As part of the process of getting a job/placement, I needed to create a CV. I had a CV already but it hadn’t been updated in a few years and was totally out of date. So I had to start a new one from scratch, but that turned out to be a good thing as I was now able to tailor it and make it suitable for a job in the Design industry.
I started off by writing my CV. For me this wasn’t a very enjoyable task but it was necessary for me to get this right to enhance my chances of employability. I wanted to ensure that I was selling myself while still being honest. My CV features a mixture of UX design related information as well as personal information in other areas of my life. I was happy with how my CV was coming together and was looking forward to seeing how it would turn it.
As part of the CV process, I had to check my CV through CV360, which checks it and points out any ways that it could be improved and changed. This tool was really useful as it could spot things that I couldn’t and gave me great advice as to how I could make my CV better. We were to aim for a score of 85% and I was able to eventually get 89% with a few different tweaks and changes, such as adding more words or grammar.
I was happy enough so far with how my CV is turning out, with the next step being to start designing it and making it look presentable. This was the part that I was more excited about as I could use my design skills and knowledge to make it eye-catching. As a designer employers will be looking for my CV to be designed and not just a Word document, as they want to see if I am a competent designer. The software that I used to design my CV is Adobe InDesign, which is a software that I had never previously used. After watching a brief tutorial from my lecturer it was easy enough to come to grips with the software. For the actual design of the CV, it is super simple and there isn’t any other real elements other than the text. What was really important is having consistent spacing between text and ensuring that I used a column for the layout of the CV. I used the same column structure that was recommended in the tutorial as I like the simplicity of it. Here are the details of the column structure that I used:
Probably the most important design decision of the CV was choosing a typeface. When choosing a typeface for a CV it is important to pick one that is legible and readable, but also one that is creative and shows a glimpse of personality. This is what I had in mind when I was looking for a CV. I came across one that I really liked in another project called ‘Area Variable’, and I thought that it could really work well in my CV. It has a really nice thin variant that I used for body text, and a semi bold variant that I used for the headings. As recommended in the demo I used my type at 10pt, and with some playing around with the line spacing I decided to use 16pt, as it gives each line bit more breathing space.
For the sub-headings I used hanging text, meaning that the text was to the left of the paragraph instead of being above it, and I really liked how this turned out and think that it gives my CV a little bit more flare and could make it stand out to an employer more.
Overall I thought that although making a CV isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, I still enjoyed designing it and I have also learnt how to use indesign which was something that I had never used before I started this project. Here is my finished CV in PDF format: