This is the best Fashion Designer resume checklist you will ever see

Fashion designing is an exciting career path ideal for creative individuals full of passion and unique ideas. However, finding a killer job in the industry is no easy feat when you consider the sheer number of amazingly talented candidates out there.

Just like the show-stopper pieces you roll out each week, your resume and cover letter must be attention-grabbing and eye-catching if you want to stand out among the competition. Being a creative industry, jobs in the fashion design discipline call for stylish and functional resumes that boast both design and business-related accomplishments.

Writing the perfect fashion designer resume is easy when you know exactly what must go into it to lift it above others. Go through each step of this checklist created by Resume Mansion to identify where your resume is lacking and find how you can fix those errors to increase your chances of getting hired for the next fashion designer job you apply for.

Selecting the ideal fashion designer Resume Format

No matter how many impressive skills your resume displays, if the resume format is too bulky and seemingly all over the place, a hiring manager wouldn’t be tempted to give it a second glance. Try these tips to improve the format of your fashion designer resume:

• Use a resume header that stands out to highlight your name and contact details
• Create reader-friendly, well-visible resume section headings
• Choose a reverse-chronological resume format to increase the appeal
• Select easy-to-read and ATS-friendly resume fonts
• Ensure that there’s ample white space visible on your resume

Writing the Resume Summary

Delete that resume objective in favor of a resume summary statement. Your resume summary will be under focus during the 6-second resume test. If it falls short of the mark, the rest of your resume might not even get read. Remember to highlight your best professional achievements, experience, and skills using 2 – 4 concise sentences.

Makings of a bomb Work Experience Section

The most important section of any resume? The career summary. Employers will give the work history section of your resume a lot of importance. Stick to the experience that is relevant to the job title that you are applying for, and follow these tips to write a memorable work experience section:

• Follow a reverse-chronological order and list your last experience first
• Remember to include the job title, company name, company location, and relevant dates for each entry
• Use 3 – 6 well, constructed, strong bullet points to describe each experience
• Incorporate powerful action verbs and adjectives into your resume bullet points
• Follow a “Skill + Context + Result” formula when writing bullet points
• Always quantify your achievements with numbers, percentages, and metrics

Creating an impressive Education Section

Both the ATS and the hiring manager will be curious about your fashion design education. The education section of your fashion designer resume must be impeccable to rank higher on the ATS. Here’s how you can write a strong education section:

• When you have more than 5 years of experience in the field – Mention the formal title of your degree (include the abbreviation within parentheses), college name, and relevant years.
• If you have less than 5 years of experience – Increase the importance given to the education section by concisely stating your GPA (if it is above 3.5), academic achievements and awards, extracurricular activities, relevant coursework, and projects in addition to the formerly mentioned details.

Revamping the Skills Section of your fashion designer resume

The biggest inspiration for the skills section will come from the job description of the job for which you are applying. Review it for the right keywords. The skills section will be the best place to incorporate keywords into your resume. Here’s a list of skills that will look impressive on your fashion designer resume:

• Hard skills - Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Budgeting, Colorways, Construction techniques, Fabrication, Luxury fashion merchandising, Sewing, Analytical skills
• Soft skills - Conflict resolution, Critical thinking, Decision making, Multitasking, Organization, Problem-solving, Teamwork, Time management