Resume writing advice.

[Taboo]

I'm probably going to be applying for some jobs outside of my field - think retail and secretarial type positions. I can't really do much freelance illustration right now, I'm mentally exhausted from school and thesis and I'm taking a break before I burn out completely. The problem then becomes this: I don't really have past job experience that can be listed on a resume. I don't do the sort of freelance where you work with a company for a few months; I generally get asked to do one illustration (say, a book cover or a piece in a magazine) that is due less than a week later. I can give a general list such as "I have done illustration work for companies x, y, and z and have been published in magazine g" but that doesn't mean much to anyone outside of my own field.

Normally my reference would be my portfolio, since I don't interact with anyone for more than a couple weeks max. So those sorts of references don't mean anything to a retail job.

Should I just not give any work history, or put a general line like "self-employed freelance artist"? I might be able to get away with it since I'm finishing up college. I somehow doubt "hey I've worked for these companies but nobody spoke to me more than twice so they probably don't remember me anymore" is going to help me any outside of the illustration field, hah.

For the record, I'm trying to get an internship somewhere that would be an art-related company but working at a desk or running errands. It would then be relevant to both types of jobs and would be better for my resume - but there's this whole blowup in NYC right now about the questionable legality of interning, so most places have put a hold on interviews. So that's not a great option right now.

[TelephoneAngel]

you'rel ooking at your previous work from the wrong perspective.

What it says to me is "self-motivated" able to work with minimum supervision able to follow strict deadlines (and probably conflicting priorities) this kind of thing which employers would like.

[TelephoneAngel]

you'rel ooking at your previous work from the wrong perspective.

What it says to me is "self-motivated" able to work with minimum supervision able to follow strict deadlines (and probably conflicting priorities) this kind of thing which employers would like.

[Andara Bledin]

Also, you weren't freelance, you were an independent contractor.

Sure, they mean the same thing, but how you say something is often more important than what you're saying.

^-.-^

[ArcticChicken]

My school has a career center, and one of the services they offer is resume review. I've been twice, and want at least one more visit, but my resume is a million times better than it was.

[ShadowBall]

Hello, fellow illustrator!

Writing a resume can be a little bit of a pain in the ass. I had both a pre-portfolio class and a portfolio class during my last couple of semesters in college, and their lectures on writing resumes was pretty useless - they mostly went on and on about the difference between em-dashes and en-dashes and what was the proper one to use in a resume.

"Independent contractor" is a good way to describe yourself - even though, as Andara Bleding said, it's the same as saying "freelancer." Freelancing used to mean someone who was an expert in their field who would do work for a set price rather than a regular, constant hourly employee rate. Now, though, it pretty much means "anybody with a computer who will do work for pennies." Synonyms are your best friends when it comes to resume writing.

And make sure to sell yourself like your life depends on it. Don't say, "I did an illustration for XYZ, Inc." on your resume. Rather, say, "XYZ, Inc., February 2010, Cover illustration for Pancakes Arouse Me. XYZInc.com." Fancy, professional-sounding words and word arrangement are good. Also, if your college doesn't have a good reputation or is not accredited (like mine ), don't include the college's name. Just put the degree and major, but if you're asked where you attended school, you'll have to be honest.

The bottom line is you do have a work history - just because it's not a regular job you go to every day doesn't mean it isn't work.

This is a bit of a tangent, but am I the only one who wants to punch people who offer up unpaid internships to students? Bloody cheap-ass companies don't want to pay an artist's wages, so they recruit a student to do the same work for nothing. Yeah, it looks fabulous on a resume, but when you go from student to professional and want money, suddenly that company isn't interested in you and they're "hiring" another student to do slave labor for them. Just....grrr. Internships themselves are not bad, but it irks me that employers can get away with making people do charity work with the promise of a pat on the resume.

[Taboo]

Sorry for being so slow to reply to this, guys. I really appreciate all the advice and I agree that how I word it should help.

"XYZ, Inc., February 2010, Cover illustration for Pancakes Arouse Me. XYZInc.com."

(snip)

Internships themselves are not bad, but it irks me that employers can get away with making people do charity work with the promise of a pat on the resume.

First of all:

Secondly, I'm willing to do unpaid work for SOME places but it really depends on what I'm getting out of it. I don't mind unpaid internships that are linked through my school so that I get school credits for doing them - then it's definitely worth it. NYC is actually trying to make it illegal to offer unpaid internships that don't give college credit! Let's hope they succeed.