Posted on February 04, 2015

Yesterday, Dan took part in the Creative Futures panel at the University of South Wales (USW) providing advice to students interested in pursuing their career in design.

With the design industry being very competitive and agencies receiving several CVs daily, the need to come up with something different in order to gain attention is of paramount importance.

Beneath are a few diverse examples of CVs and portfolios which have caught our eye over the years. If you'd like to contribute something please feel free to join the conversation.

Kyle Read
A beautifully illustrated holding page website coded in HTML5 which gives you a glimpse of the creativity behind the designer. Certainly enough to make you want to explore his portfolio.

Robby Leonardi
Here you'll find that Robby has divided his online presence into a design portfolio and interactive CV (or as the Americans call it a 'resume'). The portfolio vertically scrolls with HTML5 elements revealing the different projects he's worked upon. The interactive CV is a horizontally scrolling website with bags of personality and adopts a conceptual game approach where visitors can find out more about his skills, experience and awards he's won. A big favourite within our studio.

Zeefax 
Zef Cherry-Kynaston has designed his CV in a 'Ceefax' style (for our younger visitors Ceefax was the world's first television teletext information service, way before the introduction of the internet). The website comes complete with pixel graphics, bright colours and instrumental music all associated with 'Ceefax'. A clever retro experience, which nostalgically takes us back to the days of playing 'Bamboozle' and nervously awaiting updated football scores.

Colin Kersley
The former Welsh design agency, Mark Boulton Design put out a blog article looking for a designer to join their team. With the agency having a respected profile within the design industry the response was overwhelming so Colin knew he had to make his CV stand out from the crowd. With that in mind, he created an illustrated CV providing the reasons why he wanted to join the team. The result? He gained the job and after several successful years he left to create his own clothing company, Alternative Aesthetics.

LEGO Mini-scale CV
To stand out from the competition, Leah took the approach of designing her CV around something she had a genuine interest in, LEGO. The CV contained a mini-scale figure of herself, custom instructions and a poster. A clever approach which points to the Kevin Costner addage, 'If you build it they will come'.

Effektive CV Mailer
On moving to Australia, Scottish graphic designer, Grieg Anderson purposefully designed a self-promotional piece which was sent out to prospective design agencies within Sydney. The pack included an A2 poster which showcased his work, an A5 booklet which housed his CV, a business card and a badge. Each individual mailer was sent out sealed in a clear plastic bag with end result being interviews with several agencies including the likes of Frost*, Naughtyfish and Eskimo. The CV mailer was so beautifully executed that our senior designer, Graham bought a copy from Grieg.

'Employ Adam' campaign
During the recession/credit crunch media production graduate, Adam Pacitti knew of the importance to get himself noticed. He had sent out 250 conventional CVs to prospective employers without any luck. To change his fortunes he could've hunted for a 4 leaf clover or worn a rabbit foot but instead he chose to do what he was trained at and created a multi-platform viral advertising campaign which included a memorable billboard. The campaign was a huge success with 60 job offers and countless media appearances including: Sky News, Daybreak, ITV News, BBC Radio 1, BBC 5Live and Capital FM. If you're struggling for interviews then hopefully the advice from Adam to take your own destiny into your hands proves of help.

Philippe Dubost
Dependant on the job you're looking for, being quirky and thinking outside of the box for your CV can be very successful. Phillipe, took this approach with an 'Amazon' style website detailing his professional experience, skills and testimonials/reviews from previous people he'd worked with. A clever idea which raised a knowing smile.

Victor Petit — Talking CV
Taking a non-conventional route, French designer, Victor chose to create his CV with one side of an A4 sheet that displayed his experience and skills. The other side of the sheet showed a photograph of himself with a QR code where his mouth was. Upon the QR code being activated by a smartphone the mouth would move with Victor speaking directly to the recipient of his abilities.

Augmented Reality CV
In the last few months we've seen an increased interest from our clients in Augmented Reality and this video narrated by technology presenter, Jason Bradbury demonstrates the power of this mobile technology. The video itself displays the first known use of AR CV from Symbian co-founder, David Wood and contains his skills and experience alongside 3D elements used to enhance the footage. We'd be particularly interested in seeing any examples you may have created/come across.

Top tips when creating your CV

1. Don't use Microsoft Word
If you're after a 'creative' position then MS Word is a no no and will be automatically placed in the trash can. It's fine if you're applying for an office-based role but here we need to see a format which gives a glimpse of your creative abilities.

2. Avoid infographic CVs
Lately, we've seen an abundance of CVs which use infographics. There's nothing wrong with infographics, we love them but imagine every CV you receive as an employer looks the same, the result… yes, you guessed it, the trash can.

3. The devil is in the detail
Spell checking software comes as standard with the majority of applications. There's nothing worse than receiving a CV which is littered with typos, it doesn't give a good first impression. The result? Correct, the trash can.

4. Automation
Take time to research us and whom is the most relevant to send your covering letter/email to. In the past we've received job roles applied for with 'Hi' and noted 87 other design agencies also sent the same email. The result? You should know by now.

5. Avoid sending large files
A massive bugbear are people who send a large PDF portfolios to us. If sending a PDF, please try and keep it under 10mb as it clogs up our inboxes.

6. Don't lie
Only add work within your portfolio which you've completed and don't exaggerate your abilities. The result? You will be given the walk of shame.

7. State your involvement
Linked to no. 6 — at the same time don't be shy, if you you were part of a bigger project let potential employers know. Rarely will you find a creative job that leaves you as a 'Lone Ranger', you'll probably be part of a team. If you can show that you had involvement in a part of a project just be honest about what you did and what you didn't do.

8. Personality
As well as having great work we also need to see if you're going to be a good fit within our team. We're a friendly bunch here (if we do say so ourselves) and adding a bit of personality through your interests and hobbies outside design helps tell us more about you. 

Top tips when it's your Uni's show

1. Send out personal invitations
If you are showing off your work in some kind of a showcase, use it as an opportunity to personally invite potential employers and try and book them in for a specific time. Don't rely on a general invitation — that's not enough, you need to be proactive. Sell yourself!

2. Say 'hello'! 
We can tell you from personal experience that there is nothing more disappointing when going to a show than looking over the work on display with no-one attending their booth. This is your chance to meet with as many people as possible. Introduce yourself, stop people as they go by, own your space for the night. We've been to far to many shows where the exhibitors (students) have just been gathered in huddles chatting to themselves — to be honest that totally sends the wrong impression and leaves potential employers with a bad taste. 

Opportunities at Sugar

Summer Intern Programme
For a great chance to work in our studio for a meaningful length of time, look out for details of our Summer Intern Programme. Details will be posted in May 2015. Follow us on Twitter and or Facebook to be sure to catch the call for entries. 

All the best.