My dream job? To get up every morning and walk five feet to work. Of course, first I would need a good resume.
Being self-taught in everything with no schooling I have had to become as creative in pitching myself as I do when I design something. Now by being creative I don't mean, "Merciless writer willing to head-butt puppies..." There is a fine line you will have to draw, but then if you are willing to head-butt puppies perhaps this isn't the article for you (lol).
Having been unemployed since last November I decided it was time to utilize the 'ol computer to find a job. I began to search Google for graphic design jobs by location, starting with Michigan, of course. This presented a challenge, because without any schooling (which most design places require) I had to come up with something else to grab their attention.
I chewed on this for a while and then the other day I received a suggestion from one of my design buddies to make a PDF sampler of some of my work. Since most places want both a sampling of your work and a resume I thought to include both in one PDF to make things simple. Now there is a way to make a multi-page PDF with Illustrator CS, but I opted for creating each page separately and then using Acrobat to produce one PDF file.
The basic idea of a sampler is just to give the potential employer a sampling of your work. I decided to use three samples (for Logos, Characters, and Illustration) with a brief description under each one. It's vital to keep to the particulars of your own talent (or talents), so spend some time thinking about what you are best at and then work on highlighting those skills.
It took me a long time (and many failed attempts) before I finally nailed this. My biggest problem was trying to impress people. When I finally realized that my folio should be a reflection of “me” I began to build around that - implementing a layout that showed my own personality and character. I believe portfolios should relate something about the person whose work is being displayed. The Web is filled with countless bland and boring sites with equally bland and boring folios, which is the number one reason why you should strive to make your own as original as possible.
Another thing to consider if you're going to make a PDF folio is the program you created your artwork with. Most all designs done in Photoshop are either saved as JPEGs, GIFs, or PNGs. These formats do not render well in a PDF. They look blurry our pixelated. Which is not good for a sampler or even a resume. I decided to pick the pieces I designed in Illustrator, since these would be vector based and would come out looking clean and professional in the final PDF.
Now you may be wondering "Why didn't he just use InDesign?" Well, truth be told, I'm not very good with that program. Also, I do not have Microsoft Word, which is the main recommended program for writing your resume. Instead I used OpenOffice. The new version has a PDF conversion feature - just click the button and your file is automatically rendered as a PDF. Another big bonus with OpenOffice is it's free.
So for the sampler I created that in Illustrator and for the resume I created that in OpenOffice and then converted that to a PDF, saving both files in one location. Once this was done I just opened Acrobat (version 7) and went to File > Create PDF > From Multiple Files. I then browsed to where I saved my two PDF files and chose each one, then clicked "Done" and Acrobat created one PDF out of both of them.
Once the main PDF was done I then opened it in Acrobat and went to File > Reduce File Size. You can do this two times if you want, but once was sufficient for me. This action reduced the PDF file size from 2.40MB to 1.82MB. Not a big reduction, but every little bit helps.
I then sent this PDF to myself in an email so I could see how it looked and how long it took to download from the server.
You may view the finished PDF of my resume here.
Not bad, eh? Now maybe you have enough information to try your own PDF resume. You don't have to make them both in one PDF, but I found it was easier for me. This way I only have to send potential employers one file, instead of two.
What about you? Have you designed a resume you're proud to show off? Let us know in the comments section.
Being self-taught in everything with no schooling I have had to become as creative in pitching myself as I do when I design something. Now by being creative I don't mean, "Merciless writer willing to head-butt puppies..." There is a fine line you will have to draw, but then if you are willing to head-butt puppies perhaps this isn't the article for you (lol).
Having been unemployed since last November I decided it was time to utilize the 'ol computer to find a job. I began to search Google for graphic design jobs by location, starting with Michigan, of course. This presented a challenge, because without any schooling (which most design places require) I had to come up with something else to grab their attention.
I chewed on this for a while and then the other day I received a suggestion from one of my design buddies to make a PDF sampler of some of my work. Since most places want both a sampling of your work and a resume I thought to include both in one PDF to make things simple. Now there is a way to make a multi-page PDF with Illustrator CS, but I opted for creating each page separately and then using Acrobat to produce one PDF file.
The basic idea of a sampler is just to give the potential employer a sampling of your work. I decided to use three samples (for Logos, Characters, and Illustration) with a brief description under each one. It's vital to keep to the particulars of your own talent (or talents), so spend some time thinking about what you are best at and then work on highlighting those skills.
It took me a long time (and many failed attempts) before I finally nailed this. My biggest problem was trying to impress people. When I finally realized that my folio should be a reflection of “me” I began to build around that - implementing a layout that showed my own personality and character. I believe portfolios should relate something about the person whose work is being displayed. The Web is filled with countless bland and boring sites with equally bland and boring folios, which is the number one reason why you should strive to make your own as original as possible.
Another thing to consider if you're going to make a PDF folio is the program you created your artwork with. Most all designs done in Photoshop are either saved as JPEGs, GIFs, or PNGs. These formats do not render well in a PDF. They look blurry our pixelated. Which is not good for a sampler or even a resume. I decided to pick the pieces I designed in Illustrator, since these would be vector based and would come out looking clean and professional in the final PDF.
Now you may be wondering "Why didn't he just use InDesign?" Well, truth be told, I'm not very good with that program. Also, I do not have Microsoft Word, which is the main recommended program for writing your resume. Instead I used OpenOffice. The new version has a PDF conversion feature - just click the button and your file is automatically rendered as a PDF. Another big bonus with OpenOffice is it's free.
So for the sampler I created that in Illustrator and for the resume I created that in OpenOffice and then converted that to a PDF, saving both files in one location. Once this was done I just opened Acrobat (version 7) and went to File > Create PDF > From Multiple Files. I then browsed to where I saved my two PDF files and chose each one, then clicked "Done" and Acrobat created one PDF out of both of them.
Once the main PDF was done I then opened it in Acrobat and went to File > Reduce File Size. You can do this two times if you want, but once was sufficient for me. This action reduced the PDF file size from 2.40MB to 1.82MB. Not a big reduction, but every little bit helps.
I then sent this PDF to myself in an email so I could see how it looked and how long it took to download from the server.
You may view the finished PDF of my resume here.
Not bad, eh? Now maybe you have enough information to try your own PDF resume. You don't have to make them both in one PDF, but I found it was easier for me. This way I only have to send potential employers one file, instead of two.
What about you? Have you designed a resume you're proud to show off? Let us know in the comments section.
That's a great looking resume!
Thanks, Monie :)
Very nice PDF resume Doug! I'm happy that you're still doing your best with your talent :)
What a wonderful idea, your work has so much character. Good Luck with the job hunt!
Very creative resume! I like it a lot. Well done!
That is the funnest resume I've ever seen! I will have to try this trick of making a multi-page PDF...I don't need a resume but, this may work! Thanks!
Thanks for the comments everyone. I appreciate your feedback :)
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