Your portfolio, CV and network are your best opportunities to get a job.
An internship is another good option, although not a guaranteed job option.
The Employer’s Perspective:
It only takes 6 seconds to read a CV…And there could be over 100 CVs for one job.
*An employer I know once got 76 CVs in a month and said that only 50% of them were a cultural fit, and only 17% of those had the right skills!
General Tips:
Resumes can be hard! How do you know what to put in them? We’ve got some general tips for you. Make sure it:
- Is clean
- Is easy to read
- Is free of all grammatical and spelling errors
- Outlines your skills and experiences with examples
- Maximum 1-2 pages
Don’ts:
- Use distracting backgrounds
- Include irrelevant information
- List every responsibility you have ever had
- Only use a generic CV
Writing your Resume/CV
Make sure that your resume is designed – this means considering your typefaces, colours and layout etc. This is one of the first impressions that you will make, so ensure that it counts! Your CV is a chance to show off what you can do. It might be the employer’s first impression of you before they even think about looking at your portfolio.
What to include:
- Contact Details – professional email address, cell phone, website/portfolio
- General area you live in – CBD, Orewa, Glen Innes etc (not full address)
- Role you’re after – ‘Graphic & Motion Designer’, ‘3D Animator’ or ‘User Experience Specialist’ etc
- This should be at the head of your CV and easily visible.
Personal Statement
￮Keep this relatively brief and concise.
￮Write why you want to work in the industry you are applying for.
￮Your goals and why you think you would be useful to your employer.
￮Don’t put in your age or religion. These are not required.
Experience
Work Experience
If you are just graduating and have little work experience, put any work experience you may have here or any freelance work you may have done.
It’s typically good to bullet point the tasks or responsibilities you had in your roles –
- Delivered excellent customer service skills
- Covered extra shifts where requested or required
Where possible, use statistics, numbers or quantifiers to show improvements that you made – eg:
- Designed an EDM (email direct marketing) campaign that lead to a 200% rise in email subscribers
- Maintained correct and current stock counts and lead stocktake for 3000+ items
- Worked sole charge shifts and maintained $500 cash float with 95% accuracy
Volunteer Experience
Volunteering, internships or unpaid work experience are especially relevant to the industry you are applying to, and look very good on a CV.
Education
￮There
is no need to list
your whole school life.
￮
￮Keep
it related;
what university/college and courses you attended and/or specific
qualifications you have gained that are relevant.
Skills:
Soft Skills – these are generally known as the “social” skills, how you interact with people, how you manage yourself etc.
Examples – Leadership, Reliability, Organization, Time Management, Collaboration, Teamwork, Innovation
Technical Skills – These are the “hard” skills, or things we are generally taught. A lot of these are industry-specific, but can translate sometimes.
Examples – things like Maya, 3D Modeling , 2D Animation, Adobe InDesign, UI/UX or Agile, Data Analysis, Website Development, Customer Service, Drivers Licence
*Don’t mention skills that you’re not comfortable using in the workplace!
HOBBIES AND/OR INTERESTS?
This is a bit of a debated topic, but go for it if you have room on a page and in your design. Make sure that you keep it simple and try to relate them to the position or industry that you’re applying for.
Eg. Building my own website, I enjoy illustrating and designing packaging
Referees:
Referees are people who will vouch for your work ethic or personality. There are a few types/classes:
Professional: A superior from a workplace environment – eg manager, team leader, supervisor, CEO etc. (These are the most ideal for a potential employer)
Volunteering/Coaching/Extra-curriculars: People who have no paid you, but have worked with you or observed you working.
Educational: A teacher, university tutor or Head Of Faculty/Department etc. (These are useful if you have no work experience yet, but ensure that they know you well enough)
Character: Friend or Relative. (Least Relevant for a potential employer)
Information to get from a referee:
- Their full name
- Professional Title
- Company
- Phone
You should be confident that the people you choose will say good things about you. Ensure that you ask their permission first before putting them in as a reference.
Examples:
Extra bits to include:
Volunteering
Internships
Be considerate when thinking about using images in your portfolio. Ensure they are high quality, but do not make your file size too big. Check the upload limit.
Relevant awards or competitions/events – eg: start up weekend, hackathons etc
Before submitting:
Spell Check it! Get someone else to spell check it, then check it again. Trust me.
Cover Letters
GENERAL LAYOUT
Paragraph One: Introduce who you are, say you are applying to the role (say the company too) and why.
Paragraph Two: Discuss how your work experience fits with the job you are applying for. Use the job description for specifics.
Paragraph Three and/or Four: Speak specifically to the company’s values and how you can fit into that.
Finish with a call to action and thank them for their time.