cv and covering letter

as part of my ppd tasks i have to create a covering letter and a cv, particularly a creative one.
some here is some examples to look at for ideas.

c.v.

'Just a creative way to get a graphic design job, while expressing author’s parallel interest in fabric and sewing.'

portable and differnt design that makes this c.v. interesting

cv that matches the designers branding.

cv that works as booklet, nice idea, bright and bold colours and proffesional looking.

i quite like this one the best but may not the best the best for being cost affective.

"CV interpreted into a A2 poster. A poster designed to be printed A2 size, put in a A4 envelope and mailed to prospective employers."

simple,legiable,cost affective with it being in black and white aswell as having a slight creative twist with the position of the type turned

folded like booklet

simple design with design on front and cv inside this, similar to a card and would work nice and would be diffrent to do one is this format that would stand out and potential employers could stand it up on their and would not loose it.

i think i may do a design like this that will include some examples of my work.

this will also tie in with my business stationary making my brand work together and giving it recognition.

" if an A4 page is folded in half so that it is A5 in size, it will fit into a C5 envelope (which will be the same size as a C4 envelope folded in half)"

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_216

this will be my guide for creating this idea.

covering letter

these 2 are quite bland and boring looking.

this will definately fet you notice but dont think it will end with a job

this is nice as it adds some personality and makes it less bland to look it and makes it more diffrent having something incorporated in to the design of the covering letter along with shaping the text, shows some creativity at a low key.

i quite like the idea of this will follow through with this idea, using my identity.

"Make three versions of your resume/portfolio. One online as a website, one printed (resume created in Microsoft Word, portfolio in a book/case) and one on a CD (as a slideshow or PDF). Employers will generally ask for all three, so they can screen you before giving interviews."

source:                                        http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=453837

This is something i will need to keep in mind and will be useful in the future when applying for jobs.

sharpe recruitment

sharpe recruitment came for the afternoon and talked to our class and gave a presentation on how to produce a creative C.V. and showed us good and bad examples of creative C.V's.

she told us when applying to design agencies/companies to tailor each other to meet the criteria of the job/company, as the company or job can vary from each other.

Start with a covering letter if applicable and then your main C.V, this will include your:

• education
• qualifications
• interests and hobbies
• profile
• about yourself as a designer
• experience

keep the cv simple but professional with a stamp/mark of you

this will be useful in the future for being in the know of what to produce and how to go about creating a C.V that will be successful in resulting in a job.

here is somepointers to think about from 

http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/creativeCVs.htm

Don't let the medium interfere with the message

"If you bake your CV in a cake and send it to BBC Recruitment, it'll get eaten.  And nothing else - they want everything in the same professional format."

Start by producing a standard CV. Only when the wording is excellent consider into something that is a bit different: get the content right before focusing on the design. The considerations for 'Creative CVs' aren't that much different from normal CVs. It is the content and presentation that will make the impact and not gimmicks. Eccentric CVs can put off employers. CVs have to be filed. How can you file a 3 dimensional CV?

A well designed CV would be expected from students who have studied a design-related degree. You need to balance eye-catching/different with a sharp and professional promotion of your style. Presentation is particularly important but that does not necessarily mean an unusual CV. These are difficult to compose and tend to detract from the key purpose of the CV (the range of skills that relate to the job). Your creative skills can be assessed via your portfolio.

It's the content, practical skills, and work experience that employers are particularly interested in, plus evidence of what you have created: listings of exhibitions etc.. Work experience take priority over education. For example for a multimedia CV include your technical skills (Flash, Maya, Photoshop XHTML etc.). For advertising jobs, evidence of an interest in music, art, photography or filmmay help.

Provide a link on your CV to a web site with examples of projects from your portfolio. Let your real work do the talking, not the CV layout. Work experience is used to demonstrate the soft skills that most employers want: teamwork, customer service etc. Creativity is demonstrated in your portfolio not your CV.

Once you do start introducing more of a design element to a CV you have to recognise that this is more of a high risk strategy. Some recruiters may love your design, others may hate it, so show your CV to other people first. 

"As a creative director, I'd look at CVs to decide whether to bother looking further - looking at someone's website takes time and anyone who couldn't format a paper CV properly isn't going to be of any use!"

The same will go for many big organisations.  Where they have specialized recruitment functions, a well formatted CV will always work better.  One large advertising agency recommended a standard CV.  Some smaller companies may like a more individual approach. They may be more impressed by an unusual CV because they have fewer to look at.  

Any speculative approach needs to be followed by a phone call. See our Creative Jobhunting page for help with this.

Tips for a design CV:

• A tasteful and subtle watermark or border can be effective.
• Landscape shaped CVs (wider than they are long) are harder to format correctly but can stand out from the crowd.
• Book format CVs (folded into four A5 size pages) are awkward to photocopy and to look at. 
• One method is to have a business card with examples of work on the card: this should be in addition to rather than a replacement for, your CV.