When you’re searching for new opportunities as an interior designer, having an eye-catching and engaging CV is vital.
Your CV should be a combination of compelling content and a well-defined structure, that highlights your marketable skills.
This guide containing an interior designer CV example, will give you the tools to produce a strong CV, helping you land an interview.
Guide contents
- Interior designer CV example
- Structuring and formatting your CV
- Writing your CV profile
- Detailing work experience
- Your education
- Skills required for your interior designer CV
Interior designer CV example
This CV example demonstrates how to correctly format your interior designer CV to grab recruiters’ attention, enticing them to delve deeper into your experience.
As the guide continues we’ll walk you through how to write a CV that will stand out to recruiters.
CV structure & format
Structure is a key component of CV writing, enabling you to engage recruiters at first glance.
You need to facilitate ease of reading, adopting a clear and professional structure, which allows recruiters to quickly and easily navigate your experience, pinpointing why you’re the ideal candidate for roles.
This infographic guides you on how to structure your CV, and what sections you need to be incorporating.
Formatting Tips
- Your CV should ideally be 2 pages long, enough space to display your relevancy for roles without boring the reader
- Use bold headers and defined sections to break up large blocks of text, highlighting key information using bullet points
- Avoid overcomplicating your CV, stick to a simple and professional design with a muted colour pallet and clear font
- Stay away from adding any imagery to your CV such as company logos or headshots, these waste space without adding value
Structuring your CV
Split your CV into clear sections, working towards the below structure:
- Contact details – make sure you’re easily reachable, keeping your contact details to the top of the page
- Profile – begin your CV will an introductory paragraph, showcasing your applicable skills, experience and sector specific qualifications at first glance
- Work experience / Career history – detailing your work experience in reverse chronological order
- Education – documenting your educational history, highlighting qualifications most significant to the interior design field
- Interests and hobbies – an additional section, that can be used to focus on any interests that display your transferable skills
This guide will now teach you how to produce each section, so you can craft a CV that aids you in securing your dream job.
CV Contact Details
Make it easy for recruiters to contact you, by displaying your contact details right at the top of the page.
You only need to include essential information within this section, such as:
- Phone number
- Email address
- Location
- Look to include a link to your LinkedIn profile if you have one
Quick Tip: Avoid adding additional information that isn’t required in the decision making process such as marital status, your date of birth, profile pictures or even your full home address, as the city you live in is enough detail.
CV Profile
Your CV profile should be an opening paragraph between 5-10 lines, that draws recruiters’ attention at the top of your CV, engaging them to explore your experience further.
Providing insight on your applicable skills, qualifications and sector specific experience at first glance, summarising your CV.
These tips will aid you in producing your profile:
- Keep your profile concise, working to a length of 5-10 lines, you will be able to elaborate elsewhere in your CV
- Be unique in your descriptions, avoiding cliche phrases such as “I’m a hard worker” or “I give 110%”, these make you blend into the crowd and add no value to your CV
- Research the interior design industry prior to producing your profile and incorporate any keywords or specific requirements you found from fact finding
- Save any personal objectives or details regarding what you’re looking for from an employer for your cover letter
What to include in your CV profile?
- Types of projects you have been involved with – whether working on commercial properties, housing developments or working with individual home owners
- Interior designer qualifications – BTECs in Art and Design, a degree in art or interior design or an advanced diploma in interior design
- Technical skills – Are you able to be creative, interact with clients, work to building codes or have knowledge matching colours or awareness of fabrics
- Previous companies worked for – Whether you have worked as a consultant, for an interior design firm, worked for a retailer, in hospitality or design consultancy
- Level of your experience – Whether you have recently graduated, starting as an intern in the industry or have successfully managed several projects or even lead junior designers
Core skills section
Beneath your CV profile, include a core skills section which is comprised of your marketable skills, demonstrating why you’re the ideal candidate for interior design roles at first glance.
This section should be made up of 2-3 columns of bullet points.
Use your sector specific research to support you in creating this section and use the below vital skills section of this guide for further inspiration.
Work experience/Career history
Record all your previous work experience in reverse chronological order.
Look to include all types of experience whether full time/part time employment, voluntary work, internships or work experience.
Reserve space for your most recent or more relevant positions, giving only a brief description for older or less relevant posts.
Structuring your roles
Facilitate ease of reading by using a clear format for each of your role descriptions, pinpointing essential information to recruiters.
Break up large blocks of text by separating your descriptions into the three segments below.
Outline
Give recruiters an insight into the role you assumed, the company you worked for and potentially even the department you were part of.
E.g.
“Working as an interior designer for a leading architect, advising clients and providing options for office space designs.”
Key responsibilities
Use bullet points to display your key duties in each role, recording any project involvement and highlighting key relationships built.
E.g.
- Preparing design boards for clients, giving a range of colour and fabric choices
- Using AutoCad to develop 2D and 3D models of plans
Key achievements
Showcase the value you have within an organisation by displaying your key achievements.
Look to strengthen your examples by adding applicable facts and figures.
E.g.
- Delivered on a project 2 days ahead of schedule, whilst also reducing costs by 4%
Education
Underneath your work experience, include a section to record your educational history.
Begin with any qualifications most pertinent to interior design roles, such as degrees in interior design or courses in art and design, or interior design diplomas and BTECs.
If you have room available look to add any additional qualifications obtained, for example, GCSE’s, A Levels, other degrees or any vocational training.
Interests and hobbies
Unlike other sections in your CV, hobbies and interests are optional.
Only look to include hobbies that will help to further your application, avoiding generic hobbies such as socialising.
Reflect on hobbies that demonstrate your creativity which is a key interior design strength, such as attending art classes or pottery making.
Essential skills for your CV
Each company may differ in the skill set they require, but below are the core skills you should include within your interior design CV.
Design trends and history – Being aware of current trends, drawing inspiration from design history
Budget management – Understanding the need to stick to clear budgets without sacrificing your design
AutoCAD – Understanding of software to produce designs and models
Concept design and sketching – Being able to produce free hand drawings for clients and developing design boards
Writing your interior design CV
Your CV is your opportunity to sell yourself, so it needs to stand out from the crowd.
You need to have a strong CV structure that is not only visually pleasing but highlights your marketable skills.
Use this guide to help you create a stand out CV that will get you one step closer to landing a new position.
Good luck with your job search.