Senior Graphic Designer Resume: Examples & Writing Guide

Graphic design is my passion.

Ugh, that sentence probably sends chills down your spine.

You’ve seen all the cringe-inducing marketing campaigns, the Kafkaesque posters, the garish color schemes. And you decided to do better, wielding Creative Cloud tools and slaying design monstrosities as you go.

But the competition is fierce, and Photoshop magic can’t be your only saving grace.

What you need is a senior graphic designer resume that’s more orderly than a curated set of swatches.

This guide will show you:

• A senior graphic designer resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a senior graphic designer resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a senior graphic designer resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for a senior graphic designer to get any job you want.

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Curious about applying for slightly different positions as well? We’ve got you covered:

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• 500+ Resume Examples for Various Jobs

Senior Graphic Designer Resume Sample

Quite inspiring and fresh, huh? Without further ado, this is how you can write your own stunning senior graphic designer resume:

1. Lay Out the Format of Your Senior Graphic Designer Resume

Senior graphic designers leverage their years of experience to drive creative efforts for a company. To achieve maximum effect, your senior graphic designer resume needs to prove your affinity with the Creative Cloud package, and highlight your time management, communication, and leadership skills.

So how do you go about meeting these (quite elaborate) expectations?

You can actually start by doing what you usually would when launching Photoshop or Illustrator:

By structuring your workflow.

Much like a new visual project, knowing what you want your resume to look like will benefit you greatly. Here are a few essential resume tips to keep in mind:

• Start off by listing your contact information in a clean resume heading.
• Carefully consider your choice of resume format. Don’t underestimate the value of the reverse-chronological resume and its ability to present your strengths upfront.
• Take care of the visual aspect by utilizing proper resume margins, a spacing of 1.15, and a resume font that’s easy to read.
• Though you probably want to send them a .psd, skip that, and save your resume file as a PDF. 
• If you have enough experience, consider making your resume two pages, but only if you can fill it with legitimate content. Otherwise, stick to one page.

Read more: Resume Design: Templates, Ideas & Tips

2. Prepare an Excellent Senior Graphic Designer Resume Summary

Here’s the dealio: our HR statistics show that recruiters will likely spend just 7 seconds looking at your resume. They don’t have the time to spare looking through the hundreds of senior graphic designers’ applications they get.

The key to not get brushed over is an effective resume summary:

• Begin with a positive adjective about yourself. Think enthusiastic, results-driven, or proficient.
• Mention your years of experience as a senior graphic designer.
• Proceed to list a few of your crème de la crème achievements, backing them up by numbers to make them even more impressive.

Using that formula effectively captures the attention of your reader as if in an excellent elevator pitch, greatly increasing the chances they’ll keep reading.

Pro tip: Don’t get hung up on this section for too long. If you’re coming up short for ideas, save it for last.

3. Recap Your Professional Senior Graphic Designer Work Experience

Optimizing the work experience section may very well make or break your chances altogether.

Here’s how to do it right:

• The best way to start is by listing your most recent job, then going back in time from there. Don’t go too far, though! Going back 10–15 years on your resume is usually the limit, unless you have something truly extraordinary to share from a job longer ago. 
• Each position should include your professional title, the name and location of the company, and years worked.
• Now it’s time to bring out the big guns: add up to 6 bullets for the last job (3 for older ones), and describe your most impressive professional achievements, again backed by numbers.
• Action verbs keep their attention pinned squarely on you, so make good use of them.
• Instead of being generic, tailor your resume each time you send an application. Recruiters and art directors need to know you’d fit their vision in particular.

Pro Tip: Before you apply, and this should be a no-brainer, have your portfolio up and running. Needless to say, they will definitely ask to see your past work in the flesh instead of being satisfied with just descriptions. You can include a link to your online portfolio in your resume header, too. 

4. Add an Education Section to Your Senior Graphic Designer Resume

Should you even add an education section to your resume? After all, your experience should speak for itself.

Well, it does, but it’s not a good enough argument to forego an entire section of your resume. You don’t want the recruiter drawing their own conclusions as to why you chose not to mention your education, right? 

Lucky for you, since you’ve got boatloads experience, it’s actually super simple:

• State the highest degree of schooling you’ve obtained.
• Add the name and location of the school.
• Include any majors and minors on your resume.
• List your graduation date or years of attendance.

That’s literally it. You may also add a GPA score if higher than 3.5 or some relevant coursework, but don’t overdo it. That would put a massive Gaussian blur on the rest of your resume.

Read more:How to List a Degree on Your Resume

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5. Demonstrate the Right Graphic Design Skills

This is your chance to shine brighter than a lens flare with the levels cranked up. All the experience behind your belt could be converted into an encyclopedia of graphic design, visual artistry, and Adobe know-how.

Here’s how to not fumble it (as many people do):

• DON’T stuff your skills section with 20–30 items, even if you are confident of your mastery of those skills.
• DO research the necessary resume keywords on the job advertisement to see what each company in particular that you apply for expects from their designers.
• Once you’ve figured that out, put only those skills onto your resume. They can be soft skills, they can be hard skills, and technical skills, too.

Here are some examples of great senior graphic designer skills:

Senior Graphic Designer Resume Skills

• Adobe CC (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Lightroom etc.)
• Color theory
• Creating mockups & templates
• Video editing
• Web & app design
• Computer skills
• Creative thinking
• Sketching
• Visual design
• Social media/marketing campaigns
• IT skills
• Branding
• Typography
• UX/UI design
• Communication skills
• Time management
• Problem-solving

Also, don’t just talk about your skills, prove them! Use the job description section to show off how exactly you implemented your knowledge of a skill to achieve a desired result.

Pro tip: Do graphic designers need to be able to draw with, like, their hands? Not necessarily, so if you’re not sure if you deserve that promotion, don’t worry!

6. Include Bonus Sections for a Senior Graphic Designer Resume

Well, okay, maybe graphic design is your passion after all. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t have spent so much time working in the industry.

Adding extra sections to your resume can add the necessary flair to convey some of that passion and wow the hiring manager. They’re far more likely to recruit a living, breathing human rather than a lifeless robot.

So take a gander at some of these ideas below:

• Volunteer work
• Certifications and licenses
• Conference attendance
• Memberships
• Hobbies and interests
• Personal passion projects

Read more: Employability Skills: Guide + Examples

7. Compose a Cover Letter to Go with Your Senior Graphic Designer Resume

Do you need a cover letter? Even for senior positions?

A resounding “yes” should follow every time.

Without a cover letter, plenty of recruiters (nearly half, in fact) won’t bother opening your application. It’s just that necessary.

Follow this advice to get it done swiftly:

• Get your cover letter formatting sorted out before picking up the pen.
• Address the cover letter to the hiring manager. Avoid using the depersonalized “To Whom It May Concern” greeting.
• Write a convincing cover letter opening.
• Elaborate on how your particular set of skills could help the company overcome its present (and future!) challenges.
• End the cover letter with an offer and a promise to deliver on it.
• Keep it brief and to the point. The recommended cover letter length is just 3–4 paragraphs. 

Pro Tip:Always make sure to send a follow-up after about a week if you haven’t heard from them by now. This is done just to make sure they don’t forget about you.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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Thanks for reading! Do you have any questions related to effectively mentioning your experience on as a senior graphic designer? Maybe we missed some crucial tips you’d like to share with junior designers? The comments section awaits!

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