Resume – Instructions

Overview

Design your own resume. You need a great resume to get a job interview. The best resumes are to-the-point, have stellar typography design, and utilize some infographics.

Grading checklist

  • Write and design your own resume
  • Use grammarly.com to help with your spelling and grammar
  • 8.5″ x 11″, CMYK, 300 ppi
  • One page
  • 3–5 past jobs, or 5 years
  • InDesign or Illustrator
  • No personal information—just your name, email, and phone number
  • 9–11 point type is best
  • Some color is okay. Black and an accent color look great together.
  • Print on regular-weight white paper

Instructions

You are applying for a job as a professional designer—your resume is the first step to showing them that you are a professional designer. 

  1. Once you have written and re-written and re-written and polished your resume, type all your information into InDesign and design it. 
  2. You must design your own unique resume to help set you apart from the competition. Remember your main focus is legibility. Do not over-design your resume.
  3. Choose your font wisely! Do not choose fancy, decorative fonts, or fonts that are outdated and hard to read. You are a professional designer—your resume should prove it.
  4. Choose your fonts wisely. Make sure they are easy to read and not too small. Do not create a resume that you need a magnifying glass to read. 9–11 point type is best. 
  5. I strongly recommend that you do not use art, photos, or drawings on your resume. Most hiring managers don’t like them, most don’t look good, and most will not help you get noticed or interviewed. Let your portfolio show your artistic talent, not the resume. 
  6. Remember to use white space effectively. Since most of your resume will be text-based, you will have to draw upon your typography skills to create an outstanding resume that is readable, communicates your skills and abilities, and lands you an interview.  
  7. When choosing a paper and envelope, make sure they are not too dark and do not have a coarse texture. Coarse textures do not allow the ink to print flat and the type will be blotchy and broken. 
  8. I would recommend using the large, 9” x 12”, professional resume envelopes. You will not have to fold your letters or samples page when you mail them. 
  9. Basic guidelines to follow. One page only. One-sided only. Black ink only. Color is okay if used professionally (minimally). Single-color paper only, (no rainbows, clouds, bright pinks, etc.) Paper size: 8.5” x 11” only