Product Designer Resume Example

This comprehensive guide will give you all the tools you need to craft a product designer resume that positions you strongly against other candidates. The article will take you through the key steps of creating a resume that presents your key skills, qualities and career achievements in a format that employers favor. It will also help you tailor your resume according to your unique skills and experience level. Read on to discover tips for a creative resume, as recommended by Jobseeker's careers experts.

Main elements of a product designer resume

Most resumes contain similar key sections, with a product designer resume being no different.

Your resume layout and structure may differ depending on your experience levels, but make sure your resume includes the following:

Resume Header with Contact Details

Your product designer resume header should contain your name and contact details. These include your email address and phone number. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can also add that, to give employers the chance to learn more about your skills and experience. It's not necessary to include a photo or any other personal information. Be aware of the amount of space your resume header takes up. You don't want your contact details to take space away from the main content of your resume, so keep this section as brief as possible.

Make sure the email address you list in your header is professional-looking and doesn't contain any inappropriate content such as nicknames or unsuitable language. Opt for an email address based on your name or profession, or a combination of both. Finally, check your contact details before sending your resume, to ensure everything's up-to-date.

Resume Summary

The next section is the resume summary. The section might also be called 'resume objective' or 'personal profile'. This is a brief introduction to you, your key skills and your career achievements and ambitions. While a resume summary focuses on your career achievements and experience, a resume objective typically focuses on your ambitions for the future. However, make sure you keep your resume summary short and snappy, and focused on the skills and experience listed in the job description.

Alternatively, focus on introducing your career ambitions, and why this role is a good fit, both for you and the organization.

A good resume summary is short and snappy, and focused on the skills and experience listed in the job description, with evidence to back it up. It will also help the reader to form their first impressions of you by providing an insight into your personality and unique qualities. See below for some great examples of what to include in your product designer resume summary.

On the other hand, a resume summary can be ineffective if it lacks specific information about how your skills align with the job description, or fails to paint a picture of your unique qualities and talents. The visual above includes some examples of what not to do with your product designer resume summary

Work History

Next, list your relevant employment history and any key achievements that show you're suitable for a product designer position. List each relevant role in reverse-chronological order starting with your current or most recent role. Add your job title, the organization name, its location and the dates you worked there.

Under each job entry, add several bullet points highlighting your responsibilities and achievements. Consult the job description for a list of the key requirements for the role and make sure your work experience section showcases how you meet these requirements.

An effective resume work experience section is one that constantly echoes the skills and experience listed in the job description, and shows how you used your skills to positive effect in each job. Each bullet point should be carefully crafted to showcase a particular skill or achievement relevant to product designer jobs, with evidence to show the value you added. There are some examples of strong resume work experience sections below.

In the graphic above, you'll see some examples of less effective resume work experience sections. Ineffective work experience sections tend to focus too much on everyday responsibilities over skills and achievements. If you use vague descriptions of activities and fail to back up your achievements with evidence, you're likely to fail to make an impact on the reader.

Portfolio and Work Samples

Showcasing your product designer work samples in a portfolio or personal website can be a great way to prove your worth to employers. If you have examples of your work online, include a URL here.

Including a portfolio with evidence of your previous work is most effective for creative roles. You could add a link to a standalone website or portfolio in your resume header, or create a separate section with links to published work. Conversely, you might work in a non-creative sector but still have work published online that's worth showcasing. Include links to that work in this section.

Education

The education section provides space to list your highest and most recent academic achievements that are relevant to working as a product designer.

If you're applying for product designer positions you'll typically need to have a degree. A Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Design will usually help your chances of success. You could also list any qualifications that demonstrate your prototyping and wireframing or user experience research.

List every relevant qualification, including the name and level of the course, the name of the school, college or university, its location and your graduation date. You could also add one or two bullet points to draw attention to your grades if they were particularly good, as well as any specialist subjects you studied. This will help the hiring manager understand your knowledge and special skills better.

If you took part in any volunteering or you were a leader or member of any university societies, you could also mention these in your education section.

Skills

Listing your key skills can help to prove your suitability for product designer jobs. These could be 3D modeling software, team collaboration or various other relevant skills. Additionally, read the job description to make sure your skills match those required for product designer positions. You could also include some unique skills that help you stand out as a candidate.

How to list hard skills on your product designer resume

For your hard skills list, include any technical abilities or specific industry knowledge that's essential to working as a product designer. These could be skills gained through work experience or qualifications. Furthermore, an extensive list of hard skills helps to make a compelling case for your product designer job applications, as they show employers your understanding of the product designer role. If possible, add four or five hard skills that reflect the requirements of the job description. These will boost your chances of success in your applications.

The best resume hard skills sections focus on specific technical skills necessary for the job, showcasing skills that you have particular expertise in. There are some examples of valuable hard skills for a product designer resume below.

Adding soft skills to your product designer resume

In your list of soft skills, add any personal strengths, qualities or transferable skills that make you a good fit for the job. Soft skills are often less specific to different industries, but that doesn't make them any less important. Indeed, without soft skills, you may struggle to adapt to product designer roles or meet the standards expected of you. So make sure you include several key soft skills on your resume. Aim to include approximately five soft skills that reflect the skills listed in the job description.

The strongest resume soft skills sections include a mix of skills that match your best personal strengths, and that reflect the skills listed in the job description. See below for some examples of effective soft skills for a product designer resume.

Relevant Certifications and Licenses

Your certifications section is the place to mention any relevant professional product designer certifications, licenses or qualifications. These could be official licenses required for the job or certifications that improve your employability. Therefore, make sure you list the dates of your certifications and licenses so employers can see they're up-to-date and valid.

Below you can find several examples of certifications for a product designer resume:

Additional Information

As well as the main sections of a product designer resume, optional sections can help you prove your credentials to employers. Choose any optional sections that showcase essential or desirable skills or experience for product designer jobs.

Hobbies and Interests

Including your hobbies and interests can be a valuable way of showing your key skills and qualities. Your hobbies and interests are useful for a product designer resume if you want to show a different side to your personality, or to stand out among other candidates. They can also be valuable if you're a junior candidate without much relevant work experience. Think about adding hobbies and interests to your resume if they add some insight into your personality that you can't express elsewhere in your application.

Voluntary Work

This section can be valuable for a product designer resume, if you've done any voluntary work that showcases your relevant skills. Add any voluntary roles, including your position, the name of the organization, the dates of your voluntary work and a brief explanation of your responsibilities and achievements.

References

Although it's rare to include references on a product designer resume, some employers may ask for it. Don't add references unless they're specifically mentioned by the employer in the job advert. Only include referees that you've had prior approval from, and notify them to expect contact from the employer.

Best strong verbs for your a product designer resume

Add strong verbs to your work experience section to show the hiring manager the impact you made in your previous roles. Choose from the list of words below to make the best possible impression.

If you want to create a resume that stands out from the crowd, use Jobseeker's expert-designed resume templates. You can also find cover letter templates that work to get you noticed by employers.

Sample resume for product designer positions

The product designer resume example below incorporates all the information from above into a full-designed resume template, so you can see how a final resume will look:

Tips on creating an ATS-optimized resume

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are one of the key ways recruiters and employers manage the hiring process. The systems can screen candidates by scanning and ranking resumes based on each candidate's likely suitability for the vacancy. When you're writing your product designer resume, there are several things you can do to make sure your resume stands the best chance of passing the ATS stage.

Create an ATS-optimized resume by following these quick tips:

• Adopt a traditional structure for your resume, such as a reverse-chronological format or a functional format. These are likely to be the easiest layouts for ATS software to scan.
• Use keywords throughout your resume that reflect the job description, so ATS resume scanners can recognize a strong connection between your skills, and those in the job description.
• Using clear, simple headings makes it easier for an ATS application to scan your resume, as it can easily identify what's in each section of your document.
• Adopt a resume design that uses clear, professional design principles and leaves white space for your content to breathe. Use the most readable fonts and incorporate subtle design elements to enhance the readability of your document.
• Make sure your resume is as concise as possible, so ATS applications can easily scan and identify the required details.

Key takeaways for your product designer resume

The best resumes focus on your skills and the value you've added to previous roles, rather than focusing on your duties and responsibilities. Choose a resume structure that makes the most of your relevant experience, whether through work or other activities, and be sure to tailor your resume to match the job description.

Jobseeker has a wealth of resume tools, including resume templates and examples, to help you create a winning job application. Sign up today to get started. A stylish, professional cover letter can make all the difference to your job prospects. See Jobseeker's cover letter examples, written by careers experts, to help you craft an eye-catching application.

Sources:

(1) Careers for creative people, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2015/article/creative-careers.htm

(2) Occupational Outlook Handbook, Craft and Fine Arts, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/craft-and-fine-artists.htm