Creative directors are the creative leads at advertising agencies or in-house for the marketing department of a company. They work with creative teams of designers, artists, sales and marketing professionals to create, plan and deliver a strategic vision for clients. Their job entails planning advertising, supervising the entire creative process and guiding the team that assist them. They monitor the work created by their team and often work directly with clients to present that work. They keep abreast of current changes and developments in design, advertising and marketing; attract clients and recruit creative team.
Creative directors sell ideas to clients and handle implementation, execution and follow-through of their ideas. They reflect upon the entirety of the assignment- from conception to development to delivery of the project. They may be seen as mentors for those working in their departments, strengthen their teams and encourage a positive work environment. In short, Creative Directors are leaders who lead teams to successfully complete and implement projects on behalf of clients.
Creative directors and Art directors are senior level supervisory positions which require creative and artistic leadership. However, Creative Directors develop the ideas of a project, while Art directors supervise the actual creation.
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Write a summary that aligns with the job description, in 2-4 lines on top of your resume. Briefly mention the extent of your experience, achievements, and the relevant key skills you possess such as business acumen, creative vision, leadership skills, and the ability to work under pressure etc.
A Creative Director with sound business acumen and vision possessing over 10 years of creative and leadership experience with leading global brands. Effectively generated and implemented unique ideas and led creative teams. Holds a track record of meeting all projects’ deadlines. |
1. Emphasize on essential points in Work Experience
- Strong creative vision to achieve business objectives and meeting project deadlines are very important aspects of this role. Focus on explaining about the brainstorming you have done to generate ideas and how you have implemented and executed them to ensure timely delivery of all projects resulting in client satisfaction.
- Give your prior project management experience, with a focus on creative direction, and also briefly mention your previous relevant experience in copywriting, design, or production.
2. Quantify your Achievements
To turn your resume into a winning sales pitch, you need to quantify your accomplishments at work so that the hiring manager has a better understanding of how you have contributed towards achieving business objectives. For example: Decreased project cost by 25% and increased brand awareness by 30% in a short span of one year. The client signed up for two more advertising campaigns.
3. Use Action Words
Use action words like implemented, executed, planned, led etc., to describe the responsibilities you have carried out. Write them at the beginning of your bullet points to give a clear picture of how you performed each task. It makes your resume more convincing and demonstrative.
Creative Director – M&M Advertising Agency Ltd. October 2012 – present
Art Director – AB Media Ltd. November 2008 – October 2012
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- Leadership skills are crucial for a Creative Director position. So, emphasise on how efficiently you have led creative talent teams.
- Strong communication, interpersonal, analytical, and decision making skills are essential for creative directors as they need to communicate with business heads and clients on regular basis; analyse latest trends to stay up to date; make important decisions about final art and work to be presented to clients. Hence, it will be helpful to state on your resume that you possess these skills.
- Today’s Business world relies on technology. Therefore, it does add value to include on your resume how technologically savvy you are as technical fluency is highly valued. Do mention if you have hands-on experience in any graphic and publication design software.
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Though a Master’s degree is optional for a Creative/Art Director role but it is certainly an added advantage.
The Hong Kong Baptist University (2002 – 2007) Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design & Marketing |