How to Write a Web Design Resume [+Samples Included]
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As a web designer, you feel confident in your ability to design a beautiful and functional website.
But what about designing an effective resume?
Whether you’ve been job hunting for some time or are back at it after years of being out of practice, I think we can all agree that crafting resumes and applying for jobs isn’t all that fun.
And yet, having an effective resume is one of the most critical factors for being in the running for great jobs.
In this article, we’ll cover why you need a resume for your web design career, what skills you’ll need to be a successful web designer, and how you can create your next web design resume.
Plus, we’ll show you some great examples you can use as inspiration for your resume.
Why do I need a web design resume?
Building a resume is no one’s favorite part of job-hunting. And yet it’s a vital part, as just about every job you’ll apply for will ask for a resume.
First things first, what is a resume? And more specifically, what is a web design resume?
A resume is a document that holds a summary of your background, accomplishments, and skills. Resumes show hiring managers what qualifications you have and whether or not you have the experience that makes you a good fit for their job opening.
So in the context of web design, your resume is a summary of all of the skills and experience you have that make you a proficient web designer.
You might wonder why you need a resume for a web design job. After all, your online portfolio allows you to display your work and abilities. And while that might be true, hiring managers still almost always require a resume to be considered for a job.
Even with a resume, it’s still hard to stand out in the job pool. Corporate job openings end up with an average of 250 resumes.
Of those 250 people, only four to six will get a job interview, and only one will get the job.
Web design is a rapidly-growing field — With a projected ten-year growth trend of 13%, it’s a field growing faster than most.
Because of the increase in demand for web designer and web developer positions, the median annual salary of $69,430 is also above the national average, despite not needing a bachelor’s degree to be competitive.
While all of this is excellent news for designers, it also makes the jobs that much more competitive.
Having a resume — And a really good resume, at that — is the best way to get the attention of hiring managers to ensure you’re in the running for that web design job you want.
What skills do I need to be a web designer?
One of the primary functions of a resume is to list the skills and qualifications that make you the right candidate for a particular job. But what skills do you need to be a web designer?
First of all, there are several technical skills you’ll want to have on your designer or web developer resume to be considered for most web development and design jobs. Those skills include:
- HTML
- CSS
- UX design (user experience)
- UI design (user interface)
- Javascript
In addition to the specific skills you’ll need to have, web design relies on many software programs.
Hiring managers will want to know that you’re familiar with the programs required for the job. Those programs commonly include:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Dreamweaver
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Indesign
- Adobe After Effects
- Adobe Animate
- WordPress
Given how fast web design is growing and how competitive of a field it’s becoming, it’s certainly in your best interest to master the other skills related to websites such as digital marketing, search engine optimization, and social media.
In addition to the technical skills employers will require that you have, web designers should also have soft skills they can bring into the workplace. These skills aren’t so much about being a good designer; they’re more about being a good employee.
One of the best soft skills to have is time management. Many managers don’t want to have to micromanage your schedule. Instead, they’ll trust you to meet your deadlines and get all of your work done promptly.
Another soft skill you should have is communication skills. Any job will likely result in you working with at least one other person, so you’ll need to be able to communicate effectively.
If you’re working in a remote position, communication is even more critical. In this case, you’re limited in your options for channels of communication and have to be still able to get your point across.
How do I write a web design resume?
Now that you know why a resume is important for a web design career and what skills you’ll need to have, let’s talk about how to write your web or graphic design resume.
Information to include
Let’s first discuss the obvious: your personal information. Make sure that when a hiring manager gets your resume, they know how to contact you. At the very least, include your full name, your phone number, and your email address.
Your resume should also include an objective or summary. In this part of your resume, you’ll briefly explain your background and what you hope the outcome of your job hunt will be.
For example, you might have an objective that reads:
“Skilled web designer with five years of freelance experience seeking to further grow my skills in a design agency setting.”
Another must-have item on your resume is a list of your relevant skills. Without listing relevant skills, you’re unlikely to be taken seriously by managers.
If you aren’t sure what skills to include, here’s a tip — Read over the job posting you’re applying for to see what skills they say they want in a candidate. Make sure that any of those skills you possess are on your resume.
That being said, don’t lie on your resume. If you don’t have one of the skills just yet, don’t list it. Instead, consider this a growing opportunity and make time to learn that skill soon.
Now let’s talk about some items that are nice to have on your resume, but that you might not have.
The first of those is education. If you don’t have a college degree or any relevant training programs to list, you won’t be able to include this part.
Next, consider job experience. If you have previous experience working as a designer, obviously, you’ll include that on your resume. But it could be that you’re a new graduate or new to the field and don’t have any previous jobs to list.
If that’s the case, instead focus on the skills that you have and what you’ve done to hone them.
You could talk about freelance jobs you’ve taken on, or even a volunteer gig you picked up designing a new website for the local nonprofit you’re a part of.
Formatting and other factors
Now that you know what you should include on your resume, let’s talk about a few other things to keep in mind.
Remember that you’re applying for a job in the design field. As such, the hiring managers will probably expect your resume layout to be visually appealing.
They might be concerned if they see a resume with awful design and formatting for a web design job. However, don’t make it so design heavy that it’s hard to follow!
Additionally, since web design is a visual field, hiring managers might want to see a sample of what you have to offer. If you have an online portfolio, be sure to include a link to it on your resume.
Be sure to keep your resume short and sweet. If your resume is several pages long, you might want to rethink it.
Hiring managers are spending an average of six seconds reading each resume. You want to ensure your resume is concise enough that they can get to all the good stuff in those six seconds.
Next up, make sure there are no errors or typos in your resume.
Glaring errors are one of the biggest red flags that will turn hiring managers off right away. In fact, more than three-quarters of managers will immediately disqualify your resume if they find typos and grammatical errors.
Finally, you may want to consider writing a cover letter. They aren’t necessary for every single job, but some job postings will specifically ask for one.
Plus, a cover letter can be a great way to help explain any shortage of experience you might have.
Resume builders
If building a resume from scratch sounds like too big of a task, there are also many resume builders online that will allow you to plug your information into a template and end up with a nice-looking resume.
A few resume builders to take a look at are:
Keep in mind, you can also build a free resume in Microsoft Word or one of the design programs you use.
Web design resume examples
Now that we’ve covered the basics of how to write your own eye-catching resume, let’s look at a few resume sample ideas:
Example #1:
This resume nails all of the significant points we talked about.
They’ve included the basics such as work experience and education. They list their exact objective and list the primary skills they have.
And as we discussed previously, they’ve made their resume visually interesting and appealing.
Example #2:
This resume is visually unique and brings in some details that you don’t often see in resumes. For a job in design, this is definitely a plus.
In addition to all of the necessary sections we covered earlier, they also indicate their level of proficiency in each of their skill sets.
Example #3:
In our final example, you can see that the resume creator has added a bit of their own personality to the document.
They’ve also indicated whether they’re familiar, experienced, or advanced in each of the skills they list.
Plus, they’ve mixed up their fonts to give it a little extra creative appeal.
Conclusion
Now that you know how vital your web design resume is to take your career to the next level, it’s time to get started.
Remember, your resume is the first impression any hiring manager or recruiter will have of you — You want that resume to speak volumes.
In other words, you want someone to look at your resume and immediately see that you could be the perfect fit for the job.
Using the advice you learned in this article, you can take all of your hard-earned skills and craft them into a beautiful resume that will catch any manager’s eye.
If you’re struggling to get started on your resume, be sure to check back to the examples for some inspiration to get yours started!
