Death of the CV?
30.10.2008
So you’re a budding young designer straight out of university, a middleweight, an established creative or a freelancer looking for work in an agency… what’s the first thing you need to get right? Your CV, right?
Well, it seems these technologically advanced times we live in are having an impact on the humble CV and not a good one in my opinion. Being a well established agency we receive many CV’s and I’ve noticed that the general quality of them seems to be getting worse over the last couple of years. Since when has it been acceptable to apply for a design position with a CV thrown together in Times New Roman in Microsoft Word? Never to my mind!
CV’s and work samples are such a massive opportunity to impress potential employers, as the saying goes ‘you only get one opportunity to make a first impression’ and this is even more critical in the design industry. It’s a potential foot in the door, a step up the creative ladder, your CV is an extension of you and your portfolio, a way of showing your typographic and layout skills before a work sample has even been glanced at.
I can’t say technology is to blame for any of this as we do receive some fantastic CV’s from people but I think it has a part to play in maybe the ease at which a CV can be created and sent out without enough consideration.
I have nothing against digital CV’s at all as we all know time is precious, but when our inboxes are inundated with hundreds of emails this method of delivery can sometimes go unnoticed or not attract the attention it deserves. These days if I receive an envelope or package it’s a given that I open it and it’s refreshing to receive something tactile and well thought through that creates an impact.
So from my experience here are some simple tips for your CV and digital/print portfolio creation:
- Keep your introductory letter short and to the point.
- Your CV should ideally be 1-2 pages and clearly laid out, keep the experimental fonts for the right projects.
- Work samples in print format should be an extension of your portfolio, create an impact, show us what you’re made of.
- Digital work samples ideally in PDF format, clearly laid out with brief descriptions of each project i.e.: who it was for and what the brief entailed. Also it sounds simple but label your PDF with your name so it’s easy to find, ‘work_samples08′ or ‘D:/documents/portfolio.pdf’ aren’t going to stand out when we are sifting through the folders.
- Online portfolios work well and are easily accessible, but again keep it simple and focus on your work.
At the end of the day if you are a good designer your skills will show through, but for what it’s worth I would advise anyone whether looking for your first job or your last to really take time to make sure your CV reflects the level of work you can produce, treat it like you would any other project and make it communicate on the right level, as you never know where it will take you.
Tags: CV, Design, portfolio, worksamples
November 25th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Repulished on http://www.freelanceadvisor.co.uk/2008/11/05/marketing-yourself-as-a-freelance-designer-six-simple-tips-for-your-cv-and-portfolio/
And it’s generated quite a few comments…