clear thought process and targeted approach while designing one. Of course, no amount of creativity can assure you a position with a firm or winning a client but, it certainly reflects your authenticity and credibility as a graphic designer. And, at the end of the day, that’s what really matters!

So, go ahead with these simple yet effective graphic design resume ideas and create your winning resume today.

You can, also,check out our portfolio to get some design inspirations.