Illustrator Resume Examples

An illustrator resume is a chance for a professional illustrator to highlight their skills and experience beyond their portfolio of designs and other works. If it shows outstanding expertise and knowledge of the work process, it brings in clients.

So it’s critical that your resume looks as good as it possibly can. Here’s a brief list of the things you need to know (and that are covered here).

• What’s the best format for a resume?
• What’s the difference between a resume summary and a resume objective?
• How to format experience and education sections?
• What about relevant skills and additional skills?
• How to use action verbs?

How to Format an Illustrator Resume

Your resume is the core of everything that makes up a winning job application (a great portfolio with a variety of works, an outstanding LinkedIn profile, and professional-looking social media). Your illustrator resume format is at least part of what gets you an interview. So check the resume sample and guidelines below to make sure that the layout and content of yours are flawless.

If you’re wondering, “who can write my resume?” consider hiring a professional. We encourage you to explore the following resume examples developed using our resume writing service. We’ve developed them for dozens of professions in all kinds of industries: from customer service to engineering. And we will keep updating the list each week with new examples.

Illustrator Resume [Sample]

The best way to prepare yourself for writing a resume illustrator is to look at a great illustrator resume example (or ten). It’ll show you what the main requirements for a winning resume are and what to put on yours to make the recruiter want to hire you.

Resume Objective & Resume Summary

Illustrator resume objective and summary are brief statements that help the recruiter or any other person reading your resume understand who you are as a professional and what you’re looking for.

The resume objective talks about your career goals adjusted to the particular job application. If you want it to win you an interview, make sure it isn’t too generic.

The resume summary focuses on what you’ve already achieved instead. It summarizes your training, experience, skills, and accomplishments in one to two sentences.

Resume Summary [Examples]

A resume summary is another common part of a resume for illustrator (or any other professional, for that matter). Job seekers are expected to include a summary in their resume to make the recruiter’s job easier and, hopefully, increase their chances of succeeding in the competitive job market. Check out these summary resume sample to avoid common mistakes.

Resume Objective [Examples]

An illustrator resume objective is all about communicating your career aspirations. You can find it in almost any professional resume example because most recruiters appreciate it. A resume objective is a statement about your goal (getting the job you’re applying for) that shows your knowledge of the job duties and willingness to improve the company metrics.

Resume Examples [Experience]

You’ll also find an experience section in any illustrator resume sample because it’s the most important part of any resumes illustrator. It’s where you get to talk about everything you’ve done so far in your career so that the recruiter sees you’re well-familiar with illustrator’s duties. The experience section should only list your two most recent (and relevant) jobs in bullet points.

Sure, illustrations from your portfolio tell a professional much more than the description of your business experience from your resume. But a recruiter can’t be an expert in every career out there. So your experience section is what makes it possible for your portfolio to reach potential employers.

Entry Level Illustrator Resume [Experience]

If you don’t have much experience, you can still show that you know the responsibilities of an illustrator and land an interview. You need to list your school projects, internships, and anything else that’ll show the recruiter that you are well aware of how to be a good illustrator.

By the way, most recruiters rely on automation these days. For this reason, if you don’t want your resume to get lost, you need to be actively using keywords throughout it (names of roles, tasks, programs, and everything else you can typically find on an illustrator resume).

Entry Level Illustrator [Sample]

There’s always a way to highlight your professional experience in the best light on an illustrator resume. You have a chance to gain hiring managers’ acceptance even if you don’t have many design projects behind your belt.

Education Section: What Belongs Here

Similar to experience, the education section of your resume illustrator should be written in bullet points and be brief. These are basically the only requirements for the illustrator education part of your resume.

One thing, though, there’s no rule that says you need to offer details. But they do help. So try to use your education section as a chance to mention that you know the nuances of the illustration creation process, are a confident Adobe Illustrator user, and whatnot.

Illustrator Resume Examples [Education]

To make the most out of the education section on your illustrator resume template, mention not only where and when you studied but also a short description of what you learned. Even something as seemingly insignificant as an Adobe InDesign course can help your career growth in the eyes of the recruiter.

Skills on a Resume for an Illustrator

Obviously, in addition to your experience and educational background, you need to address what you’re good at in your illustrator skills resume. Illustration isn’t about hard skills alone. You need to mention that in addition to illustrator skills, you’re also great at interpersonal communication, creativity, teamwork, and so on. No matter what your career field is, your potential employer would like to know that you’re both a competent professional and a nice person.

So here are a few professional skills to include:

• Design and illustration software: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Inkscape, Adobe InDesign, Acrobat
• Sketching and drawing
• Knowledge of the rules of perspective
• Animation
• Storyboarding
• Corporate identity branding
• Languages
• Ability to think outside the box
• Outstanding teamwork skills
• Ability to meet tight deadlines

Illustrator Resume Examples [Skills]

Make sure that your illustrator resume skills fit the job posting and other similar occupations.

What to Put on the Resume to Make it Even Better

All main illustrator resume sections are standard. There’s no need for you to reinvent the wheel and add something totally irrelevant in additional resume sections. But recruiters and hiring managers are also a little tired of basic resume-appropriate statements. 

If you want to increase the likelihood that they’ll want to interview and recruit you, add something extra. The best idea is to add a couple of your additional interests that you think might make you seem even more promising as an illustration professional. For example, photography is an awesome option.

Illustrator Resume Examples [Other Sections]

If you want your “Additional” section to work in your favor, adjust it to the job you’re applying for. For example, if you want to create illustrations for magazines or other periodicals, you can mention your interest in the printed press. It’s not something common for an illustrator resume template, yet it is relevant enough nonetheless.

Use Important Action Verbs

Action verbs are usually the first words of the bullet points throughout your resume. For example, when you describe your experience, you typically include things like “developed the schedule for…,” “oversaw the project in... ,” and so on. Try to use different action verbs to avoid sounding like a broken record.

Here are a few good ones:

1. Orchestrated
2. Organized
3. Programmed
4. Coordinated
5. Founded
6. Administered
7. Designed
8. Oversaw
9. Initiated
10. Consolidated
11. Generated
12. Capitalized
13. Revamped
14. Sustained
15. Refined
16. Supervised
17. Guided
18. Negotiated
19. Assembled
20. Assisted

Choose the right action verbs depending on the experience you’re describing. And don’t overcomplicate to sound smart. It tends to have the opposite effect.

Main Takeaway

Don’t overthink writing a resume. It’s a pretty straightforward task. All you have to do is present your knowledge and accomplishments in such a way that the recruiter reading your resume believes you’re perfect for the job. Turn even mishaps to your advantage.

But if this sounds overwhelming and you’re still unsure how to write an illustrator resume, just hire a professional. Our experts have already created thousands of outstanding resumes. They’ll be happy to help you land your dream job.