Creative Director Resume Examples & Guide for 2023

You’ve got an eye for what sells, and have the expertise in marketing and know how to inspire creative teams. As you’ve risen to the top in your field to become a creative director, you may not have dusted off your resume in a long time. Now, you’re back on the market and you need to update your old resume.

If you’re looking for a solution to turn your drab resume into an eye-catching CV, this article will provide you with a step-by-step guide to create one. We’ll also provide you with tips to tailor your resume to Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

Choose the best format for your creative director resume

We’ve recently done a study to see how our Enhancv resume templates compared to regular Microsoft templates. And you know what we found? Our resume templates are much easier to scan in ATS software specifically because of the superior formatting and readability. In order for your resume to pass ATS screening, make sure that it’s free from errors.

Here are some other tips on how to format your resume:

• Length/Columns: When it comes the length of your resume, it really doesn’t matter if it is one or two pages, but the perfect sweet spot for a resume is one page with two columns to separate information.
• Section Headings: Make sure that the information in each section heading corresponds with the section name. For example, your experience section should only have your experience in it.
• Colors and Design: Although not scanned by ATS software, using creative and tasteful colors and graphics can actually help you stand out with a hiring manager.
• Fonts: You don’t have to stick with boring fonts like Times new Roman or Calibri. In fact, all Google fonts can be easily read by ATS software.
• File Format: The best file format to use for your resume is a PDF, as it can be easily scanned by ATS and doesn’t compress or move images around.

Also, use a reverse chronological resume format to create your resume because it allows you to list all of your most recent experience first. A reverse chronological format allows you to show your progress throughout your career, allowing you to show how far you’ve come.

As a creative director, consider formatting your resume with a hybrid resume format. Hybrid resume formats are great for people switching careers or for those in a creative field because both skills and experience are given equal weight and are written in separate, parallel columns.

Add your contact information in the resume header

Your resume header is actually an important piece of your resume. Not only does it give you an opportunity to share your contact information, but ATS software actually scans through your header. That’s why it’s important to make sure that your resume header is free from errors and that the information in it matches your cover letter.

Here are the most important things to include on a resume header:

• Your first name and last name

• Your title

• Your phone number

• Your email address

• Your location

• Relevant social media handles(optional)

Create an interesting creative director resume summary

Your resume summary is your first opportunity to introduce yourself to a potential hiring manager. Resume summaries are also scanned by ATS software, therefore it’s a good idea to include some keywords that you find in the job description or which are common in your field. Also, do your best to use active, dynamic verbs to catch the attention of a hiring manager.

Most resume summaries focus on these important things:

• Your most recent job title and years of experience
• Any relevant skills that you bring to the table
• Your top 1 to 2 professional achievements

Feature a standout creative director experience section

Throughout your years of experience building into people, you no doubt have experienced significant achievements. One key to creating a captivating resume experience section is to quantify all of your achievements.

Here are some other things that you should include in a resume experience section:

• Reverse chronological order: Use a reverse chronological order for your experience section, as you’re able to list your most recent experience first.
• Job title: Always include job titles from previous roles. If the position or role is obscure, write a more common role in your resume.
• Company’s name, location, and description: This is especially important if you’ve worked for multinational companies, as they may have offices throughout the world.
• Date of employment: Always include the month and the year, as these are screened by ATS software.
• Achievements and responsibilities: Try to explain and clarify any of the achievements or responsibilities that you had in your previous role. Use real numbers to quantify your achievements, i.e., supervised a 10 person team on over 300 client accounts.
• Use active verbs: Always use dynamic action verbs to begin each bullet point in a resume experience section. Some words you may wish to include are led, cultivated, designed, analyzed, designed, and redesigned.

3 quantifiable achievements in the creative field

1. Leadership: As someone in a senior management position, you can share times when you’ve led the team and helped them achieve success.
2. Marketing campaigns: In your role as a creative director, you might have spearheaded many marketing campaigns. Be sure to list the return on investment (ROI) for the company, whether you helped increase web presence or higher revenue.
3. Design Strategies: Last, explain how you pioneered new design strategies to reduce production costs and improve the overall quality of your work.

List your education

No person is an island, and therefore it’s a good idea to list the educational institutions that have helped you to become the person who you are. If you attended a more prestigious school, you may wish to highlight that. Regardless of where you went to school, listing your education is an important part of your resume.

Here are some things that you should include in an education section:

• Degree Name
• University, college, or other institution
• Location (optional)
• Years attended
• GPA
• Honors or Dean’s list

Below, you can find a simple example of how to list your university experience in a resume education section:

List your relevant creative director skills

You have a unique skill set as a creative director, being both able to handle technical aspects of a role while also having the people skills to manage a team. Having this even combination of both hard and soft skills gives you a wide variety of marketable skills to highlight in your resume.

Hard Skills

Also commonly referred to as technical skills, hard skills are usually job specific tasks which are easy to show in a quantifiable way. This could involve your skills with design software or your ability to craft a website from scratch.

Soft skills

Soft skills, also called people skills, are not specific to a certain workplace and focus on skills like communication and leadership. Employees who are proficient in their soft skills can thrive in the interpersonal environment of a workplace.

Include your creative director certificates

Including a certificate on your resume may actually give you a distinct advantage to other creative professionals. Being skilled with certain programming languages or design software can make you more attractive to hiring managers.

Here’s what you should include if you are to list a certification on your resume:

• Certification name
• Name of issuer
• Year of obtainment
• Location (if applicable)
• Date of expiration (if applicable)
• Expected date of obtainment (if applicable)

Use other relevant sections to put the cherry on top of your resume

As a creative director, you may wish to include a “Day of My Life/My Time” section. Essentially, this is a visual representation of how you spend an average day. Marissa Mayer achieved success using this section. Although it won’t be directly scanned by ATS software, showcasing how you spend your time might help to show a hiring manager whether you will be a right fit for the company’s culture.

Below, you can find some other additional sections you may wish to include on your resume:

1. Membership of professional associations: Certain certifications are only offered by specific associations. Take the Certified Creative Director certification listed above, which is offered by the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
2. Publications: There are several trade publications which focus on marketing best practices. If you have any articles published, you may wish to include the title of your article, as well as the trade publication that published it.
3. Conferences: You may wish to include conferences, both those that you attended and those that you spoke at.
4. Awards: Your awards might set you apart from other professionals in your field.

Create a matching cover letter for your creative director resume

Cover letters have a very distinct purpose because it’s the first time that you really get to share about yourself before the interview. It allows a hiring manager to glimpse a little more of who you are, rather than just what your resume says.

Below, you will find a list of important things to include in a cover letter:

• Contact information that corresponds with the resume.
• Greeting.
• Achievements in the first paragraph.
• Cover letter body:
  • Work experience
  • Skills
  • Why you’d be a good fit
• Call to action

Creative director cover letter example

Key takeaways

• The sweet spot for a resume is one page with two columns to separate experience and skills sections.
• Check your resume header for any grammar or spelling issues, and also check to see that your contact information matches your cover letter.
• Your resume summary is essentially your elevator pitch, a brief description of why you believe you are the perfect person for the position.
• Use action verbs to a highlight your experience and to make it more easily readable.
• Highlight both the soft and hard skills that you possess the as both are needed before they creative director position.
• If you’re part of any associations, be sure to list them in a separate section.
• Consider your cover letter as a jumping off point for an interview, the first opportunity you have to share a bit more about yourself.