Illustrator Resume Examples to Help You Build Yours

Illustrators can be a hugely beneficial tool for many companies and individuals. Here’s how to spotlight your illustration skills and experience on an illustrator resume.

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Illustrator Resume Example

The visual impact of different products can be an important part of a company’s outreach process and that means illustrators can be an incredibly important part of a company. However, if you want to get a job as an illustrator, you need to stand out from other job seekers who can do a very similar job to you. Here’s how you can write the best resume for the illustrator position that you are applying for.

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What to Highlight in an Illustrator Resume?

Typically, the most important part of your illustrator resume is going to be the type of work you do. Work illustrating comic books is necessarily going to be different than work illustrating children’s books or creating infographics. Both of these jobs make you a professional illustrator, but a hiring manager is going to be looking for one of them, and knowing which one you are is extremely important.

Structure of an Illustrator Resume

Your first step in deciding on your illustrator resume structure is to create your resume format. If you want to get the most out of your resume, you must emphasize the most important parts of your resume. That might mean using the chronological resume format if you have more work experience or the functional resume format if you have less experience. Once you choose your format, you can move on to the headings.

Contact information

The resume header is part of your resume design and that means it has to look great because you’re applying for such a creative position. One of the best options is to use resume templates from ResumeHelp to create your resume, as there are 15 options. You can choose whichever template fits your personal needs. The header needs to feature your contact information including your phone number, location, email address and your professional networking links, as well as your portfolio.

Resume summary or objective

The first section on your resume is your resume summary or resume objective. This is a short paragraph at the very top of your resume that gives a hiring manager an overview of your resume as a whole. A resume summary highlights your work experience and skills that will show why you are the ideal candidate for the role. If you don’t have a lot of experience, then include a resume objective that outlines your career goals and intentions.

Skills

Your skills section for an illustrator job needs to be as descriptive as possible because this is often one of the ways you express what types of jobs would work best for you. Here are a few skills you might want to include as bullet points in your skills section:

Adobe Suite (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign)
Creating design concepts
Digital media work
General art and design
Web design
Interpersonal skills
Communication skills
Time management

These are all great illustrator skills to list in your resume as you will need to include both soft skills and hard skills. Your design skills can be a great way to differentiate yourself from other job candidates and showcase exactly the type of work you excel at.

Work history

Your work experience section can include up to 10 years of experience in all sorts of illustration areas. There are many different types of illustrators including medical illustrators, technical illustrators and company graphic designers. Note the type of job you were doing, as well as where you were doing it and when you were employed.

Education

If you have a college degree like a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, you can include this in your resume. Not all illustrators have fine arts experience, but if you do, include that in your resume. This can give you more of a professional resume look.

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Do’s and Don’ts for an Illustrator Resume

Here are some additional tips to keep in mind when writing your illustrator resume:

Do:

Describe your style of illustrations and what you’re most comfortable working in. Even with a visual portfolio, describing your illustration style is still crucial.
List as many specific projects you’ve worked on as possible. These projects can help you showcase your skills more effectively.
Note the illustrator programs you typically use. This can help a hiring manager understand whether you would fit in at a specific company.

Don’t:

Submit a resume without any visual portfolio whatsoever. Illustration is such a visual medium that you need that portfolio to succeed.
Neglect certifications and other third-party qualifications. This can help you prove to a recruiter that you have the skills you’re claiming.
List freelancer as your job title if you were working freelance. Use something more descriptive, like “Freelance Illustrator.”

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FAQ: Illustrator Resume Examples

Q: Do I need to include a cover letter for an illustrator application?

Yes. A cover letter is always going to be an important choice for basically any work, and this is especially true when it comes to a highly creative area like an illustrator job. A cover letter allows you to talk directly to a hiring manager, which allows you to explain a bit more of your resume information. Plus, it also gives you a chance to ask for a job interview. If you’re not confident in your ability to write a cover letter, you can use the cover letter builder from ResumeHelp.

Q: How can I write an illustrator resume without a lot of experience?

Illustrators typically need more skills than they do experience, which is good news if you’re someone who hasn’t been able to get a lot of experience. If you don’t have a lot of professional experience, you can also cite hobbyist experience, volunteer experience and internship experience. Just be sure to lean on your skills overall.

Q: How do I change my illustrator resume to apply to different jobs?

You must use an individualized resume for every job you want to apply to. Although an illustrator resume example can be a great starting point for your resume, you shouldn’t use it as a way to write one resume that you then submit to hundreds of job applications. Instead, look for resume keywords in the job description, then sprinkle those keywords throughout your resume to match the specific job role you are applying to.

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