Complete 2022 Guide to Creating a Freelance Graphic Designer Resume
The job market is full of freelance graphic designers combating each other for the highest paying clients.
[Click here to directly go to the complete Freelance Graphic Designer Resume Sample]
The question is: What are you doing to stand out?
Perfecting your freelance graphic designer is not rocket science - anyone can do it as long as you know how to go about it. In this blog, we will run you through the A-Z of resume writing to help you land a freelance graphic designer job.
We will show you how to optimize your resume and get it handpicked by clients with the help of this blog. So read on.
Before we begin, here's a quick summary of our Freelance Graphic Designer Blog:
- Write a targeted resume to address the demands of a particular job.
- Put in your contact details so that a recruiter can reach out to you.
- Give the details of your professional experience in your resume.
- Present your education details to showcase your academic background.
- Use the month & year format for all dates and timelines and use the city & state code format for locations.
That's not all.
To make your resume stand out and catch a client's attention, you will have to do more than just these 5 basic resume hygiene tips.
We have also compiled a list of these 7 resume tips to help you make an effortless freelance graphic designer resume:
- Follow the 3 stages of resume writing
- Use sections to organize information and present it effectively
- Optimize the header section of your freelance graphic designer resume
- Optimize the Professional Experience Section of your resume
- Provide your basic educational qualification details
- Highlight your graphic designing skills using a distinct skills section
- Conclude your resume using a distinct summary statement
Let us now discuss these points in detail.
In the meanwhile, feel free to get your hands on our Online Resume Builder. It comes with intuitive features such as next text prediction, space adjusting, JD-resume functionality - and a lot more!
Here’s a list of the topics we will cover in this blog:
Follow the 3 stages of resume writing
Following the right approach to resume writing can make all the difference.
After all, it helps you take a systematic approach to build your resume & thus helps you perfect it.
Here are the stages of resume writing that you should follow:
- Stage 1: Master Stage
- Stage 2: First Draft Stage
- Stage 3: Final Draft Stage
Master Stage
In the master stage i.e. the first stage of curating your freelance graphic designer resume, your only job is to compile all your information in one place.
Be it the places you have volunteered, the degrees you have amassed, the places you have worked, and most importantly the clients you have worked with & the service you provided them - document it all in one place.
Doing this helps you in two ways:
-
Resume writing in the present: When you have all your information in one place, it makes it easy to pinpoint relevant information and outline them in your freelance graphic designer resume. Moreover, it also helps you save time as you simply have to use the information that matters.
-
Resume update in the future: Making a master stage also comes with future perks & benefits such as it helps you update your resume in the future timeline too! You don't have to waste time looking for information or relying on your memories alone - your only job here is to update your existing resume by adding or omitting information.
First Draft Stage
The first draft stage is the second stage of resume writing in which you have to begin working on your freelance graphic designer resume by curating these sections:
- Header
- Personal Information
- Profile Title
- Professional Experience
- Education
- Certifications (if any)
Final Draft Stage
What follows the second stage is the third stage i.e. the final draft stage of curating your freelance graphic designer resume. In this stage, curate the sections mentioned below:
- Summary
- Key skills
Compose your freelance graphic designer summary at the end and the key skills section right before it. Doing this helps you curate them both effectively.
You will learn more about them in the latter part of this blog, so read on.
Freelance Graphic Designer Resume Sample
When you follow the three stages of resume writing and perfect each section; you end up with an impeccable freelance graphic design resume in your hands that is worthy of attracting your target clientele.
The below-mentioned freelance graphic designer resume sample illustrates resume perfection in all its glory:
- Software: Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft PowerPoint
- Website: Google Drive
- Composing, developing, and delivering 2 unique products monthly in public space to deliver value to advertisers, cities, etc.
- Liaising with 10 large and small clients annually for designing interactive entertainment products to empower women
- Conceiving concept artwork and mock-ups to help clients imagine what a campaign will look like
- Constituting mock-up templates while administering photography to develop modular artwork templates for transit media
- Creating mechanical artwork for 5 annual live media campaigns by leveraging large-format print design skills
- Fashioning systems, icon sets, brand guidelines, live media campaigns, and mood-boards
- Editing and retouching photographs for marketing materials by leveraging advanced photography manipulation skills
- Forming art assets for live games including logos, photo touch up, marketing art, and presentations
- Coordinating with marketing and sales professionals to create stand-out pieces of the spec to aid in the sell-through process
- Facilitating small internal teams with social media, email, and eBook designs for lead generation in the B2B business space
- Assisted the creative team of 60 with day-to-day creative tasks and translating vision into communicative content
- Helped the team with miscellaneous production tasks like sourcing imagery, image retouching, asset resizing, and editing
- Rendered assistance in organizing, uploading, and maintaining design files on the server
- Administered collation of imagery and uploaded content to 10 weekly blogs while editing pre-recorded videos
- Analyzed latest market trends and competitive landscape performance that could be applied to the brand's creatives
- Collaborated cross-functionally with the growth and brand marketing teams of 10 to ensure high-quality creatives
- Designed and formatted 40 high-quality digital assets such as ads, eCommerce assets, emails, etc. suitable for web
- Created 20 motion graphics suitable for social media, emails, and ads while developing PowerPoint decks
- Aided with the creation of retail, packaging, and print-related marketing assets
- Provided support to marketing campaigns across the portfolio, including web and mobile applications, AI platform, etc.
- Adobe Certified Associate | Certiport | Jan '20
- Certified Graphic Design Professional | Timber Creek Institute | Sparkill, NY | Jul '18 - Dec '18
- Languages: English (Native) and Vietnamese (Interactive)
**Template used: **
We have made this freelance graphic designer resume template using our Online Resume Builder. Click on the above sample to access this template on our resume building platform right away!
Use sections to organize information and present it effectively
You cannot present a haphazard freelance graphic design resume to a client - they just won't read it. After all, nobody wants to read a badly worded resume that is presented ineffectively.
The solution: Use resume sections.
They help you organize information & present it effectively.
Here are the 7 must-have resume sections to include in your freelance graphic designer resume:
- Header
- Personal Information
- Profile Title
- Summary/Objective
- Key Skills
- Professional Experience
- Education
Additionally, you can also add the following sections:
- Internships
- Certifications
- Volunteering Experience
To avoid the hassle of curating each section, use Hiration’s Online Resume Builder. It comes with pre-arranged resume sections that are positioned right where it should be!
In the meanwhile, get your existing freelance graphic design resume reviewed by our expert resume strategists at Hiration.
Optimize the header section of your freelance graphic designer resume
The header section of your freelance graphic designer resume consists of three main things:
- Header
- Personal Information
- Profile Title
Freelance Graphic Designer Resume: Header
The header is the first section of your freelance graphic designer resume. It consists of the following things:
- Your name is your resume header.
- Write it at the topmost part of your resume.
- Use a font range of 16-20 points so that your resume stands out.
- Don't write a generic 'CV' or 'resume' in your resume as it is implicit.
Read our Resume Header Guide to get a fuller picture and a better understanding of this section.
Here's a freelance graphic designer resume sample to show you what an ideal section of your header should look like:
This is a snapshot of a freelance graphic designer resume template that we have made using our Online Resume Builder.
For effortless resume writing, use our platform to make your resume now!
For more section-wise freelance graphic designer resume examples like this, read on.
Freelance Graphic Designer Resume: Personal Information
The personal information section of your freelance graphic designer resume consists of three main things namely:
- Updated Mobile Number: Present a functional mobile number on which you are available at all times.
- Email ID: Use a professional sounding email ID that does not make use of flimsy nicknames that sound too informal or improper.
- Current Location: Use the city/state code format. to showcase locations Example: ‘Buffalo, NY’.
Hiration Pro Tip: Make sure that you double-check for spelling errors before you send your resume to a client. One spelling error or typo could keep a potential employer from getting in touch, so be extremely careful!
Freelance Graphic Designer Resume Sample for Personal Information
Read our Resume Contact Information Guide to get an in-depth understanding of the importance of this section.
To know what an ideal personal information section should ideally look like, take a look at the resume sample below.
This is a snapshot of the personal information section of a freelance graphic designer resume template that we have made using our Online Resume Builder.
Use our platform to put together a perfectly fashioned freelance graphic design resume that is designed to transcend all standards of perfection to help you get shortlisted & land the best clients in the industry!
It also facilitates a freelance graphic designer resume pdf and doc version of download so you can choose the file format of your resume and send it to your prospective employers!
For more section-wise freelance graphic designer resume examples like this, read on.
Freelance Graphic Designer Resume: Profile Title
Your profile title is important.
As a freelance graphic designer, you can simply write your profile title in this manner:
'Freelance Graphic Designer'
If you're a freelance graphic designer and a freelance writer, curate your profile title in the below-mentioned fashion:
'Freelance Graphic Designer & Writer'
Because of its importance, it is important that your profile title can be identified at first glance. To achieve this, write your profile title in the second-largest text size, preferably 14-16 points. Doing this will see to it that your profile title gets noticed.
Exaggerating your profile title will be seen as a sign of you trying to cheat the recruiter. As such, you need to accurately compose it.
In the meanwhile, get your hands on our AI-powered Resume Review Service to get a constructive analysis of your freelance graphic design resume within minutes of uploading it on our platform!
Here's an example of a freelance graphic designer resume sample showcasing a well composed profile title:
For more section-wise freelance graphic designer resume examples like this, read on.
Get in-depth feedback on your freelance graphic design resume with our Resume Review Service. We will show you how to perfect your freelance graphic designer cv using a section-wise analysis and feedback to give you the resume help you need.
Optimize the Professional Experience Section of your resume
The professional experience section of your freelance graphic designer resume is very important.
After all, it tells the story of your career trajectory and the details of your everyday responsibilities in current and old organizations you have been part of.
To showcase your freelance graphic designing with the touch of perfection, make sure that you follow the five tips that we have outlined below"
- Use one-liner points
- Use power verbs
- Use the STAR format
- use keywords
- Use Bucketing & Bolding
Use one-liner points
When communicating the details of your freelance graphic designing experience, make sure that you do so using crisp one-liner points.
Doing this will improve the readability of your freelance graphic designer job description resume. Moreover, it will see to it that the recruiter reads your resume
all the way through!
Use power verbs
Next up, use power verbs to begin each point.
Power verbs are action words that you can use to replace certain terms that seem less professional. For example, using terms like 'did', 'managed', and 'handled' do not come across as very professional.
On the contrary, using terms like 'executed', 'directed', 'organized', etc. helps you create an aura of professionalism which further helps you showcase your expertise more effectively.
Use the STAR Format
Using power verbs is not enough. To make your work experience in freelance graphic designing shine, you need to make each point count.
How do you do this? By using the STAR Format of course!
But what's a STAR format?
The STAR format is a tried & tested way of structuring each point. It stands for situation, task, action, and result.
Loosely translated, this is what it stands for:
- The situation/backdrop/context of your contributions
- The actual task that was assigned to you
- The strategy you used to execute the assigned task
- The result/outcome of your action in the form of an achievement figure
When you use the STAR format, you can easily enhance your resume's overall impact because you're not simply giving a bland testimonial of your professional roles & responsibilities.
Instead, you are showcasing the results of your professional contributions.
Use Keywords
Keywords are important.
But what are they? And how should you use them?
Keywords are job & industry-specific. For example, if you're a graphic designer, some commonly used & searched keywords for your field of work would be:
- Graphic Designing
- Illustrations
- 2D & 3D Modeling
In addition to these generic skillsets (also known as keywords), you might also find that the JD of your target freelance graphic designing job might have some add-on skill criteria. These are the keywords that you should identify and incorporate into this section as long as you have the skills & the expertise to match them.
Use Bucketing & Bolding
The final element that goes into the making of an effecting professional experience section is this:
Use bucketing & bolding.
Bucketing is the practice of grouping similar points under unique headings.
Bolding is the practice of marking relevant words & phrases in bold.
When combined, they act as a powerful tool. How? They help divert the recruiter's attention to key elements in your resume.
For example, it is hard for anyone to miss words that are highlighted in bold. So you can ensure that a recruiter notices your achievements by identifying them and bolding them/ Voila!
Similarly, one quick read at the bucket headers will tell a recruiter what your key expertise areas are. Based on that, they'll be able to quickly identify your skills, which saves their time and effort.
Freelance Graphic Designer Resume Sample for Professional Experience
Our Resume Work Experience Guide is full of relevant and interesting insights. Go through it to learn the pain points of this section. This guide will also run you through the process of what you can do to perfect this section by deep diving into it.
To learn what an impeccable professional experience section should look like, take a look at the freelance graphic designer resume sample we have illustrated below:
For more freelance graphic designer resume examples like this, read on!
In the meanwhile, get your existing freelance graphic design resume reviewed by our resume experts.
Provide your basic educational qualification details
Your qualification details matter. Maybe not so much when you're fishing for freelancing clients for your service, but the bottom line is, it will always matter.
As a rule of thumb, you should religiously include this section into your freelance graphic designer cv.
If you're wondering what you should include in the education section, here's a list of the top things to put in this section:
- University name.
- Name of the courses you have pursued.
- The location of your school/university.
- Enrolment and graduation dates.
For a better and fuller understanding of this section, Resume Education Section Guide to read an exhaustive guide on how to correctly curate the education section.
Here's a freelance graphic designer resume sample showcasing a perfectly composed education section:
For more section, wise freelance graphic designer resume examples like this, read on.
In the meanwhile, get your hands on our Online Resume Builder. It comes with intuitive AI-driven features such as real-time resume review, section-wise analysis, next text prediction, JD-resume match, etc.
Highlight your graphic designing skills using a distinct skills section
Your graphic designing skills is what makes you 'you'.
It makes you the professional that you are.
It makes you employment-ready.
Moreover, your expertise in your skills makes you fit for the job of your dreams. It acts as a client-puller because they want nothing but the best.
Bottom line is, your skills matter the most.
This is why it should be the first thing a recruiter should see once they lay their eyes on your freelance graphic designer resume pdf.
So here's a piece of valuable advice:
Make a 'key skills' section and present all your core graphic designing skills in it. Make a 'technical skills' sub-section and present all your technical skills in it.
Doing this will make your skills more visible to any recruiter going through your freelance graphic designer cv.
Read our exhaustive Resume Skills Guide to get a firm grip on this section. It outlines the dos and don'ts of the skills section of a resume including your freelance graphic designer job description resume.
Here's a freelance graphic designer resume sample presenting an impeccable key skills section:
This is a screenshot of the skills section of a freelance graphic designer resume template that we have made using our Online Resume Builder.
Our Online Resume Builder comes with intuitive AI-driven features such as real-time resume review, section-wise analysis, next text prediction, JD-resume match, etc.
Conclude your resume using a distinct summary statement
You should conclude your resume with an impeccable freelance graphic designer summary. Here is our pick of the top 3 tips to help you achieve this:
- Draft your freelance graphic designer summary at the end after concluding the rest of your resume. Doing this saves you the trouble of having to rewrite and rework on your summary statement. How? Because you have already picked up the best highlights of your career from all other sections. All that's left now is to perfect it.
- Keep it short and crisp. When you write a freelance graphic designer summary, it should not be too long or too short. The perfect balance lies at an approximate range of a 3-5 line paragraph.
- Your freelance graphic designer summary should be achievement-based. Make sure that you pick nothing but the best career highlights of your graphic designing career to outline all the points that make you unique. Your goal here is to stand out and prove your expertise using a selection of carefully handpicked points.
- Write a summary only if you have a minimum of 3 years work experience. If you don't, write a freelance graphic designer resume objective instead.
Read our Resume Summary Guide to learn the A-Z of perfecting the summary statement.
Moving on, here's a freelance graphic designer resume sample showcasing an impeccable summary statement:
To simplify the task of resume writing, use Hiration's Online Resume Builder.
It comes with a huge library of pre-designed resume templates and one unique freelance graphic designer resume template that you can easily edit & modify to suit your needs & preference.
Resume Review Service
At Hiration, we take great pride in our Resume Review Service.
Offering valuable feedback is a superpower we have mastered and we are all about sharing it with you.
If you sign up for our resume review service, we will do an in-depth section-wise review of all your sections to tell you what you can do to master it.
Moreover, your freelance graphic designer resume will be reviewed in compliance with the below-mentioned parameters:
- ATS Compliance
- Design Compatibility
- Content Relevance
- Recruiter Friendliness
- Conversion Scope
- Global Compatibility
- Performance Assessment
- Compliance with industry norms
- Resume Formatting (font, margins, the order of sections, etc.)
Online Resume Builder
Our Online Resume Builder is a Wonderwall of all things good. If you want to make a freelance graphic designer resume that gets you noticed, all you need is our resume builder.
Sit back and watch it do the heavy lifting for you.
Our resume builder is equipped with AI-intuitiveness and comes with the following features:
- Auto bold feature
- 25+ resume designs
- LIVE resume score
- JD-resume matcher
- Full rich-text editor
- Unlimited PDF downloads
- 100+ pre-filled resume templates
- 1-click design change
- A sharable link
- LIVE resume editor
- Option to save unlimited resumes
- Intuitive next text suggestion
Key Takeaways
Here's a quick recap of the key takeaways of all the helpful tips that we have provided in this blog:
- Take the three-step approach to resume writing to curate an impeccable freelance graphic design resume. This helps you curate your resume in the present timeline and helps you update it in the future timeline.
- To present information effectively, use resume sections.
- Perfect the header, personal information, and the profile title sections.
- Scan your resume for basic spelling errors before you send them to a potential client or put it in a job board for freelancers.
- Always add your mobile number and email ID details to help a recruiter get in touch with you - must they be willing.
- Perfect the professional experience at all costs - this is where the crux of your resume lies. When you do this with perfection, you will be able to get the recruiter's attention.
- Put the academic details in the education section of your freelance graphic design resume. Put your GPA details only if it's worth displaying in your resume.
- Conclude your resume with an impeccable freelance graphic designer summary.
With this, you have reached the end of this freelance graphic design blog, make use of all the section-wise freelance graphic designer resume examples.
Go to Hiration resume builder and create a professional resume for yourself. Additionally, reach out to us at support@hiration.com and you can get 24/7 professional assistance with all your job & career-related queries.