How should you create a resume for a creative job?

Hi Pam,

Resume Samples For Creative Design Professionals:

A collection of real, high-quality professionally developed resume samples for creative design job-seekers. Provided at no cost.

View these resume samples on: https://www.livecareer.com/quintessential/creative-design-sample-resumes

Creative Design Resume Sample 1: this resume shows judicious use of colored type, bullets, interesting font.

Creative Design Resume Sample 2: this sample shows use of outline type, screen-tinted background graphic.

Creative Design Resume Sample 3: this sample resume shows creative use of white space, branded, logo-like treatment of designer’s name. Used with permission of Cory Smith.

Sample Chronological Resume: Creative Design: this chronological resume design — which boasts a bit of pizzazz — works well for creative professions, such as marketing and advertising.

Best of luck!

Hello Pam,
I m not exactly an expert but I can provide some advices here :)
this is a tricky excercice but there is a lot of idea/influence you can get from Pinterest. Creativity has to be your point.
my personnal advice:
- a simple resume that introduce yourself, your personnal brand, your value and goals. A one pager to promote yourself.
- having a/several digital books dedicated to topics or specialties but always focused and personnalized to your audience/recruiter
- my personnal to avoid : on your resume, do not mention software skills... you're creative, tools are only here to support or enhanced your work unless you apply to execute rather than create,

hope this will help!

Honestly speaking, it all depends whether you're submitting in person (mainly @ campus recruiting) or through online systems.
Most resumes are not read by humans :-) They are filtered first by the automated filtration process based on the content and keywords. This process specifically looks for keywords match from your resume with the job descriptions and skill set.

Point: Look and feel is nice to have but Content and keywords matching is MUST to get pass the round 1. Once you get to onsite, you can take fancy creative resume with you during the interview along with your portfolio of work.

Resume Tips for Creative Professionals

reference site: https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/resume-tips-creative-professionals

Creative Resume Design Dos and Don'ts

Burke says your resume should generate interest in you. "In the creative field, you have to serve as your own publicist, and your resume should serve as an example of your talent and reflect your personality."

Burke likes to see resumes use a distinctive type style that stands out yet is easy to read. Both she and Stites are impressed by resumes with elegant design and well-organized content. Cutesy graphics, unclear illustrations, cartoonish fonts, lots of colors and slanted type are all signs of an overdesigned resume -- definite resume don'ts.

Content Is Important, Too

Although design is a key factor, it's equally important to avoid falling into the "flash over substance" trap when writing your creative resume, say both recruiting professionals.

"Creative pros have to include quality content in their resumes as well," says Burke. "It can't be just about the design." (See a resume sample for a graphic designer.)

Also, avoid gimmicks. Yes, you're in a creative field, but rolling your resume up inside a balloon or stuffing your presentation envelope with confetti are not the right ways to showcase your talent.

What to Include in Your Resume

A Career Chronology: Show the names of employers/key accounts and dates of employment. "Not including dates or places where they've worked is one of the most commonly made mistakes by creatives," Stites says. She adds that freelancers often forget to include the names of a few clients.

"The resume ‘wow' factor for me comes with work experience," says Stites, who wants to see where candidates have worked so she can evaluate the relevance of their experience to her jobs and clients.

Burke concurs, explaining that when she conducts the initial screening of the average 100 or so resumes she receives each month, "where you've worked is more important to me than what you've worked on." In addition, she advises freelancers to differentiate freelance work from full-time employment to avoid the misperception of job-hopping.

A List of Your Publications and/or Awards: Stites says she is continually surprised by how often creative professionals fail to include these.

Your Education: "A degree in graphic design or anything relevant to your creative field should certainly be highlighted, and this is even more important if you are a recent graduate," says Stites.

Computer Skills: "If these aren't listed, I'm going to assume you don't have these skills versus the other way around," Stites says. "It's also important to include whether your background is Macintosh, PC or both."
Your Portfolio

Although it's OK to include brief project and accomplishment highlights on the resume, Burke and Stites agree that in creative fields, the proof is in the portfolio.

"This is where you prove your value," says Burke. "Portfolios that impress me most are well-organized and well-thought out. A portfolio should tell a story as opposed to being just a random sampling of pieces. You can also design your portfolio as a case study, and this is where you can include your accomplishments, such as outcomes/results of campaigns you've worked on, if known."

Portfolios are so important that Stites advises recent graduates to concentrate first on building their book versus focusing on salary. "Do volunteer or nonprofit work at first to build your portfolio,” she recommends. “Create some real-world samples of your work." Class work or projects completed during internships are also good ways to build an initial portfolio.