What I Look For in a Designer Application
‘Tis the season to make a career change, apparently! Millions of people are making a shift this year since COVID reshuffled priorities and the way we work. That means that millions of people are either putting together applications or sifting through them.
During my in-house career, I hired a bunch of intern and full-time designers. It was actually one of my favorite parts of the job! Finding hidden gems, meeting new people, and having an excuse to silently judge people. Over the years, I refined what I look for in an application and red flags that make me immediately hit delete. These might sound a little brutal, but that’s how you find the best.
If you’re a designer who’s looking or you’re looking to hire a designer, here are some things to look for in a designer resume and portfolio:
Resume
branded
If they’re applying for a design job, they need a designed resume. It’s the very first thing someone hiring will see from them. If it’s a white page with a single left-justified column of text set in black Calibri? Not a great first impression.
Not every designer is a brand designer, and if the job they’re applying for isn’t a branding job, that’s okay! They don’t need a super fancy logo. Just a nicely laid out page with a little personality is all they need. The bar is basically on the floor for this part.
a PDF
I am not opening a Word doc. I refuse. First of all, that’s sketchy as hell. Second of all, if they don’t know which file type is appropriate for which scenario, especially one as basic as uploading a resume, they probably don’t have the technical knowledge needed to hang.
An obvious link to their portfolio
Do not make me hunt for a portfolio because I will not hunt. If I don’t immediately see a link (preferably clickable), I will not be seeing a portfolio. Up top with the contact information is a good spot. That’s just good user experience, baybee!
A branded, personalized cover letter
Cover letters are tricky. I feel like it really depends on the person hiring. For me, I want to see a) a cover letter, b) that it’s on designed letterhead that matches your resume, and c) that it’s addressed to the correct company (you’d be shocked). After that, I’m probably not going to read any more. But make sure it’s coherent and typo free in case someone else does!
Portfolio
Practical projects
New designers usually come out of school with a portfolio that doesn’t show a ton of real world projects, and that’s fine! They can’t get experience until they have experience! But the projects that they do have should still show a real world level of skill. For example, if they made a poster about Baskerville in a typography class, that’s cool. But does that show they could lay out a book or design an ad or make a logo? There aren’t a lot of poster designer jobs out there.
Designers — this is where self-directed projects come in! If you want to show a skill or how something could be applied to the real world, just be your own client and make it yourself. It’s no less valuable than client work!
Work that matches the position I’m hiring for
Related to that, the projects should reflect the same type of work that they’re applying for. If I’m hiring for a branding job and the portfolio shows all illustration, that’s not going to be a good fit for anybody.
Case studies
Cool work is great, but it’s not much without thought behind it. They should explain who the client was, what the goal was, the process they went through, and how it solved the problem. Also, if you ever ask a designer why they chose a color and they say “because it’s my favorite color,” get outta there fast.
Not a Behance profile
You guys. Come on. That’s so lazy. And limiting! Designers, try Adobe Portfolio, Carbonmade, Squarespace, Wordpress, whatever. You don’t need web skills or a bunch of money to make a nice portfolio.
For me, the portfolio is the #1 most important part of a designer application. I probably don’t care where they went to school, and I really don’t care that much about where they’ve worked before. If the work is good and they talk about it well, they’re in (for an interview at least).
Need help finding a great designer? I thought you’d never ask.