CV help please!

[Eenuh]

Alright, I need some help!

 

I am currently looking into jobs in the UK. Not had much luck so far, but there's one that says "Greeting Card Designer", which sounds like something for me. Maybe.

 

The job description doesn't really mention anything other than having to know Photoshop and Illustrator (which I'm good/ok at), and Quarh Express (which I know nothing about =P ).

 

 

Anyway I'm wanting to send in a CV, but to be honest I have no clue how to write a CV for the UK market! I've only written my CV here in school, which was aimed at teaching jobs here in Belgium. I'm thinking things might work a bit different over there heh.

 

Here is what my current CV looks like. I know it's in Dutch but I'm sure you can still make out what's on there:

- contact and personal details

- my education

- additional education (art school)

- work experience (though this is placement as a teacher, so not relevant to the job I'm applying for)

- skills

- extra stuff (publications, hobbies)

 

 

 

Now my CV is very short and to the point, just like I was told to do in my school. Jim sent me his example and that was 7 (!) pages long, with lots and lots of text. I don't know what the norm is for UK CVs, so I'm confused about what to do and what to put in there and what layout to use.

I don't even know what to do with the cover letter. =(

 

 

So erm, help please? =)

[Supergrunch]

That looks great to me - CVs vary in length depending on their purpose, but the average is probably 2 pages, so yours is fine. The specifics seem okay too, although people might want to know what marks you got in your courses (unless there aren't marks, or I'm missing them).

[Beast]

Make it straight to the point but the best thing you can do is go in length about what your best abilities are and what you believe you can bring to the company. Usually that goes down a storm. Also, if you have experience, type what you had to do and how you met so many deadlines.

[Eenuh]

That looks great to me - CVs vary in length depending on their purpose, but the average is probably 2 pages, so yours is fine. The specifics seem okay too, although people might want to know what marks you got in your courses (unless there aren't marks, or I'm missing them).

 

What marks would I have to put down though? Secondary school? Higher education? And for what subjects?

 

Secondary school I had soooo many subjects (system is different here than in the UK), higher education varied per year what we had...

[Cube]

You don't need much help.

 

Two pages with most stuff nicely laid out in bullet point format is considered the best. A catching layout like yours would work really well - note that for most jobs, the first "stage" consists of someone pretty much skimming through the CVs to throw out the trash.

 

One thing I would suggest is a "summary" paragraph at the start (below your details).

 

Even if work placements aren't relevant, put them on (just make sure you prepare an answer to the question "Why didn't you pursuit a career in teaching?" for the interview).

 

And I would think that a few pictures would say a lot more than a CV.

[Eenuh]

Make it straight to the point but the best thing you can do is go in length about what your best abilities are and what you believe you can bring to the company. Usually that goes down a storm. Also, if you have experience, type what you had to do and how you met so many deadlines.

 

Go in length on the CV or on the cover letter? I was told not to make the CV longer than it is now, and the cover letter shouldn't be longer than a page either. =/

 

Only experience I have is working for myself and for school haha. I have no real work experience in graphic design, just some odd jobs I've done for people.

[Cube]

Usually for marks it's done:

 

Proper marks for latest education, then summary for the rest (i.e. 14 CGCEs C-A*) or something along those lines.

[Supergrunch]

What marks would I have to put down though? Secondary school? Higher education? And for what subjects?

 

Secondary school I had soooo many subjects (system is different here than in the UK), higher education varied per year what we had...

Definitely put down higher education scores (along with any awards/anything that might sound impressive), and then it's probably best to detail your most recent secondary school qualifications. If you did IB, most employers will know what that is, as a few people do it here, so just list your subjects and give the overall score (which IB has if I recall correctly?), or if you did something else, again list the subjects and try and explain how the mark is comparable to A-levels (i.e. equivalent to a UCAS score of 300 or whatever). People will probably be most interested in maths, English, and whatever subjects are related to what you're applying for.

[Eenuh]

Urgh I don't know what to do for marks then...

 

In my last year of secondary school I had close to 15 subjects I think, and I think only English will be relevant heh. I have no idea how it compares to the English system and all that. =(

 

I did 11 years of after school art class, but they don't work with grades.

 

I got my Master degree in Graphics Design, but again I'm not sure what to list (like is it even relevant to list my grades for my dissertation? Or subjects such as Art History?). >.>;

[Supergrunch]

For higher education, there's no need to list individual grades, just give your overall marks, and you could mention other marks if they're particularly good. And for secondary, I'd just put "15 subjects under [qualification system name], including..." and list the most relevant/impressive. And if there's no grade, then no need to put one.

[jayseven]

Intro paragraph outlining how your experience/qualifications actually mean you are perfect for the job.

 

In the UK you do not have to put your age on the CV - this is to try and reduce age discrimination, but it's up to you.

 

If your CV is education-heavy, you need to stress specific elements of some of your courses in order to display both your understanding and your suitibility for the job offered.

 

I would genuinely say that it's worth putting some of your achievements nearer the top - currently your first page, while impressive in terms of the amount of education you have ou need to stress the fact that you have sold a range of products, you need to mention being featured on sites such as redbubble, you need to bullshit and believe (as we all do) that you have a defined and unique style, while at the same time you are the master of your art and are capable of producing a range of art styles [insert reference to a course or whatever here].

 

With any work experience you of course need to identify any transferable skills -- elements of the job which you will carry over to the one you are applying for. Any responsibilities you had, teamworking, independant working. Depends on the job specification -- the wording of the job requirement will show you roughly the language you ought to use in response.

 

never say "I'm ok at x" -- say you have a "good working knowledge" -- because truth is compared to 90% of the population, you really do know publisher. You're part of the generation who can pick up and learn computer programmes quickly!

 

In the UK (no idea about elsewhere), you may be asked to provide referees - they can be previous employers, tutors who dealt with you a lot, or even 'professionals' who are friends of the family who are able to give an accurate character assassination description. Recently, though, one simply needs to put "References available upon request" at the end of the CV. I have 5 referees, depending on the job I'm going for. I've asked them if they'd be happy being my referee before putting their contact details down.

 

It depends on the job, but hobbies/interests aren't necessarily needed (I was told this by a professional CV person, however having "go" and "BISHing" on my CV has lead to interesting conversations with interviewers, leading to jobs!), but... yeah. Really depends on the job spec.

 

So yeah - ultimately I think your CV makes too little of your work and achievements. I do honestly think that the dutch does make it difficult to see if the CV can be improved- however, the thing about CVs is you'll always find someone who thinks they can improve your CV (like me :P).

 

(I've fixed CVs for friends/family who were unemployed for months then got the first one they applied for after I altered their CV, and I've volunteered at a charity finding disabled people jobs, where my CV 'mad skillz' earned three people (out of three) jobs. I feel I have to say this because I know I may have a reputation as a jobless, feckless, penniless forumite and I get the feeling I ... yeah yeah yeah shut up jayseven)

[Cube]

Also: I think it would be worth mentioning about having your artwork featured on the home page of RedBubble somewhere on it.

[jayseven]

tl, dr, cube?

[Cube]

tl, dr, cube?

 

I honestly read 90% of it. Don't know why I missed that bit.

[nekunando]

Although I can't really offer any advice on the CV front (I should probably look into reformatting mine in the near future to freshen it up ) I can certainly say that with your talents they'd be lucky to have you on board, Quarh Express or no Quarh Express

[Wesley]

I don't know what the norm is for UK CVs, so I'm confused about what to do and what to put in there and what layout to use.

 

I'd maybe look around some more designer-y forums that are UK based and ask.

 

Although this forum is mainly UK-ers, CVs vary a lot from industry to industry.

 

There are quite a few specific things that I've been told/seen for gaming related jobs - but I only learnt those through industry specific sites.

 

Seeing as they're both designy industries they may share some similarities - the first thing I've picked up is that your CV should be just a page and contain very little personal information (what you enjoy doing outside of work).

 

Your CV is so they can understand your skills and the interview is so they can get to know you.

[Tissue Town]

It's not at all important what you did, or got before university. Well, unless you're applying for peon work.

 

Plus, in my field, CVs are looked at for about 5 seconds. Needs to grab attention from the get go really.

[Aimless]

You tend to get quite a few conflicting suggestions when it comes to CVs, perhaps because they aren't really the one-size-fits-all solution they're supposed to be; you have to tailor it for the kind of job you're applying for.

 

My advice is to simply put yourself in the shoes of the person that will be reading it. Imagine you're sat there with 50 applications to read through, and think about what's going to stop you immediately binning a CV. The horrible reality is that most applications will only ever be skim read, so you need to grab the person's attention somehow: spelling out how perfect you are for the job right off the bat will most likely get you filed away for later consideration, at which point the less relevant — put potentially more impressive — details further down your CV come into play.

 

I want to suggest that you could decorate your CV with some illustrative border art to make it really stand out, but honestly that might be a terrible idea; it would certainly ingratiate yourself to me, but who knows what kind of humourless blob might be tasked with sorting through the applications. I got the impression from your first post that the advert doesn't ask for examples of work — presumably to lessen claims of ideas being stolen — but as your art speaks for itself I'd be tempted to include it in some capacity.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Aimless
Typo

[Eenuh]

The job description I read is one of the worst ever. I think it even lists two jobs in one! Here's the link actually:

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/jobs/advert/J3H5NP6L46DY9MZRS8B/

 

As you can see, not much to go on.

The company don't even have a personal website. All I managed to find online somewhere is that they work with maybe about 10 people. That's about it heh. =P

 

 

I'm currently trying to translate my CV into English and changing some stuff, but it's not easy...

I also don't know about including art... Maybe I could attach a portfolio of sorts? There's a link to my site on the CV where they can find my art, but of course they would have to look at it then.

[Aimless]

The company don't even have a personal website.

I hope you didn't list Google skills on your CV! Here you go.

 

Seems their art department has an e-mail/postal address if you felt like sending samples. In any case I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to contact them — as in the company in general — about the job before applying; it would show initiative and generate some familiarity with your name.

[Eenuh]

I hope you didn't list Google skills on your CV! Here you go.

 

Seems their art department has an e-mail/postal address if you felt like sending samples. In any case I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to contact them — as in the company in general — about the job before applying; it would show initiative and generate some familiarity with your name.

 

Haha my Google skills do suck. Though I guess the added 'LTD' I added in the search messed up the results. Whoops!

 

But yes! I think I'll contact them asking about the application and how I should apply as an artist I guess. Thanks! =)

[Ashley]

Ine if you want to send me your email address (FB message, to my N-E email or whatever) I'll send you my CV if you want an example (not necessarily a brilliant one but if you want to see more?)

 

One thing I would suggest off the bat though is maybe move some of the info to the top to a 'key skills' section as that's what they're going to care about. You have a [degree type] in [degree name], can do photoshop etc. Make that clear. Also add a touch of character to it. Regular jobs want boring CVs but as this is a creative job personalise it a bit, even if its just some of your artwork in the top corner to catch the eye. Heck I've seen creative CVs that have a large central image, details about programmes/techniques they know, key experiences, personal skills, education and then literally just a list of jobs without details on what they are.

[jayseven]

That is a horrible advert for the job. In similar situations I'd search out similar jobs to see what they said.

 

Online designer, inclusing greetings cards.

"With at least 3 years commercial experience, ideally from the greeting card industry, you must be fully conversant in Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Acrobat and Office. You may come from a creative or digital reprographics environment, with a solid background in colour, layout, file construction and digital workflows."

 

Giftware designer.

"Achievement of all deadlines set.

Maintenance of regular extensive market and design trend research to bring inspiration to the ranges.

Maintenance and housekeeping of the related studio systems, libraries and offices i.e. Product Library, Misc Library, Job Folders, Studio Operating System, Portfolio, Artwork Libraries.

Adhering to all studio procedure and technical standards as outlined in the Design Manual.

The attainment of objectives outlined in annual appraisals.

General team working within the studio to maintain a strong and profitable studio."

 

"Two years of design experience in a commercial studio within the card and gift industry or similar.

Extensive working knowledge of CS, InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

Experience of greeting cards and working with commercial printing effects, and giftware products i.e. ceramics, textiles, melamine, stationery.

Strong creative eye for commercial colour and composition.

Artistic drawing ability is desirable.

Advanced design skills, in knowledge of repro and printing, and retail market knowledge

Advanced communication skills including proficient spoken and written English.

Punctual, meticulous and reliable.

Courteous manner, strong team skills and self-motivated.

Microsoft Office, Excel/Word/Outlook. "

 

 

 

So generally these jobs are looking for accuracy, attention to detail, artistry and trend-following. I'd suggest perhaps ensuring those bases are covered!

[EddieColeslaw]

You could include sports/clubs/activities you participated in. In your Skills section, you could give evidence (a few short lines) of having applied those skills, on a project or elsewhere - maybe include the likes of communication/teamwork/organisation etc. skills as well? At the end you should probably have a references section - unless the job description specifically requires referees, I always write "I am happy to supply these on request."

 

I've learned in the past year that the most effective thing to do is to target your CV to the job description and company, and let them know the details relevant to the job. Would you be working in a team in this job? If so, stress teamwork skills. Good luck!

 

edit: just read the job description...contacting them seems to best thing to do, ask for more info without sounding desperate to both convey your interest and see how you can target your CV. And to see if the job is even right for you! With a description that short...they could be hiding something... /paranoia

 

Greeting cards jobs always remind me of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer

[Eenuh]

Ok, I've edited my CV. Tried to translate it into English and added stuff/moved stuff around. Skills and achievements are now on top. Added a personal statement but it might be a bit long?

 

I'm now over 2 pages though, so I feel I need to get rid of some stuff. My grades seem a bit pointless, not even sure I should include all of my education on there. Or all of my "work experience"... I don't think it's all relevant, but I don't know. =P

 

 

 

 

 

So yes, what should I change/delete/add?

I'm still not sure about images. I might add a separate file with some of my greeting cards as examples, sort of like a tiny portfolio as an attachment (so in the cover letter I'll point to the CV and examples as being attached, or whatever heh).

 

Greeting cards jobs always remind me of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer

 

Haha yeah same! I'm a bit worried that this kind of job will kill me, but I currently only see it as a temporary thing to earn some money heh. My goal is still to be a full time illustrator for books heh. =)