Graphic Design Graduate CV example + template [Get hired] (2024)

Embarking on your design career journey requires a standout Graphic Design Graduate CV that showcases your creative prowess and technical skills.

To ensure your application catches the eye of potential employers, we’ve whipped up this handy guide, complete with tips for making your CV shine.

Dive into our Graphic Design Graduate CV example below for a dose of inspiration to kick-start your professional adventure.

Graphic Design GraduateCV example

Before you start writing your CV, take a look at the example Graphic Design Graduate CV above to give yourself a good idea of the style and format that works best in today’s job market.

Also, take note of the type of content that is included to impress recruiters, and how the most relevant information is made prominent, to ensure it gets noticed.

Graphic Design GraduateCV format and structure

In today’s fast-paced job market, recruiters and employers are often short on time. If they can’t locate the information they’re searching for within a few seconds, it could result in them overlooking your application.

To avoid this happening, it’s critical to structure and format your CV in a way that allows them to quickly identify your key skills and offerings, even when they’re pressed for time.

Tips for formatting your Graphic Design GraduateCV

• Length: Even if you’ve got tons of experience to brag about, recruiters don’t have time to read through overly lengthy CVs. Keep it short, concise and relevant – a CV length of 2 sides of A4 pages or less is perfect for the attention spans in today’s job market.

• Readability: Columns, lists, bullet points, bold text and subtle colour can all help to aid the readability of your CV. Your overarching goal should be to make the content as easy to read and navigate as possible, whilst also aiming to make your key skills and achievements stand out.

• Design & format: The saying ‘less is more’ couldn’t be more applicable to CVs. Readability is key, so avoid overly complicated designs and graphics. A subtle colour palette and easy-to-read font is all you need!

• Photos: Headshot photos aren’t required in a CV by most employers, but some creative and artistic industries like to see them. If you decide to include one, make sure you look smart and professional in the picture.

Quick tip: Creating a professional CV style can be difficult and time-consuming when using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. To create a winning CV quickly, try our quick-and-easy CV Builder and use one of our eye-catching professional CV templates.

CV structure

When writing your own CV, break up your CV content into the following key sections:

• Name and contact details – Place them at the top of your CV, so that employers can easily get in touch.

• CV profile – A punchy sales pitch of your key experience, skills and achievements to reel readers in.

• Core skills section – A bullet-pointed snapshot of your abilities.

• Work experience – A well-structured list of your relevant work experience.

• Education – An overview of any relevant qualifications or professional training you have.

• Hobbies and interests – A short description of any relevant hobbies or interests (optional).

Now you understand the basic layout of a CV, here’s what you should include in each section of yours.

Contact Details

Start off your CV with a basic list of your contact details.
Here’s what you should include:

• Mobile number
• Email address – It’s often helpful to make a new email address, specifically for your job applications.
• Location – Share your town or city; there’s no need for a full address.
• LinkedIn profile or portfolio URL – Make sure the information on them is coherent with your CV, and that they’re up-to-date

Quick tip: Delete excessive details, such as your date of birth or marital status. Recruiters don’t need to know this much about you, so it’s best to save the space for your other CV sections.

Graphic Design Graduate CV Profile

Recruiters and hiring managers are busy, so it’s essential to catch their attention from the get-go.

A strong introductory profile (or personal statement, for junior candidates) at the top of the CV is the first thing they’ll read, so it’s a great chance to make an impression.

It should be a short but punchy summary of your key skills, relevant experience and accomplishments.

Ultimately, it should explain why you’re a great fit for the role you’re applying for and inspire recruiters to read the rest of your CV.

How to write a good CV profile:

• Make it short and sharp: When it comes to CV profile length, less is more, as recruiters are often time-strapped. Aim for around of 3-5 persuasive lines.

• Tailor it: No matter how much time you put into your CV profile, it won’t impress if it’s irrelevant to the role you’re applying for. Before you start writing, make a list of the skills, knowledge and experience your target employer is looking for. Then, make sure to mention them in your CV profile and throughout the rest of your application.

• Don’t add an objective: Want to talk about your career goals and objectives? While the profile may seem like a good space to do so, they’re actually much better suited to your cover letter.

• Avoid generic phrases: Cheesy clichès and generic phrases won’t impress recruiters, who read the same statements several times per day. Impress them with your skill-set, experience and accomplishments instead!

Example CV profile for Graphic Design Graduate

Enthusiastic Graphic Design Graduate with 2 years of experience in creating visually appealing and informative materials that adhere to pharmaceuticals manufacturing and staffing standards. Strong appreciation of typography principles, font selection, and type hierarchy. Willingness to adapt to new vector tools and technologies as the field evolves.

What to include in your Graphic Design Graduate CV profile?

• Experience overview: Showcase your aptitude for the job you are aiming for by giving a brief summary of your past work history, including the industries you have worked in, the kinds of employers you have served, and the roles you have held.

• Targeted skills: Ensure that your profile highlights your key skills that are most relevant to your Graphic Design Graduate, and tailor them to match the specific job you are applying for. To do this, refer to the job description to closely align your skills with their requirements.

• Important qualifications: If the jobs you are applying to require candidates to have certain qualifications, then you must add them in your profile to ensure they are seen by hiring managers.

Quick tip: If you are finding it difficult to write an attention-grabbing CV profile, choose from hundreds of pre-written profiles across all industries, and add one to your CV with one click in our quick-and-easy CV Builder. All profiles are written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset.

Core skills section

In addition to your CV profile, your core skills section provides an easily digestible snapshot of your skills – perfect for grabbing the attention of busy hiring managers.

As Graphic Design Graduate jobs might receive a huge pile of applications, this is a great way to stand out and show off your suitability for the role.

It should be made up of 2-3 columns of bullet points and be made up of skills that are highly relevant to the jobs you are targeting.

Important skills for your Graphic Design Graduate CV

Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy CV Builder has thousands of in-demand skills for all industries and professions, that can be added to your CV in seconds – This will save you time and ensure you get noticed by recruiters.

Work experience

Next up is your work experience section, which is normally the longest part of your CV.

Start with your current (or most recent) job and work your way backwards through your experience.

Can’t fit all your roles? Allow more space for your recent career history and shorten down descriptions for your older roles.

Structuring each job

If you don’t pay attention to the structure of your career history section, it could quickly become bulky and overwhelming.

Get in recruiters’ good books by creating a pleasant reading experience, using the 3-step structure below:

Outline

Start with a 1-2 sentence summary of your role as a whole, detailing what the goal of your position was, who you reported to or managed, and the type of organisation you worked for.

Key responsibilities

Use bullet points to detail the key responsibilities of your role, highlighting hard skills, software and knowledge wherever you can.

Keep them short and sharp to make them easily digestible by readers.

Key achievements

Lastly, add impact by highlight 1-3 key achievementsthat you made within the role.

Struggling to think of an achievement? If it had a positive impact on your company, it counts.

For example, you might increased company profits, improved processes, or something simpler, such as going above and beyond to solve a customer’s problem.

Sample job description for Graphic Design Graduate CV

Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy CV Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.

Education section

At the bottom of your CV is your full education section. You can list your formal academic qualifications, such as:

• Degree
• GCSE’s
• A levels

As well as any specific Graphic Design Graduate qualifications that are essential to the jobs you are applying for.
Note down the name of the qualification, the organisation at which you studied, and the date of completion.

Hobbies and interests

This section is entirely optional, so you’ll have to use your own judgement to figure out if it’s worth including.

If your hobbies and interests could make you appear more suitable for your dream job, then they are definitely worth adding.

Interests which are related to the industry, or hobbies like sports teams or volunteering, which display valuable transferable skills might be worth including.

A strong, compelling CV is essential to get noticed and land interviews with the best employers.

To ensure your CV stands out from the competition, make sure to tailor it to your target role and pack it with sector-specific skills and results.

Remember to triple-check for spelling and grammar errors before hitting send.

Good luck with the job search!