So you want to be a designer.
As we all know, applying for a new job has many mundane, requisite tasks. You need to write a cover letter, find references, scour the internet for postings, and make sure those slacks still fit. You know the drill.
But what do you do with your resume when you’re searching for a high-paying graphic design job? Maybe you’ve just graduated from college with a design degree, and your last three jobs were at Starbucks, a summer position at an amusement park, and your uncle’s landscaping company.
Maybe, on the other hand, you have five years of valuable graphic design experience, but you’re struggling to communicate your professionalism, experience with executive-level business, and your ability to manage large projects along with your design skills.
How do you make it clear to your new employer that you’re ready to jump into a high-responsibility position? That you are the ideal applicant to their business, even if you haven’t held a full-time design job before? Are you ready for the answer?
By showing yourself as a results-oriented designer.
As a results-oriented designer, you’re focused on creating work that makes a difference for the organization. It’s less about your design skills and more about your ability to understand the message that you’re communicating and bring your audience to action.
Rather than trying to adjust your credentials to perfectly match the qualifications in a job posting, use your resume as an opportunity to showcase yourself as a unique choice for the organization. Don’t list experience that you don’t have, and don’t shy away from the knowledge that you do have.
You have plenty of room in your portfolio and cover letter, as well as during your interview, to communicate your design skills. While those pieces should show what you can be for an organization, your resume should showcase who you are right now.
More often than not, your interviewer will ask you about the positions you have listed on your resume. When this happens, speak highly about your past job requirements and employers. This will show that you’re flexible, that you transition through significant life changes well, and that you have professional background experience that other designers, maybe even no one else in their organization, has.
As you’re crafting your resume, focus on 2 simple rules:
- Say it, don’t spray it.
- Be honest.
Say it, don’t spray it.
You know what it’s like to be around someone who is just a bit too eager to share about themselves, to over-tell stories, and to justify every decision they make. Focus on your strengths and keep it simple. List your qualifications, skills, work experience, and education, and say nothing more.
The philosophy that underlies this can be summed up in the phrase, “never complain; never explain.” Rather than try to explain why your work experience doesn’t exactly line up with the listed job qualifications or bend backward to make an employer see how your background as a beautician will make you a great employee, let it speak for itself.
Less is more, and your interviewer will draw more positive conclusions from your concise, honest presentation than they would from an over-written, over-explained excuse for yourself.
Be honest.
Being honest is a multi-faceted endeavor. In the first sense, it means that you shouldn’t overstate your qualifications. Demonstrate precisely what you know, where you’ve been, and where you’re headed.
If it didn’t happen, don’t put it there.
In the other sense, however, you must feel free to be honest! Whatever you do, don’t downplay your past experience! If you were a cashier at a local grocery store every summer, but you had the highest items per minute and minimal discrepancies when you cashed out at the end of your shift, throw that bad boy in there.
9 times out of 10, your employer is looking for a team player who will go the distance for the company, work hard, and step up to the plate when the crap hits the fan. In my personal experience, I once got a job because I was very confident about my experience. The hiring manager actually told me that the interviewers initially thought I was a bit too confident but ended up valuing that as I communicated clearly that my background experience made me a more well-rounded contributor.
If you have performed well in other positions, even if it seems unrelated to your new job, don’t leave it out!
Here’s the bottom line; in the business world, even in creative businesses, most hiring managers are looking for good employees. Even if they found the next DaVinci, they probably wouldn’t hire him, because he rarely showed up to work and consistently finished projects a year late! So use your portfolio to communicate yourself as an artist, and use your resume to demonstrate yourself as an outstanding employee. Write me if it doesn’t work. It will.
What’e the next step? Pair your results-oriented resume with a powerful portfolio. Sign up for our free course — “3 Steps to a Powerful Portfolio.” You’ll learn how to optimize your portfolio, make impressions, and get hired.
