[ajprice]

Which order do you put the sections in for yours? and is it generally preferred to have paragraphs or bullet points, brief education/work experience, or a bit of description of work duties, responsibilities etc, I have:

First Page

Personal and Contact details (listing, a few lines)
Education & Qualifications (listing, about 1/2 a page)
Skills & Achievements (paragraph & bullet points, about 1/2 a page)

Second page

Work Experience (Listing, 2/3rd page)
Hobbies & Interests (1/3rd page)

My CV has basically been the same format since I left uni 4 years ago. I'm not looking for a job at the moment, but I like to keep my CV up to date. I'm starting to go through and do an update, and I'm just wondering 'Is this the right format for a CV?'

I'm a graphic designer, btw. Any suggestions?

[Turias]

Huh, I was always under the impression that it was important to fit your resume on a single page so that it doesn't bore the reader.

Maybe things are different over by Liverpool...

[art_director]

Originally posted by Turias:
Huh, I was always under the impression that it was important to fit your resume on a single page so that it doesn't bore the reader.

Maybe things are different over by Liverpool...

huh? one page? where did you get that, brainco?

[art_director]

Originally posted by ajprice:
Which order do you put the sections in for yours? and is it generally preferred to have paragraphs or bullet points, brief education/work experience, or a bit of description of work duties, responsibilities etc, I have:

First Page

Personal and Contact details (listing, a few lines)
Education & Qualifications (listing, about 1/2 a page)
Skills & Achievements (paragraph & bullet points, about 1/2 a page)

Second page

Work Experience (Listing, 2/3rd page)
Hobbies & Interests (1/3rd page)

My CV has basically been the same format since I left uni 4 years ago. I'm not looking for a job at the moment, but I like to keep my CV up to date. I'm starting to go through and do an update, and I'm just wondering 'Is this the right format for a CV?'

I'm a graphic designer, btw. Any suggestions?

i put work experience before skills and achievements. people want to know where you've been, what you've worked on and who you've worked with.

[D. Hendrickson]

Originally posted by art_director:
huh? one page? where did you get that, brainco?

about 13 years ago i had my manager help me with my resume (temp posistion, changing company). to prove a point the first thing he did was throw it in the trash. it was 2 pages.

anything longer than one page, they're not looking at it. just about every manager i've come across has said the same thing. if they don't see something they're interested in in the first 15 seconds, they're done. so are you.

dave

* been lurking for a while

[zubro]

Originally posted by D. Hendrickson:

anything longer than one page, they're not looking at it. just about every manager i've come across has said the same thing. if they don't see something they're interested in in the first 15 seconds, they're done. so are you.

dave

Yess! no more than 1 page!
It has to be as boring/simple/readable as possible (even if you are a graphic designer - I am one myself) It has to be black text to be READABLE if it s copied or faxed.
And you do have 10 secs to catch the reader, that s why I showed first [Objectives] where I can give my motivation fx: becoming ArtDirector, etc..
Then [Competencies] to resume your skills and personality
Background is where I insist on my heavy studies in Visual Art etc... (can be skipped)
And then Work Exp.
All chapters have to be separated, so that the reader can skip one to go to Work Exp. as it IS the most significant.

I articulated mine as this:

[Contact Details]
[Objectives]
[Competencies]
[Background]
[Work Experience]
[Computer Skills]
[Languages]
[Education]

Hope it helped..
Good luck and Happy New year!

(pardon my english but I am French actually!)

[andi*pandi]

one page here too. Anything older that won't fit, must not be important. I suppose if you've got 20 years of experience, maybe a twopager is necessary... but really, you could just make the job listings shorter and cover the ground in the cover letter. Don't be wordy, and don't be redundant.

bullets are for accountants and business majors. Designers don't need no stinkin bullets.

name/contact
job experience

in sidebar:

apps
education
other experience
other interests

I'd post a link to my resume, but a) it's old, and b) I don't want you bastards stealing my organizational layout. I've been meaning to redesign it and take it out of the 90s.

[Turias]

Originally posted by art_director:
huh? one page? where did you get that, brainco?

Brainco? Ha! You are lucky that others came and backed me up before I could respond. Just you wait until next time, Mr. Art Director!

[SomeToast]

Originally posted by art_director:
huh? one page? where did you get that, brainco?

See, I thought you were talking about the Brainco school in Minneapolis.

[Turias]

Heh, that's probably it. I thought it was just some strange insult.

[ajprice]

Thanks people , I've heard from people quite often to do it on one page, but I could never work out which bits to talk about (or not) and at what point.

andi*pandi :- what do you mean by 'in the sidebar'? is yours in 2 columns, with one wide column and one margin column? I can't quite work out what you mean, sorry if I'm being a bit thick! .

Thanks, again, anyway.

[Yose]

I agree that one page for a CV/Resume is the way to go and I always lay mine out this way, however, my brother has a three page resume and he seems to need it to show all his law courses with grades in addition to descriptions of past experience (volunteer/professional).

I guess as designer we just have to remember there's an exception for everything.

[godzookie2k]

One page or two pages doesn't really matter. If you have the experience to fill two pages, by all means. If you're looking for CD or AD work you damn well better have a two page resume. Most younger designers don't need a two page resume however. Don't *make* your resume two pages if it doesn't have to be. Keep it straight and to the point. Don't over design it, but make sure it looks good. Keep it letter size don't do any crazy funky page sizes. Nice clear type size.

Mine is as follows:

Name/address contact info
statement
3 most recent work experiences (A/D is right, experience before anything else) with a short description of duties (paragraph form)
3 second to most recent work experiences, with just name of employer, title, and date
'other clients'
basically a list of all the other clients I've worked for
education
skills
awards/etc

[godzookie2k]

i wouldn't mess around with a sidebar, OCR readers will have a problem with it and jumble it all.

[The Milkman]

ajprice,
What strikes me as odd is that you use the terms CV and resume as synonyms.
Around here they are different things and a potential employer will ask for either one or both.
CV (from the Latin curriculum vitae) means something like "the story of my life" which consequently can be several pages long depending of how much living you have done - on a professional level of course
Resume (résumé actually) is French for summary and is just that: a short version of your CV containing only the most recent or important facts.
As for form factor, you can go either way: very simple and traditional, no-one can object to this. Or if you want to take a chance and show them you're a great designer you can make it a bit more attractive, put some of your personality in it. However this could go down the wrong way and land straight in the bin.
Do a Google search on the subject, I remember seeing some interesting sites offering good advice and examples.
Greets,
Mm.

[ajprice]

Thanks again. The Milkman, I have always thought of CV and Resume being the British and American terms for the same thing, like what Americans call a hood and trunk on a car, British call the bonnet and boot. Anyways, I've got it down to a page now, and it looks ok, on the 2 pager, I had a lot of stuff repeated in different sections and the covering letter. Now, I've got the relevant info in the relevant place, on one page . You just have to be a bit ruthless with what goes in it .

[andi*pandi]

hmm, I never thought about OCRing screwing with the sidebar (yes, I'm talking a narrow column with all that little junk in it).

Hmm. Never thought that anyone would bother OCRing a resume. Hmm. THoughts for the redesign.

[godzookie2k]

LOTS of places OCR resumes.

[MacDog]

I've hired many creatives in the last dozen or so years and seen thousands of resumes. There are a few things I can tell you based on my experience, and my "observed" experience of others in the biz.

Fit your resume to ONE page - use a cover letter if you want, but don't depend on it to "sell" yourself. I want to know where you've been and what title you had. The cover letter is a great place to list clients you've worked with - but don't list every one, just the ones with "name recognition."

On the resume page itself, list contact info first at the top, then your work experience with rough dates in descending order. Below that, list any college degrees you may have beyond an associates degree (An AA degree or less is unimpressive and doesn't help you).

Don't bother with hobbies, awards (unless you've won a "One Show, Cleo" or other BIG award. I don't care what you do in your free-time, I don't care how many dogs you have, and I also don't care if you won "Best graphic artist" award in your school.

Most agencies want to know who you've worked with, what accounts you worked on... and not much more. Any more info than that, and it is typically tossed in the trash.

These opinions, of course, are based on my experience, and others may argue with some or all of my points.

Best of luck.

PS: A CD with PDFs of your work sent with the resume can sometimes be a BIG PLUS!

[art_director]

Originally posted by Turias:
Heh, that's probably it. I thought it was just some strange insult.

not an insult, a joke. lighten up a wee bit.

[art_director]

mine is as follows:

name
contact info
experience (agencies and clients)
education
list awards


i've been around a while and have a long list of past agency / client experience. i've found that listing all decent experience often finds a connection with a prospective employer / client.

i agree with the earlier post about awards. only put down the big stuff (one show, ca, archive, d&ad, print, etc.)

[art_director]

Originally posted by SomeToast:
See, I thought you were talking about the Brainco school in Minneapolis.

i was, it was a joke.

[art_director]

AT LONG LAST some Minneapolis folk are appearing here. Whew, thought I was alone.

[ultra-V]

"Hmm. Never thought that anyone would bother OCRing a resume. Hmm. THoughts for the redesign."

I guess it depends on where you would want to work. I never knew anyone that would OCR a resume. But I've always targeted small to midsize agencies that never did. Maybe it's the big ones.

As for format, I think that as designers we have much more leeway than the average professional in how we lay it out. But the main point needs to be clarity. Which is the main reason why one page is preferred and recommended - there are very few people who would need two if everything were stated clearly. But that said, for years I used a small side-stitched booklet that went over well and helped land me my last two jobs (I also had a flat version for faxing). Included:

Name/Contact info
Work Experience: For each: dates, title, company, 1-2 sentence description of responsibilities and key clients. (No need for full client list just important ones, particularly if they are in your portfolio).
Education: Grad date, major.
Awards: I include date for each, but not necessary.
I didn't usually include skills, most design jobs assume you can handle the technical stuff and are more interested in your creative talent. But if you are looking for production work or have special skillsets like 3D programs, etc., it would be good to include.

[DesignerTerp]

Mine's one page with contact info/name on the side and then from the top:
-Education
-Software/skills
-Experience w/ a short description of each job
-Freelance/Awards Won

And..that's it.

I guess at this point in my career (out of school for 4, almost 5 years), I can move my Experience up and put Education below.

[godzookie2k]

I've noticed a trend among Euros to have multipage CVs so maybe its a thing on that side of the pond.

[Turias]

Originally posted by art_director:
not an insult, a joke. lighten up a wee bit.

Hence the smilies in both of my previous posts. I suggest you follow your own advice.

[Turias]

My format is as follows:

Name/Contact Info
Education
Work Experience
Skills
Interests

A single page and beautiful.

[art_director]

Originally posted by Turias:
Hence the smilies in both of my previous posts. I suggest you follow your own advice.

bwahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa...