Why it’s time to level up your design CV

I've never used a piece of design software in my life, but have spent over 6 years working in the field. Admittedly, this can make being critical of design feel a bit weird. However, a huge chunk of my week is spent reviewing portfolios and receiving feedback from heads of design. Although I don’t have a token in the system, I do have a good eye for what lands designers interview’s & jobs, and I want to be able to shed as much light on this as possible.

2023 has seen a decline in the amount of companies hiring, coupled with an abundance of layoffs. This has created wildly competitive application processes. Ashby (a recruitment product company) analysed 14 million applications over 80k jobs and identified a 120% increase in applicants between 2023 & 2021. It’s fair to assume the abundance of candidates would make hiring easier, but sadly it's the opposite. Hiring is about finding the best candidate, in the fastest time frame possible and recruitment in 2023 means reviewing applications at lightning speed. 

Design is about being detail-oriented. Your CV is the perfect platform to showcase your understanding of this, but it can also be your achilles heel. Looking at hundreds of CVs a week you see the same mistakes being made time and time again, unfortunately when it comes to hiring for design, these can be make or break. Once again, this article isn't here for doom and gloom, it's here to help people gain perspective and maximise their chances of getting hired. So, let's address some common CV mishaps & capers, discuss the impact they can have, and share some ideas on how to overcome them. 

CV’s Are Important

First impressions count, never underestimate the impact of a good CV.  A head of design I’m collaborating with told me recently “I can tell from the look of a designer’s CV whether or not I’d hire them”. As an eternal optimist, forever championing the underdog, initially this outlook seemed a little narrow minded. However the next day I had a real moment of clarity which totally swayed my opinion.

I was working my way through job boards for potential new clients. In the digital product design space the technical requirements of most design job adverts tend to read exactly the same…clear communication skills, competency, using data and research to inform design decisions, designing with a user centric mindset, a good understanding of visual design principles and current trends. 

As a designer your CV is the perfect place to subtly flex your knowledge and understanding of these skills. Portfolios hold the power but it's your CV that drives traffic there. Admittedly, in the past I developed the habit of  giving CV’s about 3 seconds of time before jumping straight into the portfolio. I’m also guilty of putting so much emphasis on portfolios during workshops for design job seekers, but a lot has changed in 2023 - CV’s count more now than ever. So, let's discuss the how and why your CV should reflect these core design principles, while giving that all important perspective of the recruiters and hiring managers tasked with assessing them at breakneck speeds! 

Reflecting Design Skills in Your CV 

Clear Communication: I struggle with this a lot...I'll probably post at least 2 spelling mistakes a week onto LinkedIn, my most common being misspelling my own email address — a million facepalms. Thankfully people highlight this, corrections are swiftly made, anxiety is reduced, and normal  life is resumed. I have a lot of empathy for simple mistakes, we all make them. But for hiring managers who are working against the clock to find detail oriented designers at a rate of notts, these little mistakes will unfortunately be make or break, which segues nicely into the next point.

Research: One of the main things I love about working in the design space is that everyone is empathetic, supportive and helpful. So, let’s harness the benefit of being surrounded with likeminded people that understand how exhausting finding a design job can be, and utilise them to conduct research on how to improve your CV. These are the saviours that will spot these glaring mistakes in your CV you will be naturally overlooking having spent so long looking at the damn thing. Also - If you're a junior designer struggling to bulk out your portfolio with case studies, you can flip exercise into a case study! 

UX: Practice what you preach and invest time in thinking about the UX of your application. While the following points may seem obvious to some, they’re sadly mistakes we frequently see on a daily basis. If you're reading it thinking ‘Ah fuck! I did that already, and sent my CV out’, remember this piece is sunshine, not shade, we all make mistakes, and everyone wants to help you get hired! This is geeky but I like to think recruiters have a collectively big soft spot for well designed CVs -  they help simplify our job, making it easier for everyone involved, and that's why a well designed CV always brings a smile to my face. 

The key pieces of information you want to make clear and accessible are— what you're good at, years of experience, contact details, current location, education, languages spoken, and your portfolio. Don’t worry about photos, your full address, marital status, pets etc…this info won't win you an interview but it will take up all important space. 

Don’t exceed two pages. Most Lead / Director level candidates have a one page CV. If you are a senior designer trying to fit 5 — 8 years experience onto a CV, while detailing your responsibilities and accomplishments in each role, keep the old hits in there by all means, but elaborate more on your most recent work, this is what people want to learn about.

If you're starting out, or changing careers and don’t have much experience in your desired field the approach is going to be different. Talk about what you have achieved and learned in your past career, and how it can be applied to your future! 

Detail your experience in reverse chronological order and always describe the impact of your work using metrics. This is a common mistake designers make while presenting their work during interviews, that's why I think there is no better time than when you're writing your CV to adopt this style of communication and start memorising these metrics. Remember this is how hiring managers want you to communicate your work during interviews. 

Get rid of the self administered grades for softwares and skills. I can understand why people feel the need to have these on their CV’s but they take up lots of valuable space, and they won’t secure you an interview. It's valuable to list the softwares and skills you use, but the logic of grading them is sadly flawed and one we see hiring managers question frequently. 

It’s nice to hyperlink the companies you have worked for when detailing your experience, it can win you some bonus CV UX points, but most importantly — always ensure your portfolio is accessible, this is the most frequent design CV faux pas. Check the hyperlinks, make sure they work, this is CV UX 101. If your work is password protected, include the password. I understand asking for someone's password is a simple transaction, but when hiring managers and recruiters are dealing with such a huge amount of applications, at such a fast pace this simple transaction can risk setting you back.

If you're unable to show any recent work due to NDA’s ensure you communicate this clearly. A QR code is good to scan when people want to check your responsive web design skills out, but don’t leave this as the only link to your work, people will always want to review your work on a larger screen first.

Visual Design: If there’s one skill which is in constant demand it’s visual design. Naturally product design encompasses a lot more than this, which is why there’s lots of different jobs out there, all with their own nuances. Some will focus heavily on UX, some UI, some UXR. Most are their own unique balance of all 3. Regardless of which direction you're looking to take your career in, if you're either working in or looking to work in design, having a well designed CV is important. 

Once again this article isn’t here to fear monger, it's here to provide perspective, reference and advice. If visual design isn’t your strongest asset, or even the direction you're looking to take your career into, don't worry, hiring managers aren't looking to see flashy complex visuals. They just want to see nice simple clean aesthetics which reflect a sound understanding of principles of visual design, CV’s shouldn’t be flashy, just functional, it's also worth mentioning hiring managers really like CV’s where the aesthetics are coherent to your portfolio, this will always win you bonus points. 

If you're seeking reference points, design agency wise I’d recommend Koto ,Design Studio , and Hyperfocus, and for product companies with nice brand aesthetics, check out N26 ,Choco, Revolut, Moonfare, and of course REDSOFA! With these reference points look past all the photography, and fun flashy 3D rendered assets — focus on the colours, fonts, etc. 

If you feel overwhelmed, fear not, there's a great article on the Neilson Norman website detailing the 5 principles of visual design in UX. Also for a master class in simple, clean accessible design check out the work Sarah Winters & her team at Content Design London. 

The key takeaway here is to remember your CV is a design project in itself. Invest time refining it, conduct research by leveraging your design peers, and ensure you're clearly showcasing your skills and experience. Avoid common mistakes, focus on clean communication and aesthetics, and you'll be sure to make a strong first impression.