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Graphic Designer resume

What the hiring manager reads first

All roles Design Reading notes, not rules

Summary

A design lead usually opens the portfolio first, then looks for the problem, the candidate's decisions and what happened after.

Also posted as: visual designer, brand designer, marketing designer, print designer, junior graphic designer.

See a sample applicationNot taking applications yet.

Read first

  1. Portfolio first
  2. Brands and channels you designed for
  3. Results where you have them
  4. Tools such as Figma and Adobe Creative Cloud

One line, before and after

  • Original: Designed the spring campaign for social and email. The email version had a 31% open rate, the brand's highest that year.Suggested: Designed the spring social and email campaign; the email reached a 31% open rate, the brand's highest that year.
Why this changedTightened into one line with the result kept intact. Every figure in the rewrite is in the original line; nothing is added.

Section order

  1. Portfolio link
  2. Experience
  3. Selected work
  4. Skills
  5. Education

Where your resume has these sections. A section your resume does not have is not added.

Mistakes that cost interviews

  • Software lists in place of work
  • Tool lists as the main content
  • Deliverables written as outcomes

Evidence that counts in design

  • Portfolio link near the top
  • Documented outcomes of design decisions
  • Scope: platforms, users, teams, stage
  • Research and testing actually run
  • Design systems and accessibility work
  • Tools last, briefly

Use what your resume already shows. A line without a number can still be strong when it says clearly what you did and where.

Product Designer, UX Researcher, Motion Designer, Content Designer, and all 150 roles.

These are common reading conventions drawn from hiring guides and career services, not rules every employer follows.