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Graphic Design Resume - Page Count?

Black&Tan

Black&Tan

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 4, 2004
736
0
Sad situation....our parent company has decided to shut down my facility, eliminate the jobs in Connecticut and move everything to the West Coast.

Thankfully, they are bringing in some support companies to help us transition into our job searches. Today, we had a seminar regarding resumes, and were told some interesting news...it's now acceptable to have a two-sided resume, provided you have enough experience in the field to warrant the space.

Before I convert my resume to two-sided, I'm curious as to feedback from others in the design industry. Does this rule apply to designers, or is it more of a management/business exception?

Thanks!!
Mark.
 
For graphic design? Keep the resume short and put your energy into creating a perfect portfolio and website.
 
THX1139 said:
For graphic design? Keep the resume short and put your energy into creating a perfect portfolio and website.
Click to expand...

+1

I've read a lot of resumes and honestly we just glance at what people write. But for designers the portfolio is key. Put up a good website to showcase it and have the link near the top of the resume.
 
My cv is two pages with a covering letter, it works send 9 of them out last week and have 7 interviews :)

A good resume doesn't need to be war and peace remember yours may be in a stack of up to 50 other resumes managers skim read them and try to pick out the key points.

But I do agree with THX a well written resume is a great tool but a brilliant web site or portfolio will get you the job.
 
I hear you....my portfolio is solid. The challenge is getting the resume past the HR people, or the company pre-screening the resumes. You've got to hit their key bullet points, otherwise your resume just gets "filed."

I was surprised to learn that two pages is acceptable now, and even the elimination of dates on your education. A lot has changed over the years...
 
Black&Tan said:
I hear you....my portfolio is solid. The challenge is getting the resume past the HR people, or the company pre-screening the resumes. You've got to hit their key bullet points, otherwise your resume just gets "filed."

I was surprised to learn that two pages is acceptable now, and even the elimination of dates on your education. A lot has changed over the years...
Click to expand...

I wouldn't just base everything on what one person has said. I wouldn't bother reading a two pages unless it spanned 10+ years of experience nor would I accept the lack of dates(years is fine) for education.
 
Actually, that's what I've got now, 15+ years of experience. It's amazing how quickly time passes. As it was explained to me, the lack of dates for education dates correlates to laws on age discrimination.

It just strikes me as unusual to eliminate such basic information, but I suppose resumes also change as you gain experience in the job market. Coming out of school, your education is a selling point, but as someone with job experience, the accomplishments in your profession are more important.

As I rework my resume, with bullet points for job highlights, I may be forced to stretch to two sides. At least that will allow breathing space for my text and various sections.
 
Geez! Last year I (and a bunch of others) was laid off after a competitor but-out. Left me back in the job market (5 years there–picked up my 5-year coat with final paycheck).

Anyway, they too offered us a 2-day seminar about resumes/interviewing. Not saying mine's "perfect" but the seminar consultant said, "wow, normally I tell people to change/adjust at least one item, if not many, but yours looks really good and well laid out." He also explained the no dates idea and how your experience is more what counts now anyway. And with those of longer careers you can go two pages. I however kept mine a single-sided resume (10+ years in design) as I felt this concisely told my experience. In reading through other resumes, when doing research for mine, I'd skim any page after the first. I understand Cvs are generally lengthier but state-side resumes tend to be shorter in length.

Something that helped me out was wading through behance/dribbble sites and the like looking at resumes. And a good site was blueskyresumes.com – used their resources/free emails, did not pay for services.


you can see my resume on my linked Behance site.

**and good luck!!
 
Thanks for the links BJM, I'll check those out. Any luck finding a job yet?

I'm revamping mine quite a bit. While it was good years ago, I need to add bulleted career highlights to my work, eliminate my freelance section, and incorporate that into my experience (an interesting HR viewpoint on freelance....don't list it on the resume as "freelance" because your prospective employer may see you as having multiple demands on your time, and not able to be devoted to your new job). I don't want to pull it out completely, because it shows a diverse range of professions, so I'm listing it as job experiences.

Also, I'm going to have a variable section, to prioritize specific skills and programs, depending on what job I'm applying for.
 
Yes I did land a job. I was called in for a freelance job at a company that was a break-away company from the one that was bought out and then laid me off.

Long story short, the lead designer there liked my resume and how it matched my portfolio that I showed them, called me that night to talk about it and the next day I was hired full-time. I do remember an interviewer liked my resume as it had my head on it.

My portfolio and resume have a coordinating look and feel.
 
As an agency owner I get cvs in the mail all the time. I'd say the majority these days are 2 pages. I would also say that because I get a lot the ones that attract me are the ones that are punchy and attractive.

For a designer it needs to show understanding of design to communicate the content. It is an advert for you and you should treat it like that. I had an iPhoto store soft back book sent to me as a cv. It was visual and exciting and made bespoke to our company. I picked up the phone even though we didn't have a job at that time.

Of course, if your cv is being sent to a personnel manager rather than a designer you need to tailor it to an administrator rather than a creative.
 
That's great news BJM, I'm pleased for you. Freelance is definitely going to be a lifeline....

Thanks for the insight Steveash, I like the idea of unusual resume presentations. And I agree, everything needs to match up. From business cards, to resume, to portfolio website, they all need a unifying element. It will definitely be an interesting few months...

Thanks for all the advice, I'll see about putting it to good use!
 
Thanks for the commiseration, skyton. It's a rotten situation, but I'm looking at it as an opportunity for something better and more creative. Something to push my skills and enhance my talents as a designer.

I looked at your article and their are some definite solid points there that apply to designers around the world. I'm shocked to hear some designers are not using custom layouts for their cv's. One of our final projects in school (YEARS ago) was to develop a personal identity, including a logo. A standard Word document is the kiss of death in my opinion. It has limited design capabilities and certainly no personality.

Tomorrow my job hunt begins in earnest, and I'm excited for the future.
 
My (10+ years experience) resume fits on a 8.5x2 sheet of paper. It's bundled as part of my portfolio package. My philosophy is to provide teasers about me and my work. That helps build some interest and curiosity, and usually gets me in the door for an interview.

(I'm also kind of a minimalist with my designs.)

Anyway, the point is that there are infinite ways to do a resume. But graphic design is the one field where you're judged not only on the content, but also the design.

My general philosophy is that folks are receiving so many freakin' resumés these days, they don't really have time to look at every single one - much less the really long ones.

Make it short. Make it eye catching. Make it interesting.
 
Black&Tan said:
Thanks for the commiseration, skyton. It's a rotten situation, but I'm looking at it as an opportunity for something better and more creative. Something to push my skills and enhance my talents as a designer.

I looked at your article and their are some definite solid points there that apply to designers around the world. I'm shocked to hear some designers are not using custom layouts for their cv's. One of our final projects in school (YEARS ago) was to develop a personal identity, including a logo. A standard Word document is the kiss of death in my opinion. It has limited design capabilities and certainly no personality.

Tomorrow my job hunt begins in earnest, and I'm excited for the future.
Click to expand...

That sounds good!
It's amazing what usually comes out of experiences like this - hopefully lots of great opportunities!
 
Certainly some fantastic stories....its amazing the characters you meet along the way. If life is truly like a box of chocolates, I've had more than a few nuts at this job!

:)
 
My rezzie is just the last page of my portfolio, which is a PDF and a .Folio in Adobe Content Viewer on my ipad.

To date no one I've actually interviewed with has asked to see it. Those that do are usually HR directors, and they're always told the same thing: "It's the last page of my PDF."

As far as I'm concerned, if someone asks to see my resume and no my portfolio, odds are it's not a company I'm interested in working at.

Of course that's just my 2¢.
 
I don't mind 2 sided (or 2 page) graphic design resumes. As long as you keep it clean and to the point and have a link to your online portfolio, I think you are headed in the right direction. Good Luck with the job search!
 
BJMRamage said:
typo or really 8.5 x 2 ??
Click to expand...

No. Really. 8.5x2.

As I said - mine acted as more of a teaser. And it was included with the rest of my portfolio book. (It was put together sort of like a Pantone book.)

I treated the resumé as more of a conversation starter. Something I felt as though I was in more of a position to do that say 3-4 years ago.
 
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