I posted this on a previous video, but I wanted to add SAVE EVERYTHING YOU DO ON AN EXTERNAL HARDDRIVE incase the company you work for lays you off. Screenshots of UX, catalogs, emails praising you - save literally all proof that you worked there and what you accomplished. Nobody taught me this, so I hope someone can benefit from my hard learned lesson.
Great tip! Always have proof of your work and contributions. You’re right if you get suddenly laid off there won’t be much of another way to access it. Only thing to add to this is just be sure to be aware of any NDA’s and contract terms you may be obligated to.
I was looking for how to create a design CV/resume. This was the first video I clicked on and it answered all my questions. Thanks for this ma'am. Keep up the good work!!!
Just Subscribed. Hello Victoria! I'm a recent Grad and your video is helping me update my own resume to apply for a job someday. Thankyou for being here and sharing your knowledge and kindness with us.
Many employers love their long wish list of software skill sets because instead having experts they want to hire someone who they can exploit to do many tasks which ridiculous and cheap.
Yeah, places like LinkedIn aren’t helping this issue. It does tend to be more of a wishlist not well based on reality in terms of real skills someone can be an expert in at a time lately. Because of that, it’s ok to disregard some of it and still apply even if you don’t check all (or even most) of the boxes- you never know, you could still be the best candidate.
note : 7:33 not ot list your address because incase you are looking to apply somewhere that's like further away, you don't want to give them the chance to discriminate against you, that you won't actually move there, even though you are willing to.
I have no idea that the resume standard in the USA is totally different from where I am, I usually put my picture where your personal logo is in the resume is because it's the normal thing in my country. Also the one-page resume thing is makes sense, in here two-page resume is still accepted even tho i personally like it one-page.
love your video one of the top 5 in my rating, concerning the location, your very much right I have seen that in a lot of video, but I feel, putting just the street only, without giving the city, or Country help, like for me with my street name you can't tell my country, Just a suggestion. I Feel like using Corel draw to create mine instead of template, or I will just use the both
I would actually recommend def putting in your county! Due to labor laws in a lot of countries, this is very important information to know if you are applying across countries. That tidbit of advice was more intended for people applying to different regions of the area they already have rights to be working in.
Thank you so much for this video!!! I will help me update the mess of a resume I have, where I made all the mistakes ever made. Please would you be able to help me with a specific question? I’m mainly an illustrator, so my resumes will be more oriented in that direction (I want to make one for each: illustration, pattern design, and graphic design), and I’m having a hard time discerning wether I should add my “personal website” in addition to my Artstation portfolio, or not. My “personal website” is more of a shop, while on one hand it shows a few of the things I can do like design, (wacky, weird) branding, UX and the art itself, it has also been suggested many times that what I do is “scary”, and also not mainstream at all, so I’m really on the fence with this! Please it would mean a lot to have your input. 🙏
We’re all here to learn so I’m glad this helped! In terms of your website, I think it depends on how robust your business is. If you are only selling a few pieces, I think it’s ok to have it all mixed in one. Now if you do that, on your home page, you have to decide your main audience, whether it be more targeted towards customers or potential employers. That can be tricky but is very doable. If you have a really robust shop and sell a lot (good for you if so!) I think you may want to consider a separate website so they don’t see your business as a conflict of interest in terms of your time from an employer pov. It would also allow you to more target your website to employers as well in terms of what they are looking for. You can still include some of your pieces from your shop in your portfolio since it is work you’ve done, it’s just not actively selling on that site. I hope that helps!
@@victoriagillerlain It helps a ton! I had tried to consider many POW from the potential hiring managers but I must say that the idea that they could see my website as a conflict of interest did not cross my mind at all! I was selling enough on Etsy that I could live life, but being on my own I lack the traffic because I completely suck at doing marketing and social media. In any case, much as you recommended I’ll leave it out of my resume and when necessary only refer to it as experience. It seems to fall in a delicate category of “I want to show this off.. but shouldn’t do so”, at least not much. Thank you so much for taking the time to get back to me!! Stay great!
Fantastic video, thank you so much! What are your thoughts (and maybe you have a video on this) about which platforms to share as portfolios? Behance, Dribbble, personal website, maybe all? My website has all the stuff but it can be overwhelming, whereas my Behance page might be quicker and easier for someone to look through. Thank you!
This is a really good question and one I’ve heard often. I’m assuming you asking this question in terms of getting work and applying to jobs. My personal take is that it is always better to have your own website. Yes, be on other platforms but I would advise your main landing place for portfolio work to be your own website. It’s your domain, you can do anything with it, and you have full ownership of it. Having your own website also adds a layer of credibility you wouldn’t otherwise have, it does take more work to get a domain, design a site, and fully populate it with content then it does to set up another dribble or Behance- it feels more professional. With your own website, you can fully brand it to your own brand if and it can fully speak to you and your work in pretty much any way you can imagine. The focus is all on you. With other platforms, you have to play by their rules and have to fit into their mold. It doesn’t give you as much room to showcase your work. Additionally, being in those spaces automatically puts you in a competitive pool by the nature of how work is shown and the algorithm. They could be looking at an amazing post by you, but then right next to it being shown another great piece of work recommended by another equally talented artist. How much are you really showcasing you? You can get lost in the noise easily. On top of that, you always run the risk of potentially loosing your account, no matter how slim the risk may be, which could be devastating as your showcase point. Remember you can always design your site in a simple and clean manner that makes it easy to browse through, just takes a bit of thought and research. And that’s all to say still post on those platforms, do put yourself out there, they are important too! It is a perfect place to connect and give people a taste of your work or get BTS content. I simply wouldn’t recommend relying on them in that way for this context.
So I don’t always have time to review everyone’s portfolio who asks at the moment but I know the Adobe Creative discord is very active and has frequent portfolio reviews. You can also reach out to any of the mentors on the discord and ask them to personally if they have any availability review your work. Additionally, if you have any connections, reaching out to mid-career designers on LinkedIn is also worth a shot while also giving you the chance to get to know people, connect with others, and potentially already have common ground (mutual friends, same university background, from the same region as you, etc.). I know there are other active discords out there but Adobe’s is the one I am the most familiar with :) Hope that helps!
Hey, thanks for this valuable information! Do you think it's okay to write your student/personal projects (or maybe passion projects) under experience ?
I’m a food packaging designer with knowledge of FDA labeling regulations, and have 27 years experience, I find LinkedIn is a waste of time, lots of bogus job postings by recruiters 1st question, should I go back to 27 years or highlight last 10 years I have a great portfolio showing all types packaging designs, also I’m a technical illustrator and a food photographer, I watched your video twice trying to determine what to change on my resume, I’m also a video editor but dont want to include that especially if I’m targeting packaging design work. And have working knowledge in Spanish and French.. any input from you would be great.
Awesome question. Generally, the one page resume rule still applies and employers will always prefer the most recent years of experience. You can still mix in any career highlights but I will assume that the larger ticket, cool career highlights have come later in your careers since that’s how it tends to play out since you improve with years of experience. Feel free to put as much you can on that one page with said experience. Portfolio wise, pick your best projects over the last ten years BUT do mention you have 27 years of experience somewhere in the content, probably in your about page, resume summary, LinkedIn bio, or maybe even hero section of your website. Maybe even all of the above, make a consistent brand narrative. I think, like you said, it would be wise to mainly focus on the skills you have that pertain to the role you want to get. Do mention in the skills section things like video editing, photography, and your language proficiency but it doesn’t need to be a major highlight if it doesn’t help push forward the packaging designer skills you want use more of. This recommendation all assumes you want to continue packaging design instead of pivot to more food photography or video editing. If you want to do more of that then same thing sort of applies, pick the best instances and recent work of that. I hope that helps!
@@victoriagillerlain thank you for your reply. Your points are well taken. I just wanted to make sure you said to put my 27 year experience on the résumé. Contrary to many, they said not to, but I believe I should because my experience in packaging design and complicated FDA labeling regulation experience will help an employer understand that I have expertise specially in a remote setting. I would like to share my website with you. I’m just going put the name and then you can add the com since I’m not able to include a website in RUclips comments, I already tried to respond with that, and it was removed so here it is YasirSalah
Great information and video! I'm planning to refresh my resume but after over 20 yrs of freelancing as photo-retoucher I have a varied, but lengthy list of previous employers, and I'm already down to 11pt type... how would you recommend condensing the Experience/Work History section and keep it to 1 page?
Still keep it to one page! Here is what I would recommend- fit in the most recent and/or most relevant positions into the role you are applying to. If it’s 3-5 positions, just keep those. With that much time and experience, you’re probably applying to more experienced roles anyway, they want to know about roles that are relevant to you now and looking for now. So if you’re applying for senior or director roles, you don’t need to say you were junior designer or production assistant 20 years ago, that’s not as relevant anymore. For freelance work, do say you e been doing it collectively for 20 years but I would have one freelance “job” and in the bullet point relevant freelance jobs or contracts under it that would be most applicable to the roles your looking for. Example, if you’re applying to an IT company or an agency that does a lot of work with IT or software companies, highlight contacts you’ve had with relevant clients. Alternatively, instead of listing full time positions/jobs, you could list long term or relevant freelance clients as individual jobs. You can detail them in a similar way you would detail more traditional positions- it’s all about getting the job done either way. Additionally, all your type does not likely need to be 11pt. You could probably get down to 9pt for body copy. Using your layout skills and slimming down content will best get you to where you need to be.
Hi! That’s a great question- if you’ve had a job before, any job, retail, food service, etc, I would include that. Always highlight qualities that are also relevant to the position you are looking to land. These are usually common qualities like communication, organizational skills, being a team player, things all employers want and you’ve likely done before, whether you know it or not. If you have any metrics you can pull from, like store productivity or milestones that were completed while you were there, try to work those in- the more personally invoked you were the better. If you do not have any work experience or if you’ve only held one position, I would include any extra-curriculars you have done and your position in those organizations. Volunteer experience also counts in this scenario! Hopefully you’re not in this circumstance but if you have no extra-curricular, work, or volunteer experience, than your goal should be to go out and get some. Clubs, orgs and volunteering do not usually require an application and are usually pretty low barriers to entry so join those in whatever relevant capacity you can. Get involved! You could also look into doing any online boot camps or obtaining certifications (example, Google Ads). Getting the Google ads cert is free but most boot camps aren’t and I would highly recommend doing a lot of research on any boot camp/program you might enroll in as some are better than others. And of course, even if it’s not the most relevant to the internship you want and you can maintain you academic rigor, get a job! Any job that reasonably allows you to work while understanding you are a student, which I know is easier said than done. However, some work experience is always better than none.
Sure! All designers must be excellent communicators, take feedback well, and be proficient in the Adobe Suite basics, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign. Soft skill wise, be nice, be friendly, be a good presenter, and know how to communicate in difficult situations. Software-wise, there are much more bonus, nice-to-know skills out there as well worth knowing Figma, After Effects, etc. but it cant depend on what your job actually needs and what you want to do whether or not they are worth knowing. High paying is a different story. As unfair as it is, it typically takes experience for graphic and visual designers to get well-rounded paychecks from salaried positions.
If you just graduated high school or that’s your only degree it’s perfectly fine to put that on there. If you are current at uni or in college, it’s recommended to put that as well and that you are currently attending. Whichever works for you!
Do you need a degree to be a graphic designer? It's because i am a up and coming self-taught graphic designer, and I dropped out of college during my junior year because of tuition price.
You absolutely do not need a degree to get into graphic design! Some of the most talented designers I know are self taught or do have a full traditional degree. Will some people take you more seriously with a degree? Sure, in some cases. However, employers and potential clients care way more about the work you can do, your portfolio, and how easy to are to work with as opposed to if you hold a degree or not. I will always advocate for some sort of education if you can afford it but there are plenty of non-traditional paths and education options out there with plenty of free to low cost options. More than anything, it’s about practice, having a spike portfolio, putting yourself out there, and just being great to work with. Best of luck!
@Victoria Gillerlain if education was affordable or free, then I will do it but since I live in the US, it's not gonna go down soon especially the recent recession
Totally understand what you mean and that is very true- I only recommend it if people can afford it. There are graphic design certificates, even at community colleges, that don’t require a full-time education or for nearly as long. Additionally, there are non traditionally education options that you can combine as well, like Skillshare, School of Motion, Coursera, Udemy, and many others that you might not get a certificate in but do provide in-depth knowledge, practice opportunities, and even feedback from a more in depth program at far less of a cost than traditional uni. If you need the structure, some of these programs and options out there will get the job done just as well as university classes.
If in your country photos are a must, include it! This video was made with western audiences in mind (US, Canada, European countries, etc.) since that is my experience. But if the area you are in and applying has different best practices, by all means include a photo. However, if you are applying for jobs in the western areas I mentioned prior, don’t include a photo and there’s no need to put anything else instead.
Hi! I did it using Adobe Indesign! Right now I’m actually developing resume and cover letter templates that you all can download and edited in either Word, Adobe Illustrator, or Indesign, so stay tuned! Hoping to have those out the first week of January!
Unfortunately in the experience section, I don't have any previous job or internship related to Graphic design which is what makes me the most anxious about applying to jobs. However I do have experience with 3 totally random jobs as well as a laboratory internship. Will that make any difference?
Still include work you’ve done if it’s your most recent experience! Showing you can do a job- any job- is always better. It shows you can operate and work within a professional environment and people have already put trust in you. It does mean you should be more attentive to your portfolio so you can really show your work. All of this is ok, if you are making a career switch or just starting out that should be expected from employers that you would have limited experience resume wise.
Hey! I’m sorry to hear you haven’t had lots of success so far in the job front. I will say that this past year has been particular challenging for everyone in the creative industry so don’t be too hard on yourself since it’s been challenging for everyone job wise. Without knowing you or seeing any of your application materials, it’s hard for me to say what for certain may be the main issue. However, that said, as I said at the beginning of the video, your resume isn’t everything- your portfolio is. If you aren’t hearing anything back or getting any interviews, I would guess the main issue lies with your portfolio and the quality of work you are showcasing there. A resume is a necessary part of applying, but not the key. You need to have good work and show your capability to do good work so you can do that for them in their business. In design and marketing, seeing really is believing so showcasing great work helps potential employees trust and believe in you to help get the job and work done. Good luck!
Hi Victoria, Great video and explanation, I have a question, where did you design your Resume, was it in Illustrator, Word, or Canva? I ask that because someone told me that in Illustrator even exporting in PDF the machines of the recruiter can not read It, Is It true?
I designed it in Indesign! Indesign is made for exporting text-based documents so it works well for this sort of thing. I believe you can use illustrator, just don’t outline your text (essentially, keep it editable text). There may be some finessing you can do in the export settings panel to make it extra nice, but to test it, if you can open the file as a PDF and if you are able to auto-highlight the words (text gets blue highlighter around it) in the pdf reader, then it should be readable by any AI system that previews those documents. No highlight and your not able to copy and paste those words somewhere else? Then it’s not readable. That’s how to tell. I don’t like Word because it’s not design friendly and getting your text in just the right place is a pain. You can do it and it will eventually work but only at the expense of many tears and hours stressing. I don’t like canva too much for anything that’s actually text based so I’d stick with Adobe Illustrator or Indesign for creating your resume. I’ve heard is some people using Figma to create their resumes and cover letters but I can’t say I’ve ever done it.
I recommend watching my How To Become A Graphic Designer in 2023 video! It details a lot of what I recommend learning and that should help give you some insight/a jumping off point on what to enroll in or learn online :)
Basically, in the US and other western cultures, putting a photo of yourself on the resume is seen as unprofessional in the working world. Additionally, since we don’t have a ton of laws in the US for protecting worker, by having a photo on your resume you can inadvertently opening yourself up to a lot of negative bias that exist, which can unfortunately impact your odds of landing a position.
Hi! Most people simply use Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or Adobe Indesign if they are a pro designer. You could also try using Figma, I’ve heard good things about that.
I posted this on a previous video, but I wanted to add SAVE EVERYTHING YOU DO ON AN EXTERNAL HARDDRIVE incase the company you work for lays you off. Screenshots of UX, catalogs, emails praising you - save literally all proof that you worked there and what you accomplished.
Nobody taught me this, so I hope someone can benefit from my hard learned lesson.
Great tip! Always have proof of your work and contributions. You’re right if you get suddenly laid off there won’t be much of another way to access it. Only thing to add to this is just be sure to be aware of any NDA’s and contract terms you may be obligated to.
Yes! Information can be changed while still keeping design aspects of need be so you can repurpose your work
I was looking for how to create a design CV/resume. This was the first video I clicked on and it answered all my questions.
Thanks for this ma'am. Keep up the good work!!!
I’m watching this again when I make mine! Girl you should make more videos they’re so informative and easy to follow!
Thank you! And I’m working on it!
Just Subscribed. Hello Victoria! I'm a recent Grad and your video is helping me update my own resume to apply for a job someday. Thankyou for being here and sharing your knowledge and kindness with us.
Congratulations on graduating! Happy to help and good luck!
I really learnt a lot and I must revamp my resume like yours. I really love your Resume ❤
Many employers love their long wish list of software skill sets because instead having experts they want to hire someone who they can exploit to do many tasks which ridiculous and cheap.
Yeah, places like LinkedIn aren’t helping this issue. It does tend to be more of a wishlist not well based on reality in terms of real skills someone can be an expert in at a time lately. Because of that, it’s ok to disregard some of it and still apply even if you don’t check all (or even most) of the boxes- you never know, you could still be the best candidate.
I appreciate the valuable information you have provided.💫
Thank You! Please keep making videos like this!
Thank you so much!! I am struggling to get hired, and this video helped a lot!! Thnx
Glad it was helpful!
You have put some very important points out thare, thank you!
This is so helpful! I feel like I am ready to start my resume now!!
Could you make a video about how to make a good portfolio? That would be so helpful!
Added to the list 🫡
Thanks for the very clear and clean explanation, as fresh graduate it help me a lot!
Glad to help! Good luck on your job hunt!
note : 7:33 not ot list your address because
incase you are looking to apply somewhere that's like further away,
you don't want to give them the chance to discriminate against you,
that you won't actually move there, even though you are willing to.
Thanks a lot for this.
So much information conveyed in the most direct manner, ❤.
I have no idea that the resume standard in the USA is totally different from where I am, I usually put my picture where your personal logo is in the resume is because it's the normal thing in my country. Also the one-page resume thing is makes sense, in here two-page resume is still accepted even tho i personally like it one-page.
Culture and bias are weird like that. I also put my logo instead. I find simpler is always better!
Hey, thank you! I haven't been getting any luck with my current resume.
I hope these tips help! Keep making adjustments and keep putting yourself out there! Crossing my fingers that you get some good leads soon 🤞
Thank you for providing this information! It has been very helpful. Great work!
Happy to! Hope it helps 🥰
Thank you for creating this video
thanks you very much
Very well explained, helped a lot, thanks!!!!
Thank you! Happy to make the process easier and I hope it helps.
What a great video! I definitely help me the most from all the videos I watched.
So glad to hear this was helpful for you!
Welp, i need to edit my resume! Thanks for the tips…i have a lot of don’ts fr
Happy to help! Good luck on editing your resume-you got this!!!!
Thanks,
Victoria Gillerlain this for very help full me
Happy to help!
Hey , Victoria I absolutely motivated to make my own appreciate your effort to making this video.
You can do it! And thank you!
Amazing video! Thank you♥
Glad you liked it! Hope it was helpful!
Thank you, Victoria! For sharing your knowledge and resources. Be healthy and successful!
Always happy to share and thank you!
May I know the size of paper and the font size? Cuz I felt mine is being so crowded.Thank you.
size of resume is a4 paper
great video. Thank you
love your video one of the top 5 in my rating, concerning the location, your very much right I have seen that in a lot of video, but I feel, putting just the street only, without giving the city, or Country help, like for me with my street name you can't tell my country, Just a suggestion. I Feel like using Corel draw to create mine instead of template, or I will just use the both
I would actually recommend def putting in your county! Due to labor laws in a lot of countries, this is very important information to know if you are applying across countries. That tidbit of advice was more intended for people applying to different regions of the area they already have rights to be working in.
Thank you so much for this video!!! I will help me update the mess of a resume I have, where I made all the mistakes ever made.
Please would you be able to help me with a specific question?
I’m mainly an illustrator, so my resumes will be more oriented in that direction (I want to make one for each: illustration, pattern design, and graphic design), and I’m having a hard time discerning wether I should add my “personal website” in addition to my Artstation portfolio, or not.
My “personal website” is more of a shop, while on one hand it shows a few of the things I can do like design, (wacky, weird) branding, UX and the art itself, it has also been suggested many times that what I do is “scary”, and also not mainstream at all, so I’m really on the fence with this!
Please it would mean a lot to have your input. 🙏
We’re all here to learn so I’m glad this helped!
In terms of your website, I think it depends on how robust your business is. If you are only selling a few pieces, I think it’s ok to have it all mixed in one. Now if you do that, on your home page, you have to decide your main audience, whether it be more targeted towards customers or potential employers. That can be tricky but is very doable.
If you have a really robust shop and sell a lot (good for you if so!) I think you may want to consider a separate website so they don’t see your business as a conflict of interest in terms of your time from an employer pov. It would also allow you to more target your website to employers as well in terms of what they are looking for. You can still include some of your pieces from your shop in your portfolio since it is work you’ve done, it’s just not actively selling on that site.
I hope that helps!
@@victoriagillerlain It helps a ton!
I had tried to consider many POW from the potential hiring managers but I must say that the idea that they could see my website as a conflict of interest did not cross my mind at all!
I was selling enough on Etsy that I could live life, but being on my own I lack the traffic because I completely suck at doing marketing and social media. In any case, much as you recommended I’ll leave it out of my resume and when necessary only refer to it as experience. It seems to fall in a delicate category of “I want to show this off.. but shouldn’t do so”, at least not much.
Thank you so much for taking the time to get back to me!! Stay great!
Thanks✨
you re a livesaver.
First time coming across your video. This is very helpful! 😊
Awesome- glad it was helpful!
Thank you Victoria
You are so welcome!
Amazing ❤
Fantastic video, thank you so much! What are your thoughts (and maybe you have a video on this) about which platforms to share as portfolios? Behance, Dribbble, personal website, maybe all? My website has all the stuff but it can be overwhelming, whereas my Behance page might be quicker and easier for someone to look through. Thank you!
This is a really good question and one I’ve heard often. I’m assuming you asking this question in terms of getting work and applying to jobs. My personal take is that it is always better to have your own website. Yes, be on other platforms but I would advise your main landing place for portfolio work to be your own website. It’s your domain, you can do anything with it, and you have full ownership of it. Having your own website also adds a layer of credibility you wouldn’t otherwise have, it does take more work to get a domain, design a site, and fully populate it with content then it does to set up another dribble or Behance- it feels more professional. With your own website, you can fully brand it to your own brand if and it can fully speak to you and your work in pretty much any way you can imagine. The focus is all on you.
With other platforms, you have to play by their rules and have to fit into their mold. It doesn’t give you as much room to showcase your work. Additionally, being in those spaces automatically puts you in a competitive pool by the nature of how work is shown and the algorithm. They could be looking at an amazing post by you, but then right next to it being shown another great piece of work recommended by another equally talented artist. How much are you really showcasing you? You can get lost in the noise easily. On top of that, you always run the risk of potentially loosing your account, no matter how slim the risk may be, which could be devastating as your showcase point.
Remember you can always design your site in a simple and clean manner that makes it easy to browse through, just takes a bit of thought and research. And that’s all to say still post on those platforms, do put yourself out there, they are important too! It is a perfect place to connect and give people a taste of your work or get BTS content. I simply wouldn’t recommend relying on them in that way for this context.
Beside all the valuable informations you gave. I liked you.
Thank you!
You're welcome! Happy to help!
Thank you for the insight!! 🙌🏾 Do you do portfolio critiques or know of any resources where I can get critiqued on my portfolio?
So I don’t always have time to review everyone’s portfolio who asks at the moment but I know the Adobe Creative discord is very active and has frequent portfolio reviews. You can also reach out to any of the mentors on the discord and ask them to personally if they have any availability review your work. Additionally, if you have any connections, reaching out to mid-career designers on LinkedIn is also worth a shot while also giving you the chance to get to know people, connect with others, and potentially already have common ground (mutual friends, same university background, from the same region as you, etc.). I know there are other active discords out there but Adobe’s is the one I am the most familiar with :) Hope that helps!
You just saved me from a huge mistake. Thank you so much ❤. Are you on the Twitter platform?
Glad to help! And nope, not on Twitter.
@Victoria Gillerlain whao, why?. You could really help alot of people there. Think about it
🙏🙏🙏
that was cool to know, by the way could you tell me what software did you use? ty :)*
Hey, thanks for this valuable information! Do you think it's okay to write your student/personal projects (or maybe passion projects) under experience ?
ah , nevermind this question has been answered in the comments. but thanks anyway!
I’m a food packaging designer with knowledge of FDA labeling regulations, and have 27 years experience, I find LinkedIn is a waste of time, lots of bogus job postings by recruiters 1st question, should I go back to 27 years or highlight last 10 years I have a great portfolio showing all types packaging designs, also I’m a technical illustrator and a food photographer, I watched your video twice trying to determine what to change on my resume, I’m also a video editor but dont want to include that especially if I’m targeting packaging design work. And have working knowledge in Spanish and French.. any input from you would be great.
Awesome question. Generally, the one page resume rule still applies and employers will always prefer the most recent years of experience. You can still mix in any career highlights but I will assume that the larger ticket, cool career highlights have come later in your careers since that’s how it tends to play out since you improve with years of experience. Feel free to put as much you can on that one page with said experience.
Portfolio wise, pick your best projects over the last ten years BUT do mention you have 27 years of experience somewhere in the content, probably in your about page, resume summary, LinkedIn bio, or maybe even hero section of your website. Maybe even all of the above, make a consistent brand narrative.
I think, like you said, it would be wise to mainly focus on the skills you have that pertain to the role you want to get. Do mention in the skills section things like video editing, photography, and your language proficiency but it doesn’t need to be a major highlight if it doesn’t help push forward the packaging designer skills you want use more of.
This recommendation all assumes you want to continue packaging design instead of pivot to more food photography or video editing. If you want to do more of that then same thing sort of applies, pick the best instances and recent work of that.
I hope that helps!
@@victoriagillerlain thank you for your reply. Your points are well taken. I just wanted to make sure you said to put my 27 year experience on the résumé. Contrary to many, they said not to, but I believe I should because my experience in packaging design and complicated FDA labeling regulation experience will help an employer understand that I have expertise specially in a remote setting. I would like to share my website with you. I’m just going put the name and then you can add the com since I’m not able to include a website in RUclips comments, I already tried to respond with that, and it was removed so here it is YasirSalah
Great information and video! I'm planning to refresh my resume but after over 20 yrs of freelancing as photo-retoucher I have a varied, but lengthy list of previous employers, and I'm already down to 11pt type... how would you recommend condensing the Experience/Work History section and keep it to 1 page?
Still keep it to one page! Here is what I would recommend- fit in the most recent and/or most relevant positions into the role you are applying to. If it’s 3-5 positions, just keep those. With that much time and experience, you’re probably applying to more experienced roles anyway, they want to know about roles that are relevant to you now and looking for now. So if you’re applying for senior or director roles, you don’t need to say you were junior designer or production assistant 20 years ago, that’s not as relevant anymore.
For freelance work, do say you e been doing it collectively for 20 years but I would have one freelance “job” and in the bullet point relevant freelance jobs or contracts under it that would be most applicable to the roles your looking for. Example, if you’re applying to an IT company or an agency that does a lot of work with IT or software companies, highlight contacts you’ve had with relevant clients.
Alternatively, instead of listing full time positions/jobs, you could list long term or relevant freelance clients as individual jobs. You can detail them in a similar way you would detail more traditional positions- it’s all about getting the job done either way.
Additionally, all your type does not likely need to be 11pt. You could probably get down to 9pt for body copy. Using your layout skills and slimming down content will best get you to where you need to be.
Love this video!! Just wondering what would u do if ur a current student with 0 experience creating a resume for an internship, any advice?
Hi! That’s a great question- if you’ve had a job before, any job, retail, food service, etc, I would include that. Always highlight qualities that are also relevant to the position you are looking to land. These are usually common qualities like communication, organizational skills, being a team player, things all employers want and you’ve likely done before, whether you know it or not. If you have any metrics you can pull from, like store productivity or milestones that were completed while you were there, try to work those in- the more personally invoked you were the better. If you do not have any work experience or if you’ve only held one position, I would include any extra-curriculars you have done and your position in those organizations. Volunteer experience also counts in this scenario! Hopefully you’re not in this circumstance but if you have no extra-curricular, work, or volunteer experience, than your goal should be to go out and get some. Clubs, orgs and volunteering do not usually require an application and are usually pretty low barriers to entry so join those in whatever relevant capacity you can. Get involved! You could also look into doing any online boot camps or obtaining certifications (example, Google Ads). Getting the Google ads cert is free but most boot camps aren’t and I would highly recommend doing a lot of research on any boot camp/program you might enroll in as some are better than others. And of course, even if it’s not the most relevant to the internship you want and you can maintain you academic rigor, get a job! Any job that reasonably allows you to work while understanding you are a student, which I know is easier said than done. However, some work experience is always better than none.
Bonus points if you reach out to your student career center ✨
What skills and softwares are actually required to get a job as a High Paying graphic designer?
Sure! All designers must be excellent communicators, take feedback well, and be proficient in the Adobe Suite basics, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign. Soft skill wise, be nice, be friendly, be a good presenter, and know how to communicate in difficult situations. Software-wise, there are much more bonus, nice-to-know skills out there as well worth knowing Figma, After Effects, etc. but it cant depend on what your job actually needs and what you want to do whether or not they are worth knowing. High paying is a different story. As unfair as it is, it typically takes experience for graphic and visual designers to get well-rounded paychecks from salaried positions.
@@victoriagillerlain Thankyou. Understood!
i don't have degree in collage, so is that okay if i put my vocational high school in my CV ??
If you just graduated high school or that’s your only degree it’s perfectly fine to put that on there. If you are current at uni or in college, it’s recommended to put that as well and that you are currently attending. Whichever works for you!
@@victoriagillerlain okay thank u
Do you need a degree to be a graphic designer? It's because i am a up and coming self-taught graphic designer, and I dropped out of college during my junior year because of tuition price.
You absolutely do not need a degree to get into graphic design! Some of the most talented designers I know are self taught or do have a full traditional degree. Will some people take you more seriously with a degree? Sure, in some cases. However, employers and potential clients care way more about the work you can do, your portfolio, and how easy to are to work with as opposed to if you hold a degree or not. I will always advocate for some sort of education if you can afford it but there are plenty of non-traditional paths and education options out there with plenty of free to low cost options. More than anything, it’s about practice, having a spike portfolio, putting yourself out there, and just being great to work with. Best of luck!
@Victoria Gillerlain if education was affordable or free, then I will do it but since I live in the US, it's not gonna go down soon especially the recent recession
Totally understand what you mean and that is very true- I only recommend it if people can afford it. There are graphic design certificates, even at community colleges, that don’t require a full-time education or for nearly as long. Additionally, there are non traditionally education options that you can combine as well, like Skillshare, School of Motion, Coursera, Udemy, and many others that you might not get a certificate in but do provide in-depth knowledge, practice opportunities, and even feedback from a more in depth program at far less of a cost than traditional uni. If you need the structure, some of these programs and options out there will get the job done just as well as university classes.
Thank you very much this video was really helpful. If I may ask, instead of the picture what should I put instead? (in my country a photo is a must)
If in your country photos are a must, include it! This video was made with western audiences in mind (US, Canada, European countries, etc.) since that is my experience. But if the area you are in and applying has different best practices, by all means include a photo. However, if you are applying for jobs in the western areas I mentioned prior, don’t include a photo and there’s no need to put anything else instead.
@@victoriagillerlain got it thank you
Hi, Could you shared with me where did you do your CV? In Microsoft word?
Hi! I did it using Adobe Indesign! Right now I’m actually developing resume and cover letter templates that you all can download and edited in either Word, Adobe Illustrator, or Indesign, so stay tuned! Hoping to have those out the first week of January!
Helpful information! Thank you.
By any chance, do you have a link or any InDesign templates available for download?
So glad to help! Just added the first variation of an updated template to my store with more options to come~
Hey, thank you for the info. What tool did you use to design your resume?
Hi! Thank you- I used InDesign to design my resume.
You can also use flow cv it puts it in a format for you!
Can u please share me the template of this design
Just added the first variation of updated templates to my store!
oohh some one went to mason huh Fairfax in the buildling
Woot woot, go Patriots!
I am watching this to improve my English..😼
font name please?
Unfortunately in the experience section, I don't have any previous job or internship related to Graphic design which is what makes me the most anxious about applying to jobs. However I do have experience with 3 totally random jobs as well as a laboratory internship. Will that make any difference?
Still include work you’ve done if it’s your most recent experience! Showing you can do a job- any job- is always better. It shows you can operate and work within a professional environment and people have already put trust in you.
It does mean you should be more attentive to your portfolio so you can really show your work. All of this is ok, if you are making a career switch or just starting out that should be expected from employers that you would have limited experience resume wise.
Iam looking for a job since 1 year, and I iwas sending tons of resume and nothing. What happen ?
Hey! I’m sorry to hear you haven’t had lots of success so far in the job front. I will say that this past year has been particular challenging for everyone in the creative industry so don’t be too hard on yourself since it’s been challenging for everyone job wise. Without knowing you or seeing any of your application materials, it’s hard for me to say what for certain may be the main issue. However, that said, as I said at the beginning of the video, your resume isn’t everything- your portfolio is. If you aren’t hearing anything back or getting any interviews, I would guess the main issue lies with your portfolio and the quality of work you are showcasing there. A resume is a necessary part of applying, but not the key. You need to have good work and show your capability to do good work so you can do that for them in their business. In design and marketing, seeing really is believing so showcasing great work helps potential employees trust and believe in you to help get the job and work done. Good luck!
Hi Victoria, Great video and explanation, I have a question, where did you design your Resume, was it in Illustrator, Word, or Canva? I ask that because someone told me that in Illustrator even exporting in PDF the machines of the recruiter can not read It, Is It true?
I designed it in Indesign! Indesign is made for exporting text-based documents so it works well for this sort of thing. I believe you can use illustrator, just don’t outline your text (essentially, keep it editable text). There may be some finessing you can do in the export settings panel to make it extra nice, but to test it, if you can open the file as a PDF and if you are able to auto-highlight the words (text gets blue highlighter around it) in the pdf reader, then it should be readable by any AI system that previews those documents. No highlight and your not able to copy and paste those words somewhere else? Then it’s not readable. That’s how to tell.
I don’t like Word because it’s not design friendly and getting your text in just the right place is a pain. You can do it and it will eventually work but only at the expense of many tears and hours stressing. I don’t like canva too much for anything that’s actually text based so I’d stick with Adobe Illustrator or Indesign for creating your resume. I’ve heard is some people using Figma to create their resumes and cover letters but I can’t say I’ve ever done it.
Coming across your video for the first time
It's very much informative
How can I connect with you?
Hit me up on Instagram!
What fonts did you use?
For this, I use Gotham for the body copy and subheads and Playfair Display for the big header.
@@victoriagillerlain Gotham is pay to use, is that fine to use for resume?
Can you please reply which course i want to study after my 12 grade (12 class in computer science) for becoming a graphic designer
I recommend watching my How To Become A Graphic Designer in 2023 video! It details a lot of what I recommend learning and that should help give you some insight/a jumping off point on what to enroll in or learn online :)
@@victoriagillerlain ♥️
What software did you use to make your resume?
Adobe Indesign
Why not put the photo on resume? I did not get it
Basically, in the US and other western cultures, putting a photo of yourself on the resume is seen as unprofessional in the working world. Additionally, since we don’t have a ton of laws in the US for protecting worker, by having a photo on your resume you can inadvertently opening yourself up to a lot of negative bias that exist, which can unfortunately impact your odds of landing a position.
Can you tell best websites for making resume?
Hi! Most people simply use Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or Adobe Indesign if they are a pro designer. You could also try using Figma, I’ve heard good things about that.
your portfolio?
A project and video that is very much in-progress and under construction 😅
Good