How to write a compelling UX/UI resume?

When you think about it, UX/UI is a lot like resume writing.

UX is the content of your resume while UI is the design of your resume.

Both elements are crucial and work closely together to persuade hiring managers you're the right fit.

Imagine you spend weeks creating a beautiful resume only to realize that hiring managers can't find what they're looking for. No matter how attractive it is, without great and tailored content it will probably get to “no” pile.

On the other hand, imagine you conduct a research of the company and the job description, tailor your resume content to what hiring managers are looking for, but the text on your resume is so small and cluttered that hiring managers can hardly read it. 

Simply put, just like there's no UX without UI, there's no resume design without great resume content — and vice versa.

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In the following 4 tips, we'll help you write a great UX/UI resume:

1. Use a professionally designed resume template

As a designer, you should have a beautiful, clear and concise resume. 

If you’re quick with designing a resume, you can create your own custom design.

But it also doesn’t hurt your chances of landing a UX/UI role if you decide to go with a template. For instance, Kickresume offers plenty of professional resume templates that you can customize.

When designing and customizing your UX/UI resume, follow these key rules:

• Ideally, keep your resume to one page.
• Use enough white space.
• Use simple fonts. Emphasize key points with bold or italic font.
• Use bullet points to improve the readability.
• You can use color — resumes don't have to be black and white. However, don't go overboard. For instance, if you pick a mint page color, stick to black font. Or if you prefer a white page color, you can use colorful headings.
• Organize your resume from most to least important. Ideally start with a resume summary, then follow with key skills, work experience with UX/UI projects and education. Then add other optional resume sections such as certification, publications, awards, and so on.
• When organizing the content for individual sections, the most recent items should be first, followed by older ones.

And what about graphic design resumes? Sure, your inner designer might be tempted to experiment, but rather keep your resume simple, functional and save the art for your portfolio.

2. Focus on relevant work experience and UX/UI projects

Naturally, the work experience section is the most important part of any UX/UI resume.

This is the place where you shed light on all of your relevant UX/UI projects, the methods behind them, and the impact they made. To top it off, you should highlight your skills too.

When organizing your work experience section, include:

1. Name of the company or project
2. Your role in the company or project
3. Duration of time at the company or project
4. Location
5. 2-3 quantifiable achievements and relevant work duties

Then follow the same pattern for each work experience or UX/UI project.

And in case you have more relevant UX/UI projects, you can even devote a separate resume section to them.

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3. Add UX/UI technical and soft skills

Of course, the main focus should be on technical skills as these are crucial for UX/UI roles. 

However, soft skills are important too. For instance, communication is vital to the web design process, especially now in the remote working environment. 

So, you should include both hard and soft skills in your UX/UI resume.

The user flow is pretty simple here:

• First, know what skills the hiring manager wants (hint — you can find them in the job ad).
• Second, match these skills with yours and list them on your resume in the Key skills section. You can even break your list of skills into categories like Prototyping tools, UX Methods, Design, Programming, Soft skills, etc.
• Third, prove you master those skills in your work experience descriptions. For instance, if you claim you're good at wireframing, include a bullet point in your work experience description that says something like: “Designed 4 wireframes for local businesses.”

4. Include a link to your UX/UI portfolio

When reviewing UX/UI candidates, hiring managers and design leads check their portfolios too. In the end, your portfolio confirms the knowledge and experience your resume conveys.

So, if you have a UX/UI portfolio, include a link in your resume — ideally in a clearly visible place, like under your contact information.