As a UX designer you combine your technical knowledge with your understanding of user behaviour to create the perfect experience.
But you will need an attractive and compelling CV if you want to land the best jobs.
This guide will take you through everything that you need to create a stand out UX engineer CV.
Guide contents
- UX designer CV example
- Structuring and formatting your CV
- Writing your CV profile
- Detailing work experience
- Your education
- Skills required for your UX designer CV
UX designer CV example
The above CV example demonstrates the type of info you should be including within your UX designer CV, as well as how to display this information in a way which looks professional and is easy for time-strapped recruiters to read.
This is the standard you should be aiming for, so remember to refer back to it throughout the CV writing process.
UX designer CV structure and format
Think your CV is just about words? Think again.
Your CV needs to look professional and be easy for recruiters to read, meaning the structure and format of your CV are equally as important as the content within it.
Facilitate ease of reading by working to a simple structure which allows recruiters to easily navigate your experience.
Formatting Tips
- Length: Whether you’ve got one year or three decades of experience, your CV should never be more than two sides of A4. Recruiters are busy people who’re often juggling numerous roles and tasks, so they don’t have time to read lengthy applications. If you’re a recent graduate or don’t have much industry experience, one side of A4 is fine.
- Readability: Help out time-strapped recruiters by formatting your CV for easy reading. Using lots of bullet points and lists will help them to skim through your info, while clearly formatted headings will allow them to navigate towards the content which is most useful to them.
- Design: The saying ‘less is more’ couldn’t be more applicable to CVs. Readability is key, so avoid overly complicated designs and graphics. A subtle colour palette and easy-to-read font is all you need!
- Avoid photos: Ditch logos, images or profile photos. Not only do they take up valuable space, but they may even distract recruiters from your important written content.
Structuring your CV
As you write your CV, divide and sub-head into the following sections:
- Name and contact details – Always start with these, so employers know exactly how to get in touch with you.
- CV profile – Add a short summary of your relevant experience, skills and achievements, which highlights your suitability.
- Core skills section – A 2-3 columned list of your key skills.
- Work experience – A detailed list of any relevant work experience, whether paid or voluntary.
- Education – An overview of your academic background and any training you may have completed.
- Hobbies and interests – A brief overview of your hobbies and interests, if they’re relevant (optional).
Now I’ll guide you through exactly what you should include in each CV section.
CV Contact Details
Kick-start your CV with your contact details, so recruiters can get in touch easily.
Here’s what you should include:
- Mobile number
- Email address – Make sure it’s professional, with no silly nicknames.
- Location – Your town or city is sufficient, rather than a full address.
- LinkedIn profile or portfolio URL – Ensure they’ve been updated and are looking slick and professional.
Quick tip: Avoid listing your date of birth, marital status or other irrelevant details – they’re unnecessary at this stage.
UX designer CV Profile
Your CV profile (or personal statement, if you’re an entry-level applicant) provides a brief overview of your skills, abilities and suitability for a position.
It’s ideal for busy recruiters and hiring managers, who don’t want to waste time reading unsuitable applications.
Think of it as your personal sales pitch. You’ve got just a few lines to sell yourself and prove you’re a great match for the job – make it count!
Tips for creating an impactful CV profile:
- Keep it brief: When it comes to CV profile length, less is more, as recruiters are often time-strapped. Aim for around of 3-5 persuasive lines.
- Tailor it: Recruiters can spot a generic, mass-produced CV at a glance – and they certainly won’t be impressed! Before you write your profile (and CV as a whole), read through the job advert and make a list of any skills, knowledge and experience required. You should then incorporate your findings throughout your profile and the rest of your CV.
- Don’t add an objective: Want to talk about your career goals and objectives? While the profile may seem like a good space to do so, they’re actually much better suited to your cover letter.
- Avoid cliches: Clichés like “blue-sky thinker with a go-getter attitude” might sound impressive to you, but they don’t actually tell the recruiter much about you. Concentrate on highlighting hard facts and skills, as recruiters are more likely to take these on board.
What to include in your UX designer CV profile?
- Summary of experience: To give employers an idea of your capabilities, show them your track record by giving an overview of the types of companies you have worked for in the past and the roles you have carried out for previous employers – but keep it high level and save the details for your experience section.
- Relevant skills: Employers need to know what skills you can bring to their organisation, and ideally they want to see skills that match their job vacancy. So, research your target roles thoroughly and add the most important UX designer skills to your profile.
- Essential qualifications: Be sure to outline your relevant UX designer qualifications, so that anyone reading the CV can instantly see you are qualified for the jobs you are applying to.
Quick tip: If spelling and grammar are not a strong point of yours, Use our quick-and-easy CV Builder to add pre-written content that has been created by recruitment experts, and proofread by our team.
Core skills section
Underneath your profile, create a core skills section to make your most relevant skills jump off the page at readers.
It should be made up of 2-3 columns of bullet points of your relevant skills.
Before you do this, look over the job description and make a list of any specific skills, specialisms or knowledge required.
Then, make sure to use your findings in your list. This will paint you as the perfect match for the role.
Work experience/Career history
By this point, employers will be keen to know more detail about you career history.
Starting with your most recent role and working backwards, create a snappy list of any relevant roles you’ve held.
This could be freelance, voluntary, part-time or temporary jobs too. Anything that’s relevant to your target role is well-worth listing!
Structuring your roles
Your work experience section will be long, so it’s important to structure it in a way which helps recruiters to quickly and easily find the information they need.
Use the 3-step structure, shown in the below example, below to achieve this.
Outline
Start with a 1-2 sentence summary of your role as a whole, detailing what the goal of your position was, who you reported to or managed, and the type of organisation you worked for.
E.g.
“Responsible for creating simple and intuitive user-focused design updates to both the Red Sky website and mobile app with the goal to increase online company sales.”
Key responsibilities
Use bullet points to detail the key responsibilities of your role, highlighting hard skills, software and knowledge wherever you can.
Keep them short and sharp to make them easily digestible by readers.
E.g.
- Design, produce and test design prototypes for both the Red Sky website and mobile app
- Identify ongoing user requirements and design solutions specifically for these needs
- Develop the Red Sky app to both improve the legacy app and evolve and incorporate new features
Key achievements
To finish off each role and prove the impact you made, list 1-3 stand out achievements, results or accomplishments.
This could be anything which had a positive outcome for the company you worked for, or perhaps a client/customer.
Where applicable, quantify your examples with facts and figures.
E.g.
- Generated over £50,000 worth of sales within 1 week of the launch of the redesigned Red Sky
website - Increased user satisfaction by over 70% following the launch of the redesigned Red Sky app
Education
Next up, you should list your education and qualifications.
This can include your formal qualifications (a degree, A-Levels and GCSEs), as well as sector-specific UX designer qualifications and/or training.
While school leavers and recent grads should include a lot of detail here to make up for the lack of work experience, experienced candidates may benefit from a shorter education section, as your work experience section will be more important to recruiters.
Interests and hobbies
The hobbies and interests CV section isn’t mandatory, so don’t worry if you’re out of room by this point.
However, if you have an interesting hobby, or an interest that could make you seem more suitable for the role, then certainly think about adding.
Be careful what you include though… Only consider hobbies that exhibit skills that are required for roles as a UX designer, or transferable workplace skills.
There is never any need to tell employers that you like to watch TV and eat out.
Essential skills for your UX designer CV
Tailoring your CV to the roles you are applying for is key to success, so make sure to read through the job descriptions and tailor your skills accordingly.
However, commonly desired UX designer skills include:
- Design and creativity – Demonstrate creative, intuitive design skills and how you use these effectively to improve user experience.
- Programming – You need a strong and broad base of programming skills to be able to trouble-shoot and solve issues.
- Self-development skills – Showcase your commitment to self-development in the context of the business’s needs, staying ahead of fast-moving trends and innovation.
- Project management – Explain how you manage projects with efficiency; managing budgets, time constraints and deadlines.
- Testing and analysis – Detail how you use testing, analysis and evaluation to ensure absolute understanding of user experience, rooted in UX research.
Writing your UX designer CV
When putting together your UX designer CV, there are a few key points to remember
Always tailor your CV to the target role, even if it means creating several versions for different roles.
Additionally, remember that the structure and format of your CV needs just as much attention as the content.
Remember to triple-check for spelling and grammar errors before hitting send. If you’re unsure, use our quick-and-easy CV Builder to add pre-written expert content with one click.
Good luck with your job search!