Tips for designing the perfect CV
Your CV is one of your best marketing tools. The goal of your CV is to tell your individual story in a compelling way that drives prospective employers to want to meet you. In today’s competitive job market, a well-designed CV stands out from the crowd and indicates to employers that you have something extra to bring to the table.
Here’s my advice to graphic designers trying to get their CV to the top of the pile:
- You can use Microsoft Word if you’re applying for a secretarial position, but if you’re after a design job or something creative, its limited layout options won't cut it. Art directors will be paying close attention to the layout of your CV as much as the content, so use InDesign or even Illustrator to design something special. Whatever program you use to design your CV in, PDF is the best format to supply it in. This enables you to create good-looking documents that are completely cross-platform.
- Brand yourself. Make yourself memorable. Your CV is seen by a creative, not the accountants. ‘Wow’ them.
- Keep your CV short and sweet. Edit out qualifications and details that are irrelevant to the role. You’ll find that editing your text down to fill just one page can be tricky, but it’s well worth it you’ll appear concise, organized and you’ll also be highlighting only the most important, and best, information about yourself. This is going to make your CV easy-to-digest and a doddle to print.
- For design positions, touches of color are an acceptable way to add a discreet personal touch. Use color carefully, however, and don't go over the top. Green type on a yellow page will stand out for all the wrong reasons. You should also use fonts wisely in your CV. You should stick to simple, readable fonts.
- Infographic design details are a great way of introducing a more unique look to your CV, while looking data-driven and professional. Try transforming your list of past jobs into an experience timeline, ordered chronologically. Use graphic icons to represent different skills or hobbies. Use the shape tools in your design software of choice to create simple charts and graphs to represent your language skills or software experience. Always keep your colors pared-back, neutral and minimal. With all those graphic elements going on, you’ll want to keep the design looking ultra-professional.
- As a minimum, your CV should include your name and contact details, including your email address, phone number and online portfolio URL. This should be followed by a breakdown of your work experience, then your education. In both cases, this should be most recent first. Work experience should include dates, job title and a brief synopsis of your role. References are generally optional.
- A surprising number of graduates see an inspiring CV design concept and copy it. We all have access to the same internet, and if a particularly inventive CV design has caught your eye, there's a strong chance it's been shared within the industry and will have caught the eye of your potential employer, too. Your CV should showcase your creativity.
- Your CV will need to be accompanied by a cover letter. This should look formal and business-like: this isn't the place to showcase your creativity and imagination. The text should complement the CV and it's best to keep it short and to the point.
- If you're applying for a job as a designer, does it matter how well you write? The simple answer is yes. Spelling and grammar mistakes will make you appear uneducated, ignorant and/or lazy – and none of these represent the image you're trying to convey. So, always double-check your grammar and spelling, and get others to check it too.