How to write a creative career resume in 6 steps (and why you need one!)
Haven’t updated your resume in years because you work for yourself? You are not alone. Most entrepreneurs and solopreneurs are proud to say they haven’t been in need of the formal document of the job hunt since they went all in on being in business with themselves. “Why do we need that old thing?”
But that’s the thing exactly - that’s not just what resumes are for.
Read on for why keeping an updated resume creates opportunities and elevates your personal brand. And why a creative resume, that bends all the rules, can be a career showstopper.
The Resume WHY
Yes, another WHY you need to know - the reason why a person running their own businesses would need a resume. Resumes are still handy tools to use to professionally present yourself in the business space when it comes to leveraging opportunities and communicating your values and skillset.
Here are a several instances in which you would use one:
Sending along with your presentation when pitching yourself or your company to a new client or as part of the proposal for a new piece of work
Sharing with potential investors who would be looking to your overall experience and aptitude to verify if your business would be a smart investment
Passing on as background details for a media opportunity, interview or event; arming the presenter or interviewer with plenty throwback information and conversation starters.
Sharing your personal details, credentials, skills, qualifications and talents for an exciting opportunity - and presenting yourself as professional and organised with just one attachment
Keep it as a personal log to reflect your career growth and achievements - a punchy reminder of where you’ve been and where you’re heading.
Knowing what to include in this document - and doing it with your own personal and creative flair - will ensure anyone eye-balling your career journey will get a thorough understanding of who you are and what you have to offer.
1. Let’s Get Down to Business
Firstly, figure our your format. Get creative and build your resume on Canva (there are plenty of templates available) or, if you’re fancy like that, brief a CV designer to design one for you.
The reverse-chronological format is the most popular, and features your experience, listing it from most recent to earliest. This works well for professionals with few gaps in their timelines, talking closely to the latest role or work that is most relevant.
The functional format features your personal details, biography and skills, and can be used to display an early or more varied career, aka, you’ve gathered skillsets in other ways, not strictly through your job experience. Think volunteer and charity work, and mentorships and learnerships.
But this can also apply when the reverse-chronological format is not flattering. This is a thing! Especially for career creatives, or those changing careers or industries completely and not wanting their previous experience to introduce them out the room.
You can also try a combination of the two: Start with a summary, list skills, abilities, and then your chronological experience, highlighting specific skills and achievements. This works well for creative such as artists and designers, and those with a diverse career than can’t be explained in work experience alone.
2. The Obvious Bits
Every CV or resume needs the obvious things: your personal details and contact information such as your number, email address and website link. Your LinkedIn link is worth including if you don’t have a website - make sure your vanity url is set up before adding this in.
Your education and work experience, is of course, mandatory, so you know what to do here. When it comes to adding details about your previous roles and responsibilities, keep them relevant, strongly focused and niched towards what you are doing now or presenting yourself for.
Lastly, consider adding a section under which to list your freelance, consulting or contract work. This will demonstrate your experience and consistency as a freelancer, consultant or solopreneur, rather than appearing to be a job hopper.
3. Your Career Story - The Short Version!
Your resume needs an introductory blurb, but it doesn’t need to carry your whole life story, so it is here that a summary is useful (This is why you add your website or profile link above, should the reader choose to dive deeper).
Having a short, summarised version of your current biography is useful to have on hand, generally speaking. Introduce yourself, mention your key qualifications and projects, and the number of years of experience you have. Think a summary of your career in 5 lines max.
Then dip into the well of your personality; your key traits as a creative or solopreneur, your values and skillsets, your talents and strengths. Share your successes and credibility where relevant. Keep it short and sweet, and within another 5 lines.
4. The Highlights Reel
Quite literally add a highlights reel that taps your whole career journey thus far. List your ventures started, failed and sold, awards won, media features, podcast interviews, speaking experiences, judging panels, key projects or campaigns, creative achievements, and any other recognition worth mentioning.
That one time your post went viral? If that still makes you happy inside, add it. Use this space to create talkability around your proudest moments. Thank you for coming to my TED talk (add it in).
5. Skills That Pay The Bills
Yes, yes, we know this bit, but this time, create sections for Hard Skills, Human Skills and Digital Skills. Separate your skills into these three buckets so there’s no jumbling these skills up interchangeably, which is often the case on a resume.
Hard Skills - your hard learned and long-honed talents e.g. copywriting, content strategy, web design
Human Skills - that’s soft skills in a way that doesn’t make them sound so floppy, e.g communication, leadership and collaboration.
Digital Skills - to showcase the platforms and programs you’re proficient in, e.g. Business Manager, Microsoft Teams, content scheduling tools.
For example, Front-End Development is a hard-skill, while knowing how to use WIX or Wordpress is a platform skill. Go forth and bring your skills to the party.
Okay, now let’s deviate further from the norm, shall we?
A resume doesn’t have to be the static, boring document it used to be - especially as a career creative or solopreneur; you’re pretty much at liberty to decorate it as you wish.
So, include whatever you feel best represents you and enhances your career story. Don’t be afraid to break from the mould and add interesting layers that speak to your creative nature or quirks. This is where your resume can surprise, delight, and create a lasting impression.
6. Everything counts in large amounts (thank you, Depeche Mode).
What you are passionate about, the skills you have, love and want to grow with, these are the ones to put on display. I have a section on my resume called Things I love to do, where I list all the things I want to do more of, so it is clear and says quite literally in writing: This is what I am about.
Your resume is your short and sharp moment to share who you are, so give yourself permission to do that. Here are a few more unique ways to communicate who you are on your resume:
Who you love to work with: Describe your ideal client, or the fields and industries you love to play in. This is your niche down moment - make sure your reader can spot themselves here
Where you have been: Enhance your international acumen by listing the countries you’ve worked in, or serviced clients in, or places you’ve travelled to, if that feels relevant - show how you think globally, and have met and worked with many kinds of people
Show your interests: Share a little piece of who you are beyond the page; who you are before and after work, the music you listen to, a book or podcast that has particularly stuck with or inspired you, how you spend you time with your family, dogs, kids - be you, be human
Share your inspirations: Add a short quote from one of your creative or business heroes; someone who represents or influences your way of thinking or seeing the world. Everybody loves a good quote, and a well curated quote can lend further insight to who you are as a person.
Add a rave review: We rely on word-of-mouth to propel our personal brands and business ventures forwards. Got a positive review that makes you beam with pride? Give your reader a taste of what its like to work with you or share the results of an exceptional project completed.
Let’s wrap it up
Ready to bring on your resume A-game?
Now’s the part where I tell you all the above needs to happen on just two pages. Not three pages, just don’t do it! Text can be small, you can trim your experience down, but it’s important to keep your resume punchy and concise - the bare essentials meets the best elements, if you will.
Save your resume as a PDF, send it on with pride and update it when you have more awesome to add.
I hope this gives you some creative resume confidence! Please consider sharing this with a friend, who may find it useful.
Want to get your creative career smartly displayed online? Check out my Activate Brand You Workshop, which entails a LinkedIn audit, content refresh and biography update to enhance your presence and share your career story.
