Trevin serves as the VP of Marketing at WebFX. He has worked on over 450 marketing campaigns and has been building websites for over 25 years. His work has been featured by Search Engine Land, USA Today, Fast Company and Inc.
Did you know that 73% of hiring managers say they’re more likely to interview a candidate with a visually appealing resume? Having a creative resume design is the key to helping you get your foot in the door and land that first interview.
Need inspiration?
We’ve created a list of 17 creative resume designs you can look at to get inspired! We’ll highlight one element that each resume does really well to help you craft the perfect resume and land the job.
Get inspired by these creative and refreshing resume design examples and see what elements they do well:
1. Style
Up first on this list of creative resume examples, let’s look at this resume for a web designer. The style of this resume is a great example of how can you incorporate your career into the style of your resume — in this case, a web designer made all of their resume headings look like coding. It’s a unique way to help them stand out in a sea of applicants.
2. An objective statement or biography
One of the most inspiring resume designs comes from Laura Gutierrez. There’s a lot that this resume does well, but one of the most important things it has is a biography section. Adding a biography or objective statement helps employers learn a little bit about you.
3. Sharing awards
This is another example of a creative resume design that keeps it simple. Being creative can be as simple as knowing how to use colors, spacing, and design accents, like this resume. This example also makes a prominent space to share awards, which helps employers see what someone has achieved.
4. Highlighting your skills
This creative resume example does a great job of highlighting the skills on the resume through text and visual elements. The dots help to show how proficient that person is with those skills, which can help employers better understand their level of experience and expertise.
5. Fit the job
Robby Leonardi has one of the most inspiring resume designs purely because of how creative it is. When you design your resume, you want it to fit the job. This resume is one from a designer, making it an appropriate, creative, and eye-catching way to help employers learn about Leonardi.
6. Be original
If you’re looking at creative resume examples, you likely want to get inspired and find ways to stand out from others applying to a job. Creating an original resume, like the one listed above, can help you stand out from a sea of people using the same templates.
7. Draw eyes to important information
You want potential employers to look at the important information on your resume, like your skills and experience. Like this creative resume example, you can draw them to that info by using color and graphics.
8. Give a timeline of experience
Sharing a timeline of your experience shows potential employers what you’ve done in the past. This inspiring resume example took that a step further by creating an actual timeline to showcase their experience and education.
9. Put your personality in it
Your resume provides a glimpse into your personality. This example above is one of the creative resume examples that showcases the person’s personality within the resume.
10. Choose color combinations that make sense
Looking at these examples of creative resume designs will show you what color combinations work. In this example, you can see the applicant used a combination of colors that coordinate well together.
11. Make it easy to skim
When you look at a bunch of creative resume designs, it’s easy to get occupied with the design elements and color choices. At the end of the day, you need a resume that’s easy for employers to skim and read. Using bullet points and headings, like the example above, help.
12. Try a friendly greeting
Depending upon the field you’re applying, you might have some wiggle room to make your resume a little more creative. One way to do that is to extend a friendly greeting, like “Hello,” at the top of your resume.
13. Make your name prominent
Next up on this list of creative resume designs, you’ll see one that does a great job of making the name prominent. You want employers to remember you, so like this resume example, you’ll want to have your name stand out at the top of your resume.
14. Enhance your resume with icons
Even if you don’t have design experience, you can use icons to help add a visual element that pops to your resume. Like the creative resume design above, using icons next to your experience and education sections can draw people to read your information.
15. Flip the layout
Next up on this list of examples of creative resumes, let’s look at one that flips the layout. Many people opt to put information like their summary and skills in a box on the left side, but swapping the layout can give your resume a different look.
16. Keep it clean
Having a clean resume is crucial to ensure that employers can read it. Like this creative resume example, you’ll want to leave enough space so people can read all the information on your resume with ease.
17. Make it modern
You want employers to see an updated resume. Having a modern design, like this example above, will indicate to employers that your resume is recent and updated.
18. Use blocks to sort information
Your resume needs to be easily readable for employers. Like this creative resume design, you can use blocks to help make your resume easily readable and categorize information.
10 elements to include to make your creative resume design shine
If you want to impress recruiters and land your dream job, follow these best practices for inspiring resume design:
1. Stand out with a bold header
First impressions count. Grab the attention of your future employer with a bold header that catches their attention and makes them want to read your resume. Make sure you include your name as part of this header, so recruiters remember you.
2. Prioritize readability
If a recruiter can’t read your resume, they’ll just ignore it. Did you know that 83% of recruiters are more likely to hire a candidate with a well-formatted resume? Take advantage of bullet points, blocks, and whitespace to make your resume easy to read.
3. Choose a style that fits your industry
Your resume style should align with the industry you work in. If you’re in a creative industry, like web design or art, you want your resume to reflect that colorful and creative industry. For someone in healthcare or law, a straightforward and clean resume is better.
4. Use whitespace strategically
If you use a creative resume design, use white space to balance out the graphics and colors. This prevents your skills and experience from getting lost between the graphics. Putting information in blocks, with whitespace surrounding it, can also help to create a scannable resume.
5. Choose the right font
Your font must be easy to read, understand, and appropriate for the job you are applying for. Consider using standard fonts like:
Times New Roman
Calibri
Helvetica
Georgia
Arial
6. Take a conversational approach to your bio
Your resume is a chance for you to show a little bit of your personality. By taking a more conversation approach with your biography/objectives to give recruiters a look into who you are.
So instead of saying:
“To whom it may concern, I am a graphic designer with 10 years of experience in…”.
Try say something like:
“Hi there! It’s nice to meet you. For over a decade, I have created inspiring designs…”
7. Put your most recent experience first
Add your most recent work experience first. This allows you to highlight your current expertise that meets the job requirements. It is also the first thing the recruiter will see.
8. Go minimalistic and modern
Less is more when you create your resume. Adding graphics gives you a chance to personalize your resume. However, a minimalistic template will give your resume a modern look without too much clutter.
9. Focus on ATS compatibility
Many hiring managers use applicant tracking software (ATS) to scan high volumes of resumes. This helps them find the most suitable candidates. To make your resume ATS compatible, add keywords from the job post to your resume. This will help ATS match your skills and experience to the post
10. Create your own brand
When you create your own personal brand, it allows you to stand out from other candidates who have similar skills. By creating your own brand, you have an opportunity to market yourself to stand a better chance of getting hired.
5 pro tips for creating a resume for college grads
Are you a college grad trying to land your first job in your industry? Here are some pro tips for creating a resume to help you wow recruiters:
1. Outline your education and experiences
When you craft your resume, it’s important to outline your education and experience. As you craft this information, consider questions like:
Did you knock out some credits in high school?
Did you graduate early?
How long have you been in your current role?
What years were you in a club? How long were you in a position for that club?
If any of these questions apply to your experience, you’ll want to include it in your resume.
Also, keep in mind that adding the dates of your experiences, like when you went to school and what years you worked, are important for recruiters to see.
Expert insights from
Julie GardnerTalent Acquisition Coordinator
“Leaving out dates makes employers question your experience and educational background — if your resume leaves questions, answer them before the employer dismisses your resume.”
2. Include soft skills
When looking at the creative resume designs above, you’ll notice that most of them have a section dedicated to skills. It’s important that you list the skills you have for your industry position, but also personal, transferrable skills — known as soft skills.
Soft skills are things like:
Adaptability
Communication
Leadership
Teamwork
Time management
Including the soft skills that apply to you can be what helps you stand out from other candidates.
Expert insights from
Julie GardnerTalent Acquisition Specialist
“[At WebFX] We’ve been emphasizing soft skills more because we can help with the hard skills necessary for success. Soft skills are those things you’re born with — those inherent characteristics that make you, you!”
3. Keep your resume to one page
To help you land the job, keep your resume to one page. Recruiters don’t want to have to flip through pages of your resume to get to know you. They may even skip over your resume for being too long.
If your resume is over a page, consider:
Reducing the font sizes
Decreasing the margins
Removing information that’s no longer relevant (High school clubs if you’ve graduated from college)
4. Opt for written content over graphics
As you saw with many of the creative resume designs above, many people opt to use design elements and graphics to enhance their resume. At the same time, many of those example resumes were for creative positions that help show off that person’s skills.
It’s best to opt for written content to avoid making your resume get bogged down with visuals. You can use a few graphics to enhance your resume, like icons, and add a little visual pop, but don’t use too many unless you’re in a field that requires a more visual resume.
5. Always use action verbs
Action verbs tell people exactly what you did in a position, club, or something similar. Action verbs are direct and sound more confident.
Imagine seeing something like this on a resume for someone who was a writing peer tutor:
Gave feedback on term papers for peers
These sentences don’t sound very confident about the skills or abilities. Instead, imagine seeing these statements:
Critiqued and evaluated term papers for peers to provide feedback
The second sentence sounds more assured and strong when sharing the tasks completed at this job.
Action verbs will help you sound more confident and assured on your resume.
Answering questions about resumes from Google, Reddit, and beyond
When you’re looking for resume advice online, you’ll see a lot of people have questions about how to craft the perfect resume. Sometimes, creative resume examples aren’t enough to guide you on what’s right for you. In this section, we’ll address common questions seen on Google, Reddit, and other platforms about creating the best resume.
When you look at creative resume examples, you’ll see a lot of them are really bright, creative, and unique. So, is it necessary?
While your resume template should be “modern” enough to look like it’s updated, it doesn’t mean you need to add all the bells and whistles. Not every resume calls for an elaborate design. Many industries, like engineering, healthcare, or IT, prefer a straight-forward resume and focus more on the information.
Industries like graphic design, art, and web design require a more decorative and elaborate resume because it sets the first impression of that candidate’s artistic skills.
The important thing to remember with your resume is that you make it unique to you, so it stands out in a sea of other resumes, and make the information clear and easy to read on the page.
Yes! You can definitely take advantage of the creative resume templates available out there.
The important part when using these templates is that you customize them to you.
Imagine you’re applying to a job and you use a creative resume template. You decide not to change anything about the design and just input your information. You submit your application and wait to hear from the company.
Now, imagine that 30 other people had the same thought as you, used the same template, and applied for the same job. Now your resume looks just like 30 other people’s resumes and there’s no way for you to stand out.
So, what do you do?
When you use a creative resume template, make sure you customize it to your unique personality and style. Something as simple as changing the color scheme and font style can make it more personalized to you.
Something you’ll notice about all the creative resume designs above is they’re typically one page. A one-page resume is ideal because it provides enough of an overview about you for recruiters. When you go beyond a page, recruiters may ignore your resume for being too long.
Keep in mind that some fields don’t follow this one-page rule. Education, for example, often expects to see a two-page resume, especially for college grads, because they want to know about your student teaching experiences, in addition to your education, certifications, clubs, and other information.
So, when you’re creating your resume, do a little research to see what’s acceptable in your field. The rule of thumb will generally be one page, but you may find that certain industries want you to provide more information, which means a longer resume.
A common mistake people make, from college grads to seasoned professionals, is keeping their resume the same for every job they apply to. Not every job has the same requirements and responsibilities. One of your previous jobs may be a better representation of your skills for one position, but not for another.
Look at the job description and see what the role entails and the skills needed. Then, tailor the information on your resume based on the job description.
Taking this approach better showcases how your experience makes you a good fit for the job.
Many college grads wonder if they should hire a resume manager to help them create a new resume that will land them the job. If you find that you’re applying to jobs and being overlooked, consider having a resume professional look over your resume and give you some tips on how to improve.
While it’s not a requirement to land a job, a resume writer can help you improve your resume if you feel like you’re struggling to get interviews.
Everyone’s made mistakes with their resume, so it’s important to learn from others. Here are some common resume mistakes to avoid:
Neglecting to proofread: This is a big mistake to make. If a recruiter notices grammatical mistakes, for example, it shows a lack of attention to detail. Give your resume a thorough look through before submitting it.
Disorganization: Like grammar mistakes, disorganization or sloppy design shows a lack of attention to detail and sets a negative first impression. Make sure everything is aligned when you create your resume.
Lack of clarity: Recruiters don’t want to decipher your resume like it’s code. They should easily be able to scan your resume and pull out the important bits of information.
Ignoring applicant tracking system (ATS): In today’s world, a lot of recruiters use ATS to help with vetting resumes. If you neglect to account for these systems, you may struggle to get interviews. Integrating job description keywords and using simple formatting can help an ATS see your resume as relevant.
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Trevin serves as the VP of Marketing at WebFX. He has worked on over 450 marketing campaigns and has been building websites for over 25 years. His work has been featured by Search Engine Land, USA Today, Fast Company and Inc.
