Fixing those things employers hate about your CV
There’s so much ego flying around about what makes a good design CV, but rarely are people given actionable advice on how to improve.
This article is a response to
’s article, 6 things I hate about your design CV. In it, he discusses a bunch of issues that a lot of recruiters face when sifting through designer CVs. Whilst most of it was valid, I felt it important to offer a way to improve these if you’re stuck staring at an InDesign document wondering where you’re going wrong.This is not an attempt to disrespect Rory’s initial article, but extend the points to offer useful solutions to the hard problem of writing a CV.
1. Skills charts
This is the magnum opus of design CV criticism.
You know what? I had a skills chart in my CV when I was 22, and you know what else? It got me a job.
With only a year’s worth of experience in the industry, there was only so much padding I could add to my day to day work that would be valuable reading. The way around this, for a lot of people, is to demonstrate an understanding of your own skills. This is great.
Having a clear grasp of what you can and cannot do is essential for hiring managers to understand how you can fit into a role.
Remember, your CVs are looked at for minutes at a time, not read like books. It’s why having a quick drill-down of your skillset is actually valuable. Yes, I know, the charts don’t make literal or mathematical sense, but if you’re being hired for an email designer and you don’t mention your expertise in this field, it allows the interviewer to skip past you.
Suggestions
Try to avoid charts, but bear in mind that a snapshot of your skillset is invaluable. I suggest using a ‘power statement’. For example,
Luis Ouriach — Sydney-based designer and front end developer.
Or,
Bilbo Baggins — Web designer, specialising in HTML emails.
Or,
Tom Bones — Remote videographer, producer and networker.
That should tell the interviewer enough about how you view your skillset and what it is you want to be doing.
2. Making your CV in Photoshop
I remember sending a Photoshop PDF CV for a job once, and I wasn’t batted down to the ground by an arrogant hiring manager, but politely reminded that designed CVs should ideally be below 1mb.
Did I know that before? No. Are junior designers told this before applying for most jobs? No.
It’s our job, as designers with experience, to let those applying what we expect to receive. Just imagine how valuable it is for someone to know that you only accept PDF CVs under 2.5mb. It sets boundaries, boundaries that can be followed and this precedent is what the designer will take with them throughout their career.
We’re not told what CVs should look like at university.
With regards to copying and pasting details, this is a problem, but one that can be skirted for the right candidate. I’m assuming the person has applied either via email, with their name and address, or via a jobs board, with the same info attached.
Suggestions
Don’t be bound by tools. It’s your job to impress with an application so whether you send me a Sketch file or an infographic or a coded website, if it tells me quickly why I should hire you, you’re in.
3. Mentioning how proficient you are at Microsoft Office
This is a toughie, and culturally dependent. We’re currently hiring a product manager and noticed that a lot of the CVs have included this as a skill. Whilst this might seem laughable for a lot of people, some institutions, courses, and cultural backgrounds really value the importance of being able to operate and manage documents.
Whilst I personally don’t understand the value, if you list job requirements on the specification that hint at being able to use documents to an expert level, you should expect to see this kind of thing.
Suggestions
Read the job spec. If you’re not applying for a role that specifies your document excellence, leave it out. Being good at Office / Docs / Paper / Keynote is now taken as a given in most positions, but not something you’ll be needing every day of your job. Leave this for the interview stage if it’s really something you’re either proud of or feel necessary for the role. Maybe you use documents in a different way to manage projects, in which case this is worth bringing up.
4. Any more than a sentence about your job at Costa Coffee
As I mentioned in point 1, juniors (or those just starting out) struggle to list relevant experience, so have to rely on other work to prove worth.
Although I agree that irrelevant experience should be left off of CVs, you still need to show that you have practical experience.
Suggestions
If your experience is limited, I’d suggest pursuing a personal project. This way, you can mention your challenges, successes and learnings. Working at Costa is probably not what we’re interested in hearing about, but know that you can work in a team and deliver projects on time is actually very valuable.
5. Listing your GCSE results in full
Agreed, this is not useful.
Unless you planning on starting work straight from school. If you’re a plucky 16 year old that is eager to start working as a designer, the employer really does have nothing other than your school results to prove your value.
Suggestions
If you’re starting out earlier than most and aren’t planning on pursuing higher education, list your school qualifications. But keep them brief. 4 As, 3Bs 4Cs will suffice, rather than each subject broken down one by one.
6. This template
The issue here isn’t that people are copying something, but that the argument is that you’re not a proper designer.
Firstly, a designer is there to solve problems and an artist is there to make things pretty without thinking of the user first. If you’re a rock solid UX designer who prefers working on research and don’t necessarily have the flourish of a finished artist, by all means use a template.
Secondly, I can understand why people use certain templates. Being validated by download numbers, you are ‘knowing’ that what you’re using is of good enough quality to apply your own experience to. This is a catch 22 situation, in that as a hiring manager you want your employees to be plucky and fast thinking, yet you also want them to push the needle.
Suggestions
If you aren’t confident enough in your own design skills to produce a work of art, make it plain text and rely on your core layout and writing skills to showcase your talent. If you fancy a challenge, design the whole thing yourself.
There we have it, a hopefully useful list of suggestions for those of you struggling to write your design CV.
Hit me up in the comments if you would like to agree / disagree / extend any of the points.
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