One specific CV challenge you may encounter as a UI designer is effectively showcasing your diverse project portfolio within the limited space of a curriculum vitae. Our guide provides tailored strategies to concisely articulate the breadth of your experience, ensuring your most impactful work captures the attention of prospective employers.
- Answer job requirements with your ui designer CV and experience;
- Curate your academic background and certificates, following industry-leading CV examples;
- Select from +10 niche skills to match the ideal candidate profile
- Write a more succinct experience section that consists of all the right details.
Do you need more specific insights into writing your ui designer CV? Our guides focus on unique insights for each individual role:
Formatting your ui designer CV to meet the role expectations
Staring at the blank page for hours on end, you still have no idea how you should start your professional ui designer CV. Should you include more colours, two columns, and which sections? What you should remember about your CV format is this - ensure it's minimalistic and doesn't go over the top with fancy fonts and many colours. Instead, focus on writing consistent content that actually answers the job requirements. But, how about the design itself :- Use the reverse chronological order to showcase your experience, starting with your most recent role;
- Include your contact details (email address, phone number, and location) - and potentially your professional photo - in the header;
- Must-have CV sections include summary or objective, experience, education, and skills: curate the ones that fit your profile;
- Your professional ui designer CV should be between one-to-two pages long: select the longer format if you have more experience.
A little bit more about your actual CV design, ensure you're using:
- plenty of serif or sans serif font (e.g. Montserrat, Exo 2, Volkhov) as they are Applicant Tracker System (ATS) compliant. Avoid the likes of Arial and Times New Roman because most candidates' CVs are in this typography.
When submitting your CV, are you still not sure what format it should be? Despite the myth that has been circling around, most modern ATS systems are perfectly capable of reading PDFs. This format is an excellent choice as it keeps all of your information intact.
PRO TIP
Incorporate a touch of colour in headers or section breaks, but keep it professional and ensure it doesn’t detract from readability, especially in more conservative industries.
The top sections on a ui designer CV
- Professional Profile showcases your design philosophy and UI expertise.
- Core UI Design Skills lists specific tools and methodologies you master.
- Portfolio of Design Projects links to your best UI work samples.
- Work Experience details your history in UI roles and contributions.
- Education and Training outlines your academic background in UI/UX design.
What recruiters value on your CV:
- Highlight your design process by discussing how you approach user research, create wireframes, build prototypes, and test user interfaces to showcase your comprehensive UI designer skill set.
- Include a portfolio link prominently on your CV, as visual examples of your work will give employers a quick understanding of your design aesthetic and technical proficiency.
- Detail your experience with design tools and software such as Sketch, Adobe XD, Figma, and other relevant applications to demonstrate your capability with industry-standard tools.
- Mention any collaboration with UX designers, developers, and product managers to illustrate your ability to work within a multidisciplinary team and contribute to a seamless product development process.
- Quantify achievements where possible, for instance, by stating how your designs improved user engagement or conversion rates, to provide tangible evidence of your impact as a UI designer.
Recommended reads:
What information should you include in your ui designer CV header?
The CV header is potentially the section that recruiters would refer to the most, as it should include your:
- Contact details - your professional (non-work) email address and phone number;
- Professional photograph - if you're applying hinting at the value you bring as a professional.
Many professionals often struggle with writing their ui designer CV headline. That's why in the next section of this guide, we've curated examples of how you can optimise this space to pass any form of assessment.
Examples of good CV headlines for ui designer:
- Lead UI Designer | Expert in Responsive Design | UX/UI Cert | 8+ Years Experience
- Senior UI Designer | Specialized in Mobile Apps | Adobe XD, Sketch | 10 Years in Industry
- Junior UI Designer | Innovative Interaction Design | Graduated with Honours | Emerging Tech Enthusiast
- Mid-Level UI Designer | E-commerce Platforms | User Research & Testing | 5 Years Professional Practice
- UI Design Consultant | Brand Identity & Prototyping | MA Interaction Design | 7 Years Expertise
- Creative UI Designer | SaaS & Web Apps | Certified UI Professional | Agile Methodologies | 9+ Yrs
Your ui designer CV introduction: selecting between a summary and an objective
ui designer candidates often wonder how to start writing their resumes. More specifically, how exactly can they use their opening statements to build a connection with recruiters, showcase their relevant skills, and spotlight job alignment. A tricky situation, we know. When crafting you ui designer CV select between:
- A summary - to show an overview of your career so far, including your most significant achievements.
- An objective - to show a conscise overview of your career dreams and aspirations.
Find out more examples and ultimately, decide which type of opening statement will fit your profile in the next section of our guide:
CV summaries for a ui designer job:
- Seasoned UI designer with over 8 years of experience, proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, and InVision. Revolutionised the user interface of a leading SaaS provider, leading to a 30% increase in consumer engagement.
- Skilful UI designer transferring from a successful career in graphic design with 5 years of professional experience. Mastery of colour theory and typography has underpinned the creation of compelling visual interfaces for e-commerce websites.
- With a decade's expertise in UX design and a recent focus on mobile apps, this UI designer has a track record of delivering intuitive designs that have increased user retention by 25% for a well-known finance management platform.
- Eager career changer aiming to leverage 7 years in web development into UI design to craft seamless and aesthetically pleasing user interfaces. Solid understanding of front-end technologies and a portfolio demonstrating a keen eye for detail.
- Aspiring UI designer intent on utilising a fresh diploma in Graphic Design and passion for user-centric interfaces to create memorable digital experiences. Driven by the pursuit of elevating usability and design aesthetics.
- Determined to kickstart a UI design career armed with a certification in Interactive Design and a profound interest in creating user-friendly, impactful digital environments that meld functionality with innovation.
How to meet job requirements with your ui designer CV experience
We've now reached the essence of your actual CV - your experience section. This is the space where you can list your career roles and on-the-job successes. Many candidates tend to underestimate just how much time and effort they should put into writing this CV section. Your experience shouldn't be a random list of your responsibilities, but instead:
- Match the job description with your skills, values, and accomplishments;
- Start each bullet with a strong action verb, followed up with one key skill and your outcome of applying this skill;
- Spotlight parts of your career history that are relevant to the job you're applying for.
Before we move on, make sure to check out some professional CV experience sections.
Best practices for your CV's work experience section
- Developed intuitive and user-friendly interfaces for mobile and web applications, leading to a 20% increase in user engagement for a tech startup.
- Collaborated effectively with cross-functional teams, including engineers, product managers, and marketers to achieve cohesive and brand-aligned design outcomes.
- Employed user-centred design methodologies to conduct user research, personas, journey maps, and usability testing, ensuring products meet the target audience's needs.
- Leveraged expertise in design tools such as Sketch, Figma, and Adobe Creative Suite to create high-fidelity prototypes that accurately conveyed design intent to stakeholders.
- Implemented responsive design principles to create designs that provide an optimal viewing experience across a wide range of devices, improving accessibility and customer satisfaction.
- Advocated for accessibility and inclusivity within design projects, making sure that interfaces meet WCAG guidelines and are usable to people with disabilities.
- Mentored junior designers, providing feedback on their work and guiding them in adopting best practices in UI design, contributing to the growth and strength of the team.
- Curated and maintained design systems and component libraries, ensuring consistency in UI elements across all company products and speeding up the design process.
- Conducted A/B testing and analysed user feedback to iterate on designs, leading to a significant reduction in customer support tickets due to UI confusion.
- Spearheaded the redesign of a major e-commerce platform, boosting user engagement by 30% and increasing conversion rates by 15%.
- Managed a team of 5 UI designers, fostering a collaborative environment that contributed to a 40% reduction in project turnaround time.
- Developed and implemented a responsive design system that was rolled out across all company products, improving user experience scores by 25%.
- Created user-centric designs for an innovative mobile application that landed 500,000 downloads within the first six months of launch.
- Conducted extensive user research to inform design decisions, resulting in a 50% decrease in user drop-off rates for the main navigation flow.
- Collaborated closely with the product development team to integrate design with back-end functionality, enhancing overall system performance by 20%.
- Led the visual rebranding for a large fintech app, which increased user trust and led to a user base growth of 70% year-over-year.
- Implemented A/B testing for key interface elements which improved user interaction time by 35% and reduced bounce rates by 22%.
- Championed accessibility in design practices, ensuring all digital products met WCAG 2.0 standards, resulting in a prestigious industry award for inclusivity.
- Contributed to a cross-functional team in revamping the user interface for a leading SaaS product, which was critical to securing a £2M investment.
- Worked closely with developers to prototype interactive design elements, reducing the need for revisions by 60% and speeding up the development lifecycle.
- Utilized user feedback and usage data to iterate on design features, directly increasing customer satisfaction by 40% as measured by NPS scores.
- Played a pivotal role in the user interface overhaul of the company's main product line, which drove a 20% increase in market share.
- Introduced a scalable design framework that reduced cross-platform development costs by £50K annually.
- Coordinated with the marketing team to align product designs with brand standards, positively impacting user perception and brand consistency.
- Provided expert UI consultancy services for a portfolio of small to medium-sized enterprise clients, resulting in an average 40% user engagement improvement across projects.
- Streamlined design processes using agile methodologies, cutting project duration by an average of 25% and significantly improving client ROI.
- Instituted a user-centric design approach which became standard practice for the company, leading to extended contracts with 80% of clients.
- Oversaw the complete redesign of the corporate website which increased user session time by over 50% and reduced the bounce rate by 30%.
- Developed interactive design standards that cut down customer support calls related to website navigation by 75%.
- Leveraged analytics to refine UI elements, directly contributing to a 45% increase in lead generation from the company’s online presence.
- Crafted intuitive UI solutions for an award-winning B2B application, elevating the app's usability scoring by 60% among its core users.
- Initiated a successful redesign strategy for deprecated interface components, which revived declining user retention rates, hitting a renewed rate of 85%.
- Engaged in continuous professional development, mastering new design software and tools, which enhanced team productivity and design quality.
Lacking professional expertise: how to write your CV to highlight your best talents
Don't count on your lucky stars when you're applying for a role, where you happen to have less (or almost none) professional experience. Recruiters sometimes do hire inexperienced candidates if they're able to present their unique value from the get-go. So, instead of opting for the traditional, CV experience section:
- List any applicable expertise you happen to have - no matter if it's a part-time job, internship, or volunteer work. This would hint to recruiters that your profile is relevant;
- Focus your CV on your transferrable skills or talents you've obtained thanks to your whole life and work experience. In effect, you'll be spotlighting your value as a candidate;
- Separate more space for your applicable academic background and certificates to show you have the technical know-how;
- Ensure that within your objective, you've defined why you'll like the job and how you'll be the perfect match for it. Always ensure you've tailored your CV to individual applications.
Looking for more good examples for your first job? We'll show you how other candidates, with less professional experience, have created their job-winning CVs.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
If applicable, briefly mention a situation where things didn’t go as planned and what you learned from it, demonstrating your ability to learn and adapt.
Key ui designer CV skills: what are hard skills and soft skills
Let's kick off with the basics. You know that you have to include key job requirements or skills across your CV. For starters, take individual skills from the job description and copy-paste them into your CV, when relevant. Doing so, you'll ensure you have the correct skill spelling and also pass the Applicant Tracker System (ATS) assessment. There are two types of skills you'll need to include on your CV:
- Hard skills - technical abilities that are best defined by your certificates, education, and experience. You could also use the dedicated skills section to list between ten and twelve technologies you're apt at using that match the job requirements.
- Soft skills - your personal traits and interpersonal communication skills that are a bit harder to quantify. Use various CV sections, e.g. summary, strengths, experience, to shine a spotlight on your workspace achievements, thanks to using particular soft skills.
Remember that your job-winning CV should balance both your hard and soft skills to prove your technical background, while spotlighting your personality.
Top skills for your ui designer CV:
User Interface Design
Wireframing
Prototyping
User-Centred Design Principles
Visual Communication
Responsive Design
Interaction Design
Typography
Branding
Software Tools (e.g., Sketch, Adobe XD, Figma)
Creativity
Attention to Detail
Problem Solving
Empathy
Communication
Teamwork
Time Management
Critical Thinking
Adaptability
Client Relations
PRO TIP
If there's a noticeable gap in your skillset for the role you're applying for, mention any steps you're taking to acquire these skills, such as online courses or self-study.
Further professional qualifications for your ui designer CV: education and certificates
As you're nearing the end of your ui designer CV, you may wonder what else will be relevant to the role. Recruiters are keen on understanding your academic background, as it teaches you an array of hard and soft skills. Create a dedicated education section that lists your:
- applicable higher education diplomas or ones that are at a postgraduate level;
- diploma, followed up with your higher education institution and start-graduation dates;
- extracurricular activities and honours, only if you deem that recruiters will find them impressive.
Follow a similar logic when presenting your certificates. Always select ones that will support your niche expertise and hint at what it's like to work with you. Balance both technical certification with soft skills courses to answer job requirements and company values. Wondering what the most sought out certificates are for the industry? Look no further:
PRO TIP
If you have received professional endorsements or recommendations for certain skills, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, mention these to add credibility.
Recommended reads:
Key takeaways
Your successful job application depends on how you well you have aligned your ui designer CV to the job description and portrayed your best skills and traits. Make sure to:
- Select your CV format, so that it ensures your experience is easy to read and understand;
- Include your professional contact details and a link to your portfolio, so that recruiters can easily get in touch with you and preview your work;
- Write a CV summary if you happen to have more relevant professional experience. Meanwhile, use the objective to showcase your career dreams and ambitions;
- In your CV experience section bullets, back up your individual skills and responsibilities with tangible achievements;
- Have a healthy balance between hard and soft skills to answer the job requirements and hint at your unique professional value.
