INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Design 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 Design 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 Design Director job market is wide open for candidates.
Top Design Director sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a Design Director resume experience section
Design Director Resume’s Job Experience Checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Design Director resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Managed the full scope of all of KOTUR’s creative programs.
- Over saw all design aspects of brand including collection development, packaging and social media development, insuring that all content properly represented brand effectively and coherently
- With my Design Direction brought Kotur to be a top seller on Net-a-porter and Shop Bop
- Launched 3 new brands to the Bed Bath Portfolio
- Grew design team 3x
- Implemented new design processes and methodologies
- Led all aspects of design
- Developed overseas and USA manufacturing
- Lead design team to work on all design stages from master plan to construction, including FF&E.
- Work with project stakeholders and operation team to identify their requirements and project’s objectives.
- Work closely with consultants (structure, MEP, landscape) on a daily basis to resolve design issues, propose design solutions and make sure project information of all disciplines are coordinated.
- Work with specialist subcontractors, suppliers and vendors to identify the optimized solutions and most suitable materials for the project.
- Work with QS team to make sure design is within budget, take part in value engineering process and carry out design changes as necessary.
- Work with contractors to make sure they fully understand the design, review and agree appropriate construction methods.
- Visit site to make sure contractors fully comply with the design and construction is on programme and meets expected quality.
- Visualization and Leadership - Brand Identity & Equity
- Creative direction, brand strategy and management.
- Fit, garment construction, and wash/finishing.
- Product development and production.
- Lead transition team combining product for Gap Body, Gap Speciality and Active Shop
- Set Direction for seasonal knit (active, sweaters and tops) for Gap Speciality and Outlet teams
- Manage design, graphics and logo team for Women's Knits
- Meet with cross-functional teams for production, tech and merchandising
- Trend and inspiration shop for product categories
- Present Kick Off shops to Gap Women's team
- Directed all components of USA sourced and produced athleisurewear collection
- Art Directed all marketing, social media content, video and photoshoots
- Managed sales team, showrooms and international distributors and participated in 8 yearly trade shows
- Allocated and directed all accounting, financial planning, investor pitches and team budget
- Designed and sourced four seasonal collections annually
- created diffusion lined called Thread by Nesh NYC which shipped to Anthropologie and Soul Cycle
- Opened brick and mortal retail pop-up store for Nesh NYC. Sept 16-Sept 17. FEATURED IN THE WGSN NYC SHOPPING GUIDE
- Collection sold to over 200 speciality stores including Carbon 38, Bandier, Ron Robinson and Holt Renfrew
- Successfully re-launched the iconic 1980's line GO SILK
- Design and Merchandise 8 collections a year from concept to completion
- Edit and style photoshoots for look book and e-comm presentations
- Review and approve tech-packs for China development
- Design and Merchandise Junior and Girls 4-16 cut and sew knits and wovens collections
- Managed team of designers, graphic designers, pattern makers and sewers
- Pitched and designed print line, embroidery and screen prints for MUDD License
- Trend Shopped in Europe and Tokyo for for all divisions
- Designed clothlines for renowed celebrities in India like Kiran Majumdar,Sumit B,Iram Khan,Sujata Shetty etc
- Developed and marketed the brand of 'Divya Punjabi'.
- Established partnerships with various suppliers .
- My areas of expertise include
- Understanding of cuts and fits
- Intricate Embriodary using beads,tubes,sequins,silk thread
- Understanding client requirements and styling them as per their body type
- Understanding of fashion trends across the world
- Understanding of fabrics -feel ,fall and behaviour
- Conceived, directed, and sold in vision and concepts of contextual awareness experiences and led team to execute quickly with early prototypes, and user data to get buy in from key stakeholders
- Built stepping-stones of contextual awareness, starting with automation, setting the groundwork and foundation for artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Led and managed usability improvements for Motorola’s automation solution resulting in the increased adoption of SmartActions from 1.5 million users to approximately 4.8 million users by the end of 2012
- Initiated and lead the design of adaptive mobile experiences leveraging contextual cues. Spearheaded efforts to move towards a conversational chrome less UI able to learn and anticipate needs based on user behavior and sensor data.
- Grew contextual experiences across the broader mobile ecosystem to encompass imaging, automation, display, voice, gestures creating ongoing conversations with users based on their specific behavior.
- Led concept and design direction of mobile fitness app that leveraged sensors and bio data from mobile phone, serving as the foundation for the Moto Body experience on Motorola’s smartwatch, the Moto 360.
- Conceived, directed, and sold in vision and concepts of contextual awareness experiences and led team to execute quickly with early prototypes, and user data to get buy in from key stakeholders
- Built stepping-stones of contextual awareness, starting with automation, setting the groundwork and foundation for artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Led and managed usability improvements for Motorola’s automation solution resulting in the increased adoption of SmartActions from 1.5 million users to approximately 4.8 million users by the end of 2012
PRO TIP
Make sure to relate your experience to your job description, but never lie. That’s not tolerated and will show up in the face-to-face interview later on.
Action Verbs for your Design Director Resume
Recommended reads:
Design Director Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
Resume Skills Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Skills for your Design 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.
Design Director Resume Header: Tips, Red Flags, and Best Practices
CHECKLIST For Your Design 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
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Design Director resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
Design Director Resume Summary Best Practices
Checklist: What to include in your Design Director resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume Summary Formula:
PRO TIP
Your summary section should act as a professional taster. Use it wisely. Effectively convey your professional profile and let the hiring manager know that if they hire you, they won’t be disappointed. Make sure to include keywords from the job description too! Elaborate on your abilities further in your experience section. Again, cater to the job description.
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Listing Your Education, Certifications and Courses
Resume Education Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Certifications for your Design Director resume
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PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Design Director. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
Design Director Resume: Additional Writing & Formatting Tips
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Design Director Resume Summary best practices
Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:
- Clear and legible 12p resume font size;
- Use 10’’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design;
- Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
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PRO TIP
Test your draft Design Director resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company (corporation or start-up; innovative or traditional), job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Design Director resume:
Design Director Resume: How to Make Yours More Creative & Stand Out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Design Director resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What Makes a Great Design 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.
