Your CV is the first impression a potential employer will get of you, so, no matter what role you’re seeking, a polished CV is essential to get past the first hurdle. If you’re looking for design jobs, your CV won’t just be judged on its content – how it’s presented can give clues to your design capability. If you want to impress, here are some unforgivable design mistakes to avoid when putting your CV together.

Inappropriate font choices

Any good designer should be clued up on fonts, so if you want to snag the top design jobs on the market, don’t ruin your prospects by choosing the wrong kind of font for your CV. Whether your CV is printed out or in digital format, ditch fancy fonts that are hard to read, and opt for easy-to-scan, universal fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial. You won’t score brownie points for selecting a wacky font, and neither will it be an indication of your creative potential. Worse still, if an employer can’t access the font in digital format, they won’t be able to read your CV.

Text size

Designers are fond of white space, but when compiling your CV, don’t shrink your text size down in order to maximise on the white space. Small text is harder to read, and you risk your CV being overlooked. Never drop below 10 points for serifed type, and don’t make the cardinal design sin of mixing and matching text sizes.

Bullet points

Bullet points are a great way to break up text and make it easier to read, but avoid using designer bullet points; stick to the solid black dot option instead. Fancy bullet points may not be accessible on all computers, so won’t display correctly.

Too wacky

Many designers attempt to show their personality and creative prowess by making a CV that is unique and off the wall. This can be effective, but there’s a fine line between creative ingenuity and wackiness that doesn’t work or loses the point. If in doubt, leave showcasing your creative skills to the interview stage.