Graphic Designer Resume Example

Get more interviews and job offers by following our graphic designer resume guide. Or, have us write you a graphic designer resume for free – tips appreciated. See our free graphic designer resume template to get started.

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Written by Marc Cenedella
Leading expert on resumes
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Marc Cenedella

Marc Cenedella is a nationally recognized thought leader on careers, resume writing, job search, career management and recruiting, Marc is frequently sought out by national media organizations for his expert commentary on employment, resumes, the job search and the job market.

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Last updated on March 14, 2022
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How to write the best graphic designer resume

Design is your calling.

You can photoshop with your eyes closed. You can InDesign in record time.

You’re a graphic designer wizard…or witch.

But for some reason, you can’t translate those amazing graphic designer skills into a job interview.

You need an amazing graphic designer resume.

And we’re here to help you.

We’ve created a bulletproof graphic designer resume template that you can use as an example. Copy, paste, and edit it to your heart’s content!

But how should you edit it? What makes this graphic designer resume bulletproof?

Simple: just follow along with our graphic designer resume guide. You’ll learn how to write the best graphic designer resume by the end!

How to write a graphic designer resume that gets you hired

The secret to writing a graphic designer resume that gets you noticed by headhunters and ultimately hired is this: communicate why hiring you benefits the company.

Your resume is your first impression. It is a sales pitch on why hiring you will benefit the company in the long run.

Recruiters receive over 115 resumes for each job opening (this is true!), so you need to make yours stand out without being confusing.

Yes, an origami graphic design resume certainly would stand out, but it’d be thrown in the trash.

You need to follow the Leet Resume format to make a comprehensive (and comprehensible!) resume that recruiters will love.

Or, you could reach out to us today. We’ll write your resume for you for free (tips greatly appreciated).

When you work with Leet Resumes, you’ll get a resume that clearly communicates your graphic designer experience and value – getting you more interviews faster.

How to format your graphic designer resume

I get it. You’re a creator. You want to write your own resume.

If you want something done right, you ought to do it yourself.

Totally respect that work ethic. It shows that you’re ready to take any project into your own hands.

We’re here to partner with you. Let me share with you the Leet Resume format that leads to a concise, comprehensive resume.

  • Name + contact
  • Professional Headline
  • Summary
  • Work Experience
  • Education
  • Keywords

Write your resume in that order, and you’ll wind up with a stellar resume that will have recruiters sliding into your LinkedIn DMs day after day.

A couple of housekeeping tips!

As a graphic designer, you may be tempted to add some flair. Some fun text boxes, some neat colors – maybe some images or multiple columns.

Do not do this.

When you send over your graphic designer resume, it is going to be “read” by software first.

This software separates out your job experience, your skills, and your contact info.

And it gets easily confused.

When you add things like textboxes or multiple columns into your resume, this software can’t read your resume, and it ends up sorting it improperly.

This harms your chances of getting an interview.

So write smart and keep your resume in a standard format. One column, no textboxes, no images.

Name and Contact

Your Name is like your logo. It’s the first thing that the recruiter is going to see, and the first thing that’ll give them an impression.

This isn’t a green light to create a wild design for your name. Quite the opposite.

Simpler is better. One simple, neat font that is large and easy to read. Use whichever name you go by professionally.

Below your name, you’ll want your contact info. Phone number and email address are essential.

Make sure your email address sounds professional. Firstname_lastname@emailserver.com

Middle names and numbers are acceptable.

Do not use a funny email handle like “tequila4lyfe” or “mamabaker.”

These are considered unprofessional and will negatively impact your chances of landing that graphic designer interview.

You may choose to include your LinkedIn profile if you check LinkedIn regularly.

Lastly, you may want to add a link to your graphic designer portfolio. The odds are that a hiring manager will want to look at your portfolio anyway, so you can make it easier for them by putting it at the top, by your contact information.

Professional Headline

You’ve already got your logo at the top (your name). Now it’s time to put a little tagline (your professional headline).

Your headline is 3-5 words that will give the recruiter a quick snapshot of information about your profession and style of work. The headline communicates your skills and career aspirations, so that a recruiter can know instantly if you’ll be a good fit for the role.

Graphic designers should include a positive adjective that describes their work style. This way, the recruiter gets excited about your candidacy and learns how you work.

Try this headline: Creative Senior Graphic Designer

Now you’ve communicated title, seniority, and work style. In just four short words!

Impressive!

Summary

Your headline gives the hiring manager a snapshot of your career.

Your summary provides them with more information about what jobs you are targeting and how much experience you have in your field.

It’s like a synopsis on the back of a book: this is the small blurb that’s going to get your recruiter interested in diving into the rest of your resume.

Don’t miss your shot!

Here are the four lines you’ll need for your summary:

  • Job title you’re targeting (essential)
  • Your graphic designer skills (essential)
  • Any graphic designer achievements you’ve accomplished (optional)
  • Graphic designer promotions or awards (optional)

Depending upon your seniority, you may not have anything for lines 1 and 2. That’s ok! Don’t add them if it feels like you’re forcing something.

Confused about this so far? We get it. Reach out to us today to get your graphic designer resume written for free (tips appreciated)!

Graphic Designer Work Experience

This is the beating heart of your resume.

Your work experience is where you show off all of your excellent graphic design positions that you’ve held – building a narrative of your successes so that a recruiter understands why you’d be a great hire.

How do you do that?

Simple: brag about yourself.

Show off your successes, accomplishments, and achievements

Don’t bother listing your hum-drum, daily job duties.

Start out strong – like a horse racing out of the gate.

Each bullet should focus on a major win you’ve brought to the organization. Brag about those incredible infographics you created for the company demo. Call out that logo redesign you spearheaded.

You want to show what you’ve achieved at your recent graphic designer jobs, so that a recruiter gets an idea of what work you might do if they hire you.

Pick strong actions

Verbs are your friend. Start every bullet with a verb that shows your work in action. Designed, constructed, produced, edited. This will help the hiring manager visualize you working as a graphic designer for their team.

Put numbers everywhere

Quantify your graphic designer successes. Don’t just say, “created visuals for presentations.” Instead, say, “created 35 unique visual designs for presentation delivered to 400 prospective clients.”

Look at that! See the difference?

A recruiter now can see how much impact your graphic designer work has already had.

This gets you one step closer to landing that job interview.

Note your promotions

Anytime you received a promotion, you need to put it on your resume. Went from a volunteer to a full-time graphic designer?

Call it out.

Promoted from a junior graphic designer to a senior graphic designer?

You got it: call it out.

This shows recruiters that you are able to grow in any graphic designer role you’re handed. It’ll make you look like a sure-fire bet – which we know you absolutely are!

Don’t forget the dates

If you have gaps in your resume, you may be tempted to remove the dates.

This is a bad idea.

It makes it look like you have something to hide.

And you don’t. You’re an open book. Hiring managers love a candidate they can trust.

Putting in dates builds trust. Building trust leads to interviews.

Education

Whoof! We finished that heavy work experience section.

Now it’s time for an easy one: education.

The education section for a graphic design resume should be simple: include any degrees and relevant certificates that you have completed.

Keywords

This is the final mile of the marathon! We’re finally at the end.

The last thing you need to include are your keywords.

What are the keywords for a graphic design resume?

  • Hard skills
  • Soft skills
  • Awards

Hard skills refer to technologies and techniques you’ve mastered. This means programs like Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator.

Soft skills refer to graphic designer skills that you’ve mastered that are more nuanced. Communication, negotiation, client relationships – these are great graphic designer skills.

Lastly, you’ll want to include any graphic designer awards or individual projects you’ve accomplished. Maybe you won a logo design competition; this is the place to call that out.

And that’s it! You did it! Marathon over! That’s how you create a graphic design resume that will boost your chances of landing that interview.

Now go get to interviewing!

Little bit overwhelmed by all of this resume advice? Do you need someone to help you out? Try Leet Resumes. We will write you a personalized graphic designer resume for free (tips are appreciated).

You have nothing to lose and a whole career to gain.

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