As the holidays rapidly approach, I have been trying to write my family’s holiday letter. The challenge, of course, is how to fit a whole year of my family’s life onto a one sheet summary to send out in cards to our family and friends.
But perhaps that is a small challenge compared to the one that many of us will face as we prepare for CHA: summarizing our entire professional lives on a one sheet resume. And yet it is an essential element to a successful trip for designers and other freelancers attending a trade event like CHA.
Most of us are familiar with the basics of resume writing that were drilled into us in school: a single sheet with our contact information at the top, our work history in the middle and our education at the bottom. But how do you apply that format to freelance work and also make your resume memorable in the sea of paper that companies may be going home with from the show?
A good place to browse resumes of fellow scrapbook industry freelancers is Scrapbook Resumes. Browsing through the resumes of other industry members on this site can provide great inspiration for how to format a creative industry resume that focuses on freelance work. And posting your own resume on the site, as mine is, can be a great place to provide links to in email inquiries, on your blog, in your message board signatures, or to direct people to in situations when you don’t have a paper resume on hand.
For more great information on writing resumes for creative professions, check out these links:
The Riley Guide to Resumes & Cover Letters
Designer Today’s Creative Resumes: Part One, Part Two, & Part Three
Don’t make your resume a last-minute project. Give yourself time and plan ahead so you can put your best foot (or page!) forward and stick out from the crowd!
About Nancy Nally
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