INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Senior Art 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 Senior Art 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 Senior Art Director job market is wide open for candidates.
Top senior art director sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
Writing a job-winning experience section: Senior Art Director resume edition
Senior art director resume experience section: dos and don'ts
- List 4-6 bullet points per position;
- Include only relevant job experience;
- Make sure to highlight your strongest skills by focusing on the challenges you’ve faced and the results you’ve achieved;
- Don’t use buzzwords that carry no meaning;
- Don’t share confidential information about your previous employers.
If you prefer to be led by example, check out some great Senior Art Director resume experience section snippets below!
- Briefing work into the studio and liaising with clients and suppliers
- Directing of Photo-shoots and Video-shoots and video editing
- Storyboards and copywriting
- Web Design / Layout
- Emailer design and slicing
- Project management
- Host brain storming sessions
- Present at pitches for new business
- Design and layout of print adverts
- Design of OOH advertising
- Design of event collateral
- Mentoring and overseeing design team
- Senior AD for Zynga's new STAR WARS Game - forging a new "forever franchise" for NaturalMotion
- Created Art Bibles, Mood-Boards, In-depth Deconstructions, Ripomatic Videos for the new and upcoming StarWars Game
- Stakeholder of all aspects orbiting Disney brand-guidelines and communicating IP restrictions to the art-team
- Created new, company-wide art-pillars and design-dogmas in order to elevate NaturalMotions art-quality
- Steering the hiring-process of new talents
- Hands on work, creating key-art ideations, story-boards, concept-art, UI and UX flows and vertical-slices
- Leading accounts like Bank Aljazira, Albaik, Desar, Emaar, Alnahdi, Johnson Controls, Tahweel Integrated (Technology & Industrial), Enaya and working on clients like Almari, Alyoum Chicken etc...
- Conceptualizing, Pitching on, presenting & winning: Bupa Arabia, KASC, Sunbula Pizza & Gear Up.
- Supervising the creative department on daily work and campaigns with minimum supervision from the CD.
- Conceptualizing and presenting campaigns/360O’s, one-shots, TV Commercials etc... and following their execution till media delivery.
- Creating storytelling TVC storyboards and scripts and presenting them to clients.
- Working with DoS at early stages to formulate the strategy.
- Supervised Photoshooting & TV shooting & formed an understanding of their work-flow.
- Keeping up-to-date with digital and integrating digital ideas in most creative campaigns.
PRO TIP
Don't make the same mistake everyone else does. What we mean is, don't list your Senior Art Director job responsibilities instead of your achievements. Recruiters know what you do. They want to know what kind of difference you can bring to their company. Focus on what you've accomplished.
Action verbs for your senior art director resume
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An impressive skills section for your senior art director resume
Writing a skills section that stands out:
- Check the job advert for keywords that you can use: this will help you pass ATS;
- Focus on relevant and valuable skills that will support your application;
- Make sure to include both hard and technical skills, leaving soft skills for other sections of your Senior Art Director resume;
- Don’t list skills you don’t have.
Top skills for your senior art director resume
Photoshop
Illustrator
Microsoft Office
Autocad
Jira
Scrum
Communication
Active listening
Conflict resulotion
Stakeholder management
Empathy
Openmindedness
PRO TIP
When picking skills to feature in your resume, make sure they'll be relevant to the position you’re applying to. The point of listing skills is for you to stand out from the competition. Stay away from repetitive, meaningless skills that everyone uses in their resumes. Or else, they’ll backfire and make you look like an average candidate.
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Senior art director resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your senior art 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 Senior Art 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.
The senior art director resume summary: tips and tricks
Making a strong first impression.
- Keep your summary section short and easy to read; avoid long sentences;
- Highlight your total years of experience in the field;
- Mention 1-2 of your biggest achievements and strengths;
- Add a couple of keywords from the job advert.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
You’re not going to get hired simply because of a good summary or objective. However, your recruiter can bump you up in front of similarly experienced candidates who didn’t demonstrate such passion and drive.
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Senior art director resume: a strong education section
What to include in your education section:
- Your highest education degree (incl. major, duration, name of institution);
- A bit more about the certifications you’ve got (if they are relevant to what you’re applying for);
- Some extracurricular activities that have helped you develop and strengthen your skills;
- If you’re an entry-level applicant: Relevant courses and projects.
Top certifications for your Senior Art Director resume
Thinking Like an Art Director with PaintShop Pro
Design theorem,Art Director,Compositions
The Complete Junior to Senior Web Developer Roadmap (2022)
Go from Junior Developer to Senior Developer. Learn all the technical skills Senior Web Developers know!
Ace Director/ Senior Manager/ VP Job Interview & Career
How to Get Hired/ Grow as Manager of Managers: Train Team Lead Coach Trust Delegate Feedback Fire Reorg Politics Skill
Art Therapy: Personal Development and Self Healing with Art
Arts Therapy heals ! Improve your Mental Health with 30 Art Therapy Exercises . With Certificate Upon Completion
Chair Yoga for Seniors & Beginners
Learn to practice Chair Yoga for seniors or people with reduced mobility with full yoga classes and pose tutorials.
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PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Senior Art 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.
Senior Art Director Resume: How to choose the right format
The content of your resume is necessary for showcasing your expertise, skills, and education. Great formatting, on the other hand, is essential for highlighting your attention to detail, creativity, and ability to stand out.
There are three basic resume formats to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
Which one of these you choose depends on a couple of things, but most importantly: the industry and your level of experience.
The reverse-chronological resume format, for example, is great if you’re a Senior Art Director with many years of experience and no career gaps. It doesn’t really matter if your company of choice is a multinational corporation or an early-stage startup – this resume format is considered to be a safe bet.
If you’re someone with little or no experience, however, we advise you to go for a functional skills-based resume format. It focuses on skills, competencies, and education, rather than experience. This makes it great for entry-level applicants, career changers, and graduate students.
And if you’re tired of traditional formats and want to go over the top when it comes to your application, the combination or hybrid resume format is here to help. Here, you can focus on both your experience and your skills, there’s even space for you to highlight your most spectacular personality traits. If you want to give a modern feel to your Senior Art Director resume, this resume format is just what you need. Add a ‘my life philosophy’ section for additional bonus points!
Looking for ways to perfect your Senior Art Director resume layout and style?
- Don’t risk it: choose standard 1-inch resume margins;
- Go for traditional resume fonts (sized 10-12p);
- Match the length of your Senior Art Director resume with your years of experience – choose a one-page template if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- To be on the safe side, save your resume in PDF. This will help you avoid formatting issues and unauthorized editing.
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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 Senior Art 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.
Your senior art director resume: Other sections to include
Tired of resumes that focus only on your professional side? Want to show you’re an actual human being with a real personality that goes beyond your work experience? Then add some other sections to your Senior Art Director resume!
Depending on the industry, company, and position, you can go for a more creative or less creative approach. Choose 1-2 of the following:
Making your senior art director resume shine
In a pile of boring black and white resumes, a creative Senior Art Director application feels like a breath of fresh air. And trust us, recruiters love this.
There are two ways to add a splash of creativity to your resume. You can either go for a creative layout (bright colors, modern fonts, etc.) or add some creative sections (e.g. ‘what my typical day looks like’).
It’s up to you! Just make sure to keep the position, company, and industry in mind. Otherwise, you risk going over the top. And that’s not always a good idea.
What makes a great senior art 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.
