INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Associate Creative Director positions are at a 11% growth rate, which is faster than average. With that said, there are currently 98,500 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 10,800 to 109,300 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Associate Creative Director jobs was $97,270 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $54,530, and the highest 10% more than $199,250.
Our conclusion? The Associate Creative Director job market is wide open for candidates.
Top associate creative director sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
An associate creative director resume experience section to be proud of
Writing a strong experience section for your associate creative director resume.
- List your previous jobs in chronological or reverse-chronological format;
- Use no more than 4-6 bullets per position;
- Mention only relevant work experience;
- Describe the tasks you were responsible for and how you managed to exceed expectations;
- Show you’re able to take charge by choosing action verbs over buzzwords.
Looking for real-life examples of what a strong experience section looks like? Check out our suggestions below!
- Managed a team of creatives for Video and photo assets from concept to edit.
- created YT ads with 180m views
- Managed video content production team producing 100+ YT ads and branded content videos per year.
- Engaged in a company re-brand, working with Copy team and art directors to create an appealing look for in-store retail.
- Formulated process from copy review, prepro, production, edit to delivery.
- Created numerous campaigns that won awards locally & internationally
- Launched first local face for cosmetics giant Revlon
- Ranked in South Africa's Top Ten Copywriters
- Pitched for and won Allan Gray Long Term Investment, Appletiser and Gumtree South Africa
- Promoted to Associate Creative Director
- Brought pro bono District Six Museum account into the agency, with which we won awards
- Worked extensively across Volkswagen, Heinz Foods, Pearson Education Group, Old Mutual Africa
- Drove creative excellence and accountability through the implementation of quality standards and best practices that increased client satisfaction by 35%
- Improved operational efficiency by developing staffing strategies, skills training, and mentorship programs that resulted in a 25% reduction in project delivery time
- Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to develop experience design solutions that increased website traffic by 50% and decreased bounce rates by 20%
- Provided regular mentorship and feedback to team members that increased employee engagement and retention by 30%
- Developed and implemented performance management initiatives that aligned with corporate values and mission, resulting in a 20% improvement in team productivity
- Created and communicated innovative concepts and strategies to clients that led to an increase in business referrals by 40%
- Conceptualized and executed visual designs for print and digital campaigns that increased brand awareness and sales by 20%
- Provided art direction and mentorship to junior designers that improved team productivity and quality of work
- Collaborated with copywriters to create compelling ad copy and messaging that resonated with target audiences
- Managed budgets and timelines to ensure timely and within-budget project delivery
- Conceptualized and executed campaign ideas resulting in a 20% increase in client engagement
- Led and directed the creative direction across all disciplines resulting in 100% on-time deliverables
- Trained and mentored team resulting in 80% of team members receiving promotions
- Ensured compliance with client style guides and graphic standards resulting in zero client complaints
- Represented and communicated agency's creative and business philosophy, methodology, and capabilities resulting in a 30% increase in new business
- Stayed aware of current design trends and industry innovations resulting in 50% more innovative and creative concepts
- Directed photographers, illustrators, producers, sound designers, directors, and outside vendors resulting in award-winning work
- Conceptualized and designed campaigns for Fortune 500 clients resulting in 15% increase in brand awareness
- Led a team of designers resulting in a 70% increase in on-time deliverables
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams resulting in award-winning work
- Created a design system resulting in a 50% reduction in production time
- Stayed current with design trends and software resulting in more efficient and creative design solutions
PRO TIP
Check the Associate Creative Director job description for inspiration. Look for similarities between your employer’s values and your experience.
Action verbs for your associate creative director resume
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Taking Control of Your Associate Creative Director Resume’s Skills Section
A skills section that shows what you’re capable of includes:
- Keywords from the job advert to help you pass ATS;
- Both hard and soft skills, incl. technical skills and people skills;
- Skills that are relevant to the position you’re applying for;
- No more than 15 skills – to keep your resume readable.
Top skills for your associate creative director resume
Photoshop
Illustrator
Microsoft Office
Autocad
Jira
Scrum
Communication
Active listening
Conflict resulotion
Stakeholder management
Empathy
Openmindedness
PRO TIP
When describing your experience, don’t go too far from its terminology. Recruiters use ATS systems to filter resumes based on them having certain keywords, so make sure you use at least a few keywords mentioned in the job description.
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Associate creative director resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your associate creative director resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
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PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have non-discrimination policies about what kind of information can be included on your Associate Creative Director resume. This might include a photo (which is often included in a resume header and might be on personal web pages you link to). You can always email the company’s HR department to ask about their policies before you apply.
An associate creative director resume summary that spotlights your achievements
Checklist: a strong associate creative director resume summary:
- Use adjectives that highlight the character traits you’re most proud of;
- Mention 1-2 of your biggest achievements;
- Add keywords from the job advert to increase your chances of passing ATS;
- Keep the recruiter’s attention by going for short sentences.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Highlight specific past projects that you’re most proud of in your summary. It sets an excellent tone for the rest of your resume. You can talk about all of your former jobs in your work experience section later on.
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Creating an impressive education section for your associate creative director resume
The Education Section: Checklist
- List your degrees in reverse-chronological order;
- Include your degree subject, place of study, name of institution, and year of graduation;
- Add a line or two about your relevant certifications;
- Mention some classes and projects that have helped you gain additional skills.
Top certifications for your associate creative director resume
Creative Writing: Creative Exercises For New Writing Ideas
30 Creative writing exercises. Writing to improve creative thinking. Write to make an income from your creative writing.
Creative Writing For Beginners - Writing Creative Prose
Creative Writing For Beginners : Beginners Creative Writing Tips : Creative Writing : Writing Creative Prose - Beginners
COMPLETE Creative Writing - All Genres - THE FULL COURSE!
Learn to write engaging Fiction, Poetry, Drama, & Creative Non-Fiction and become the successful writer you want to be
Writing With Flair: How To Become An Exceptional Writer
Ex-Wall Street Journal Editor Teaches How To Write With Confidence, Style & Impact
The Foundations of Fiction (Writing Mastery)
Become a creative writing master and write killer novels, memoirs, or short stories
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PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
A professional format for your associate creative director resume
There are some aspects worth taking into consideration when choosing the format of your Associate Creative Director resume. These include the position and company you’re applying for, your total years of experience, whether you’ve been through some employment gaps, and so on.
Generally speaking, there are three basic resume formats for you to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
The reverse-chronological resume format is just that: all your jobs listed in a reverse-chronological way, starting from the most recent and moving backward. It’s great for highly experienced professionals with over 10 years in the industry behind their backs. The reason for this: it’s almost entirely focused on experience and achievements.
The functional skills-based resume format, on the other hand, is just the opposite. It’s based on your skills, personality, and expertise. It highlights what you’re capable of even when you don’t have sufficient work experience. This makes it great for students, recent graduates, or people with larger career gaps.
If neither of these sounds like you, go for the combination resume format. It’s a combination of the best characteristics of other formats, which makes it great for showcasing different aspects of your career and education. It also gives you plenty of options to choose from – in terms of colors, structure, and sections.
Check out our additional tips on perfecting your Associate Creative Director resume’s style and layout:
- Choose traditional 1-inch resume margins;
- Go for a serif or sans serif resume font that’s easy to read yet looks professional (e.g. Arial, Verdana, or Calibri);
- Keep your Associate Creative Director resume short: one-page template are preferable, but if you have over 10 years of experience, you can also go for a two-page format;
- Save your resume as PDF and choose a suitable name, e.g. NameSurnameResume;
Tired of looking for ways to make your resume stand out? Read this article!
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PRO TIP
Sometimes you’ll want to go after a job which requires more experience than you have. Instead of using a typical Associate Creative Director resume layout, you can use a creative layout. Getting noticed is the most important challenge and a creative resume layout might help you get invited for an interview as most of other accountants have boring resume designs.
Additional sections for your associate creative director resume
After drafting the required sections of your Associate Creative Director resume, it’s now time to move to something a bit more fun. There are a number of sections you can add to your resume depending on the company, the position, and how you’re feeling in general:
Adding the right kind of creativity to your associate creative director resume
It is through creativity that we express ourselves. And trust us, it’s important to show at least a bit of your personality if you want to leave a strong first impression.
But what are the ways to add creativity to your Associate Creative Director resume? Well, you can either go for a colorful and engaging template, or you could add some out-of-the-box sections, such as ‘life philosophy’ or ‘what my typical day looks like’.
It’s up to you! Just make sure that the level of creativity matches the position, the company, and the industry you’re applying for.
What makes a great associate creative director resume: Key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
