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Picture this: you just landed your dream job with an interior design firm. Great pay. High-profile work. Contacts with the top designers in the world. It'll launch your career into the stratosphere.
How can you make this dream come true? How do you show that fabulous company you're indispensable?
It all starts with an interior design resume that pops like a living space by Kelly Wearstler.
This guide will show you:
An interior design resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
How to write a resume for interior designers that will land more interviews.
Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on an interior designer resume.
How to describe your experience on a resume for interior design to get any job you want.
Here's a sample resume for an interior designer made using our resume builder.
Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.
One of these senior interior designer resume examples works. The other, not so much.
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Enthusiastic interior designer with 10+ years experience, seeking new position. Highly skilled in AutoCAD and interior design, plus listening and communication. CIDQ certified.
That's not horrible, but can you imagine hiring "not horrible" to design your kitchen space?
To wow the hiring manager, do it more like this:
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Award-winning, CIDQ certified interior designer with 10+ years of experience creating crisp interiors for residential and commercial use. Seeking position as lead designer for Diversi-Whitmore. Have created 100+ compelling interiors and won the coveted re-compete for the Radisson Hotels project for Renée Doherty Designs. Excellent listener and communicator, skilled in AutoCAD and the Adobe Suite.
Pow. As eye-catching as a den designed by Peter Marino or Philippe Starck.
If you don't have that much experience, don't worry. Just look at the two entry-level interior designer resume objective examples below.
Two Entry-Level Interior Design Resume Objectives
The first of these two interior design assistant resume examples doesn't please the eye.
wrong
Brand new interior design job candidate. No experience designing professionally yet but my professors said I'm very talented.
Ew. Like Otho in Beetlejuice.
It's not exactly wrong, because it shows the passion needed in an interior designer resume for freshers.
But layer in a few details, and look:
right
Interior designer with 2 years of freelancing experience. Created 10 compelling interiors for commercial and residential projects. Completed all projects according to specified time and budget. Winner of the ASID Student Portfolio Award for 2016.
Wow. That job candidate is ready to design for Apple or Google. Yet it wasn't hard to build that much experience.
She cited school projects and jobs for neighbors and friends, plus volunteer work. That all counts as job experience on an interior designer resume.
She also gave a plug to an award she won. If she had publications in design blogs or magazines she could add those too.
Pro Tip: Need more detail on how to get experience on an entry-level resume for interior design? You'll strike gold in the next section.
When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.
The second is to do some small, free (or cheap) jobs, and list them on your resume.
Then, make them stand out like a set design from Mad Men.
Learn how from these two interior design student resume examples.
Two Interior Design Resume Samples [No Experience]
What's the problem with this first sample interior designer resume?
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Student Interior Design Experience: None yet, but I'm very enthusiastic and creative.
That's as generic as a Motel 6 room. Everyone will say they're enthusiastic and creative.
So, revitalize it with some volunteer work and projects for friends and family. That's what this next entry-level interior design resume does:
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Freelance Interior Designer
2016 - 2017
Created 10 exciting residential and commercial interiors for clients.
Received commendations from every client for professionalism and creativity.
Kept all projects under budget and on time.
Suddenly you've got a nice patina on your student interior designer resume. And all it took was a few days of pro bono work.
You can do a CAD project for a friend in a few hours. Or take on larger volunteer jobs for nonprofits, or cheap work for local residents or businesses.
You can even put your own home in your interior design portfolio.
Pro Tip: Writing an interior design intern resume? Freelance work and education accomplishments are your best friend. Even a compliment from a professor looks good on an intern resume.
Without a certification, an interior designer is just a decorator in most states.
You worked hard for that title, so make sure they see it on your interior design resume.
If you've got a CIDQ certification, put it right after your name, like this:
Stephanie Molina, CIDQ
Also, add it to the beginning of your resume summary. Then, so it really pops, put it in a special certifications section.
Certifications
CIDQ Interior Design Certification
LEED Certification
NARI Kitchen and Bath Remodeling Certification
Now your certifications are striking and neat, and can't be overlooked.
You might have any of these on an interior designer resume:
CIDQ – The big one. From the Council for Interior Design Qualification. Requires two years of on-the-job training.
RIDQC – From the Designer Society of America (DSA)
CCIDC – California Council for Interior Design Certification.
AAHID – Certified Healthcare Interior Designer
LEED – Certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
Pro Tip: Don't have a certification yet? Consider getting one. Most require two years of related experience. If you don't have it, seek an interior design apprenticeship or internship.
A bachelor's degree is all the education needed to be an interior designer.
But if you only list it, it's like leaving a big foyer with bare walls and no furniture.
Start with:
College Name and Location.
Years in School.
Degree.
But then add bullet points that fit the job description.
Look at the interior designer resume examples below.
Interior Design Resume Examples [Education]
Here are two creative interior design resume examples. They're for a job description that wants 1. home design, 2. leadership experience, and 3. proven talent.
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BFA in Interior Design
New York Institute of Technology, 2005-2009
Excelled in (1) home design coursework.
Winner, (3) ASID Student Portfolio Award 2009.
(2) Student Director, Freedom by Design program, 2008 - 2009.
Who's that, Marmol Radziner before he got his first job? It fits the job offer like you mortised it.
Now look what happens when we remodel it without details.
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BFA in Interior Design
New York Institute of Technology, 2005-2009
Graduated with a BFA in interior design
Completed core interior design coursework.
GPA 3.2
OK, so it's not all mirrored furniture and wolf skins. That said, our first interior design resume example beats it by a mile of advancing colors.
But add the details, and you're back in the Stantec/Callison zone.
Pro Tip: Education accomplishments don't have to come from coursework. Even an article in the school paper can invigorate an interior design internship resume.
Wow. Timeless. You've just given your resume an Extreme Home Makeover.
Testimonials complement a resume for an interior designer. However, since most experts say to leave them off, think hard before you add them.
The test score, professional membership, and other details show you've got the qualifications needed to be an interior designer at a high-end firm.
Pro Tip: Consider joining the ASID, IIDA, or IDS. They look great on an interior designer resume. The networking opportunities can refresh your career too.
Make yours sit up and get attention. Make it passionate and personal.
Use the hiring manager's name.
Share a fact that's guaranteed to wow the manager like David Collins. To do that, read the job description and research the company.
Last, close it with a call to action.
Dear Nancy,
I was thrilled to win Contract Magazine's 38th Annual Interiors Award.
I've followed your write-ups for years in "Apartment 34," "Wit + Delight," and other publications. In fact, some of your ideas have helped me develop my own style, which served me greatly during the award selection process.
I think my 100+ compelling interiors designed for Renée Doherty Designs and other clients also owe a debt to your theories. Likewise my commitment to delivering on time and under budget.
The opportunity to work closely with you to wow your clients would be a dream job. Can we schedule a call to discuss creating future award-winning designs for Diversi-Whitmore?
Thank you for your time.
Best regards,
Stephanie Molina
With that interior design covering letter, you could get a job creating the interiors for Karl Lagerfeld's apartment.
Don't have that much history? Are you writing a cover letter for an entry-level interior designer?
See if the hiring manager has published articles you can learn from. If she's got a podcast, listen to it. Then, cite it in your cover letter.
Pro Tip: After you deliver your interior designer resume and cover letter, follow up. A follow-up email in three days gives your application a second chance to get the interview.
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
But for an interior designer, an online portfolio is almost as important as the resume itself.
You should at least have a LinkedIn portfolio. A personal website is even better.
Need ideas? Search Pinterest for "Interior Design Portfolios." You'll get hundreds of beautiful results.
Pro Tip: Your Facebook profile doesn't belong on a resume for interior design. Clean it up anyway, since some employers seek it out. See our guide to cleaning up your online presence for some valuable tips.
This guide shows how to write a resume for interior design that gets the interview. Follow these tips to do it perfectly:
Tailor every resume you send to match the job description.
Don't just list experience and education. Add details to make your interior design resume stand out like a 50/150 paint job.
Highlight your CIDQ or other key certification. Put it by your name, in your resume summary, and in a special section on your interior designer resume.
Add other sections that list conferences, memberships, and publications. Those things show your passion for interior design.
Do you have questions on how to write a great resume for an interior designer? Not sure how to describe your skills or achievements? Give us a shout in the comments! We love to help!
Tom Gerencer is a career expert and Certified Professional Resume Writer who has published over 200 in-depth articles on Zety. Since 2016, he has been sharing advice on all things recruitment from writing winning resumes and cover letters to getting a promotion.
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