RESUME TIPS!

 general resume tips cobbled together from my beyond the portfolio notes

DESIGN:

one font throughout, use sans serif font like helvetica

no art, no fancy designing, no colors

heavy weight paper, not normal computer printer paper

should be one page but dont fuck everything up with a tiny font JUST to keep in one page

 

HEADING:

Jane Doe

(333) 333-3333

jdoe.com

jdoe@gmail.com

 

write this all in bold. make sure your email and website links arent hyperlinks, looks ugly. put whatever site you have, dont worry if its a tumblr or if you dont have a domain, etc. just make sure ur portfolio link is on ur resume. super important

 

 

EDUCATION:

start with most recent. for each include:

 

-name of school

-location (city/state)

-type of degree 

-your major (and minor if you had one)

-graduation date

-gpa (if its good (over 3.2))

 

IF YOU DIDNT FINISH SCHOOL AT UR SCHOOL!!

 

Name of school

Location

years attended

gpa

 

for example this is my resume:

 

College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI

Illustration

BFA 2016

GPA 3.8

 

Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD

2010-2012

Illustration

GPA 3.75

 

so you can tell which school i got my degree at but i dont LEAVE OFF mica. dont ever leave your college off even if you never graduated!! it still counts!!

dont bother putting your high school (unless you have NO college experience) on unless it has some kind of connection you think would work well (like if you know your interviewer knows the school or w/e) … remember u have ulterior motives lol so dont worry about tailoring it to “pander” to whoever you’re sending it to

 

 

SKILLS

 

languages, software, etc. photoshop. sai, illustrator. microsoft office, using computers is a fucking skill in itself. knowing how to use both windows and macs. any kind of pos software or whatever you’ve used at work too. but thats not all. character design, storyboarding, comics, sewing, backgronud design, painting, coliring, inking, basically every part of your art process is an individual “skill”. if you are good at the thing, write proficient in ____ or competent in ___ and if youre only sort of familiar with it write “working knowledge of _____” just dont lie bc they might give you a test.

 

EXPERIENCE

list in order from most recent to oldest

 

every job should have:

-name of company

-location

-position title

-dates of employment

-description (2-4 bullet points)

 

FOR DESCRIPTIONS!

use action verbs. never use “responsible for” never use “I.” short impact sentences. Use numbers. (ex. designed sales brochure, leading to 6% increase in sales in one week) (sorted 500 boxes) (taught class group of 20 kids ages 7-18)

explain what you did that made your position unique. 

no job is “beneath” putting on your resume. unless you have a lot of them and know which ones are more irrelevant, dont cut anything out. retail, food service, etc are all honorable jobs that show your professionalism and hard work

ALWAYS PUT IF YOU WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR HANDLING MONEY AND/OR OPENING/CLOSING!!!! IT SHOWS YOU CAN BE TRUSTED

 

your freelance + commission career can go as one job of like “freelance illustrator, 2009-present” or whatever you want and then in the description list the kind of work you’ve been doing, clients, etc


REFERENCES:

do NOT put references on your resume and do NOT write "references available upon request"
have your references READY in a separate file that is formatted the same as your resume.
list this:
-name and professional title
-contact phone
-company name and location
-contact email address

if you cant find both phone and email just put one but make sure you have at LEAST one. phone is best tho probably. the company will ASK FOR YOUR REFERENCES if they're interested, there is no need to provide them beforehand. 

ok i think thats about, dont forget awards and exhibits if you have them but thats super straightforward


my teacher gave us a list of action verbs whichi ll either type up or scan later, its helpful

COVER LETTER TIPS

 ALWAYS write a cover letter. no one wants to bc theyre hell, so nobody does, so you will NOT stand out without one. a big reason they want a cover letter is bc written communication is 1. an important part of most jobs and 2. a good way to get a better judge of who you are, what you're about and whether or not you're a fucking idiot...or asshole. i mean it sounds like im joking but im p sure cover letters are just a way to make sure they dont accidentally hire AWFUL stupid people bc their resumes are fine but you can tell a lot more about a person thru their writing. like, people honestly write cover letters in berating the company and the person reading it on a REGULAR basis. people really show their true colors in cover letters. so basically the most important thing is to WRITE IT, have no TYPOS and DONT SOUND LIKE AN IDIOT AND/OR BITTER ASSHOLE IN IT. not hard when you are none of those things. keep a sort of conversational tone. i nkow its awk as fuck but you're only here to do a few things:

1. explain how you found out about the job and why youre interested. do not wax poetic about how great the fucking company is. name names if you have a friend who works there, someone you talked to, a referral of any kind. keep it short and just show them you know what they do and what they're about, and youve done your research. you dont have to butter them up.

2. "five reasons why i stand out in a crowd of applicants who are just as talented as I am" this is where you list the kind of things you cant get across in your resume. your humility, hard work, dedication, humor, creativity, whatever it is. this should be bullet pointed. make sure its 5.

3. why would i be a good candidate for a job in this company? tell them what you'd do to help them make money. why are you an asset? whats in it for them if they hire you?

4. ok this is my teachers note that ive alwys struggled to get my mind around but she says "state your idea of the perfect situation if you joined the company" basically like ... paint a little picture of yourself there being awesome and doing good work for them? but more subtly? this is what i wrote at the end of my npr cover letter: "If given the opportunity to particiate in this fantastic internship program, I think I would be an asset to the NPR visuals team and be able to put my energy and eagerness to great use. I am willing to serve wherever possible and apply my talents to a vast range of responsibilities. Thank you for considering me and I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Mary McLain"

so basically i tied it up by bringing back my talents (i talked a lot about being a very energetic person in my list of strengths) talking about how i'd be an asset, and the most important part BEING HUMBLE, the word "SERVE" goes a long way. putting "i am willing to serve wherever possible" is a big draw. it just shows you dont think youre against things. i remember my teacher saying that one of her students got a job at a company bc he said "im willing to mop floors" in his cover letter. they ddint make him mop floors but a lot of managers think that millenials are "entitled" so giving them this idea that you're willing to get kicked around and no work is "beneath" you is a plus. its fucked, its ugly, and mean, but hey man you're here to pander and kiss ass and get a job. 


FORMAL NOTES
put your resume header at the top again, wtih your website, email, everything.
you dont need to put a whole fucking address on it god why do ppl do that
dont send it to "whom it may concern" or "dear HR department" or anything. find out the name of the person, or the company or specific team youre applying to. (i put my NPR cover leter to "Dear NPR Visuals Team" bc i knew i wasnt applying to NPR directly? stuff like that yknow)
be sure to tell them you'll follow up unless the listing specifically says they'll contact you.
sign with sincerely and your name like a normal letter