“Focus your CV on your skillset and the things you enjoy doing”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

I have worked in my industry for around ten years, with the last eight years at two small brands (four years at each). I covered a lot of different positions and areas in each role due to usually being in a department of around two people. I think I have a lot of experience due to the exposure you get in this type of environment, essentially playing senior before reaching that seniority. I have the ability to see the big picture and have had to be extremely reliable and accountable.

The flip side is my job titles are always broad or don't fully encapsulate what I've done, and being multivarious makes it difficult to create a concise CV or portfolio. I feel hiring managers see my experience as less valid than someone with the exact title of the role they are hiring for.

How do I get out of generalist prejudice in my job search?

Shanice Mears, co-founder and head of talent at The Elephant Room:

You seem multifaceted and curious, both really great qualities to have, and I’d say they will get you far in whatever it is you want to do. So although it doesn’t always seem like it, doing lots of different things and being exposed to different types of responsibilities is good to be able to exercise. You’ve thrived previously, so don’t stop now!

I would think about the things you enjoy rather than listing the things that you’ve been doing out of necessity because you’ve been working at a small brands. It’s easy to get caught up in small tasks, so try and focus your CV on your skillset, the things you enjoy doing, and the things you know you are good at. Don’t think too much about titles either.

I would make sure that the things you’ve done have clear outputs so you can talk about the result of something, a good outcome, or a case study in your CV or portfolio.

Look into getting a mentor in a similar career path or industry you would like to take. This could support some of the concerns you have, and they could probably help around the language you’re using or when seeking a promotion or climbing the ladder. Your CV should be tailored, so make sure you are doing that depending on the job role you are applying for, and don’t try to generalise everything into one thing.

Join networks and communities, share your frustrations, and see if anyone can share anything like programs or general advice. I find more people are having the same challenge, so it’s good to exchange and share resources if you can.

Utilise LinkedIn by looking at the jobs that are available and reading the job descriptions because that may also help you understand the type of experience or language to use when explaining what you do or the type of experience you have. The more senior you get, the more you have to show examples of projects that you have sourced rather than managed. Or it becomes about your ability to lead and the networks you have, so think about those things too and what examples you can share that showcase that about you.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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