How to Write a Graphic Designer Job Cover Letter

In creative careers like graphic design, where work is really a team effort, personality plays a large part in the hiring process. To make the cut and continue on to the interview portion of your graphic design job search, your cover letter must offer some insight into your working personality as well as your skills as a designer. Finding the right balance is the key to writing a successful cover letter for a graphic design job application.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Postage
• Printer
• Resume paper
• Matching envelope

Create a Cover Letter That Sells Your Design

1. Look for graphic designer jobs that are commensurate with your experience level. Since junior graphic designers are generally hired straight out of college, your cover letter's opening statement should address your educational background. However, a cover letter for a position such as art director should address your experiences with heading a team of designers or knowledge of branding concepts.

2. Design an eye-catching layout for your cover letter. If you are applying for a graphic design job within a marketing firm, write a bulleted list of the qualities the target company is seeking in a candidate and compare them to a similar list of your own qualifications. This will appeal to the reader's desire for quick and easy-to-grasp sound bites.

3. Write a brief paragraph describing your skills as a graphic designer. You need to indicate whether you are PC or Mac literate and what kinds of design software you possess training in.

4. Use your cover letter to describe the scope of previous projects you have worked on. As a graphic designer, your resume may only reflect your employment history. Your cover letter should contain more specific information regarding the kinds of client work you have done and where it may have been seen.

5. Highlight your knowledge of web programming languages, such as HTML, as well as your skills in Macromedia or Adobe if you are applying for a job as a web designer. This position generally requires both a creative and a computer programming background, so your cover letter should present a balanced impression of your skills in both areas.

Tips & Warnings

• Perhaps in no other field is your choice of paper goods for your application so important as in the design world. Since your command of design theories and practices is what you want to showcase, take the time to select high-quality resume paper to write your cover letter on.

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