
“Why Should We Hire You” Interview Question: How to Answer
Why should we hire you? Why are you a great candidate for this job? Those are tough but common interview questions. Here's how to answer them right.
You’ve got enough creative power to fuel entire teams. And you could probably make an ad that would persuade a killer whale to buy a smartphone.
But even if you can sell anything, selling yourself is often the hardest part. Just showing your portfolio to people won’t cut it. You also need a resume that shows the full range of your skills and the value you’ll bring to the new employer.
Fortunately, writing an art director resume can be quick and painless. Just follow our actionable step-by-step guide.
This guide will show you:
Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.
Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume samples here.
Targeting other creative jobs design, visual arts, or marketing? See one of our dedicated guides:
John Aitken
Senior Art Director
john@aitken.me
501-872-2516
johnaitken.art.io
Summary of Qualifications
Art Director with 11 years of experience in Graphic Design and 5+ years of experience in managerial creative positions. Won the 2018 Best Data Visualization Webby Award for HealthFirst.com. Supervised the development of 250+ graphic design projects. Seeking to join The New York Times to spearhead the creation of visually inspiring solutions that satisfy the demands of your readers and amplify the message of your journalism.
Work Experience
Senior Art Director
FCB Global, New York City, NY
2017–
Key achievement: Shortlisted for the 2018 Webby Award for creating an interactive healthcare portal: HealthFirst.com.
Assistant Art Director
Acme Designs, Newark, NJ
2014–2017
Key achievement: Led the development and design of a customer site that won the 2016 Leibowitz Branding & Design Award.
Graphic Designer
SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
2011–2014
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Cornell University, Cum Laude
New York City, NY
2011
Key Skills
Awards
Conferences
Now here’s how to write your art director resume in <style>:
Your job is to make sure your client’s marketing message looks good—both on screen and on paper.
Consider your resume your most important design project so far.
Follow these formatting rules:
Pro Tip: In art and graphic design industries, a portfolio matters as much as a resume. Make sure you add links to your professional website with the portfolio of your works in the contact information section. Pressed for time to create one? Try a website builder, for instance, WIX.
A resume summary or a resume objective is also called a resume profile:
It’s a short, snappy paragraph at the top of your resume. Its purpose is to explain why you’re the perfect candidate for this job. Think of it as an elevator pitch for your application.
Use a resume summary if you have over 2 years of experience. Summarize your proudest achievements, show the potential employer how exactly you’ll help them achieve their goals.
Go for a resume objective if you’re looking for your first job as an art director. Outline what skills you’ve mastered so far and how well you’d fit in.
Pro Tip: Although this section comes at the top of an art director resume, write it last. First, compose the rest of your resume. Then, skim the cream.
The work experience section of an art director resume is the most crucial part.
Not only do you have to show that you’re a savvy design pro. You need to prove that you’re an inspired project leader able to lead cross-departmental teams.
Here’s how to nail your art director job descriptions:
Pro Tip: Haven’t worked as an art director yet and lacking art director qualifications? Want to take your graphic design career to the next level? For a sound start, check out some art direction courses on Lynda or Udemy. These will make a great addition to a junior art director resume.
When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.
When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.
Is the education section the easiest one to write on a resume for design director positions? Perhaps. But you still need to follow some basic rules to get it right.
Pro Tip: Don’t have formal education to become an art director? Don’t worry, your experience is more important. But—you still need to include your highest degree of education on a resume. Some employers won’t hire you unless you have any Bachelor’s degree.
Just came to see a sample list of good skills to put on an art director resume? Look no further.
Transferable and Soft Skills:
But don’t just list whatever art skills you think you have in a random order.
Instead, do this:
Pro Tip: What skills are best to put on an art director resume? Those employers want most! According to recent studies by LinkedIn and HubSpot, these creative skills are most in-demand now: UX Design, Video Production, Audio Production, Social Media Content Design.
All of the above sections? Those are must-haves.
But to make recruiters truly ADOBE you, supercharge your resume with adding extra sections. Consider:
Yes, cover letters are still a thing. Almost half of recruiters won’t review your resume if there’s no cover letter attached.
Write your art director cover letter following these strategies:
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to follow up on your job application. A quick email or phone call can be just the trick that gets you hired.
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:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
So there you have it—
Everything you need to know about writing a pitch-perfect resume for art director positions.
Got more questions? Need further assistance? Drop me a line in the comments, I’ll straighten out all your queries!
Why should we hire you? Why are you a great candidate for this job? Those are tough but common interview questions. Here's how to answer them right.
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