Applying to a creative job differs from applying to other jobs. Creative jobs emphasize showcasing your unique talents and personality. Unlike traditional roles, creativity isn’t just a bonus—it’s the essence of the job. The application process values individuality, encouraging candidates to stand out by demonstrating their ability to inspire, innovate, and breathe life into ideas.
When it comes to applying for creative positions, resumes and portfolios become vibrant canvases, telling stories through innovative projects rather than just listing accomplishments. Employers are looking for technical skills as well as originality, passion, and the ability to think outside the box.
In this article, we’re digging into how to apply to a creative job and what must-have assets you need to include with your application to make sure you stand out and allow your creativity to shine.
What Makes Applying for a Creative Job Unique?
Applications for creative roles demand a departure from the conventional. They’re the canvas for showcasing your innovative characteristics in addition to displaying your experience and qualifications.
If you want to stand out to hiring managers, you’ll need to go beyond a traditional resume and cover letter. Craft a narrative that captivates and a portfolio that mesmerizes. Embrace formats beyond the traditional resume, infusing personality into every pixel or page. Lean into multimedia, using words, visuals, and even interactive elements to leave a one-of-a-kind impression.
Just like applying for any job, it’s crucial to tailor each application to the role and company, demonstrating your understanding of their mission and needs. The application process differs from traditional jobs because you’ll want to let your creativity be your signature, guiding recruiters through an immersive journey that showcases not just what you can do, but who you are.
Insider Tips for Applying to a Creative Job
Style Nine to Five’s Founder, Christie Lohr, sees a ton of job applications for creative jobs and can’t stress the importance of going the extra mile. “If you’re applying to a creative position, hiring managers want to see what you can do, not just hear about your creativity with your other skills,” she says. “Give them something tangible that they can click on or open and get a real sense of your creative ideas that goes beyond the traditional resume.”
Wondering how exactly to do that? Here are 8 actionable strategies to employ on your next creative job application.
1. Include a Portfolio
Including a portfolio in your application for a creative job should be seen as non-negotiable. It serves as a tangible example of your skills, expertise, and creative vision. Rather than relying solely on words to convey your abilities, a portfolio showcases your actual work, providing potential employers with concrete evidence of what you can achieve.
A portfolio allows hiring managers to assess your style, versatility, and technical proficiency firsthand, making it easier for them to envision how you could contribute to their projects. A well-curated portfolio not only demonstrates your talent but also highlights your dedication and commitment to landing the job, setting you apart from other candidates who don’t include one in their application.
Treat your portfolio like your resume—show off your creative highlights that are directly relevant to the job and avoid the temptation to include every piece of work you’ve ever done. If you’re a fashion designer, it can include CAD technical flats that you’ve worked on or images of finished pieces. If you’re a writer or content marketer, link to published pieces you’ve written or campaigns that you executed. If you’re a graphic designer, show off websites you’ve designed or logos that you’ve created. If you’re a photographer, include a sample of your best work….you get the idea!
Try to keep your portfolio a one-pager and include functional links that hiring managers can click on to see further examples of your work. In some cases, like if you’re a social media marketer, your portfolio may mainly be a series of links to posts you’ve created or accounts that you’ve managed. No matter how you design your portfolio, make sure that it accurately represents your work and abilities that are most relevant to the position you’re applying for.
2. Pitch Ideas
In a creative job application, articulating your ideas is a must. This is the perfect time to show rather than simply tell a potential employer what you’re capable of and what you can bring to the table.
For example, if you’re applying to a marketing job, use your cover letter or portfolio to pitch a campaign idea for the company you’re applying to. Start with a captivating hook, showcasing your understanding of the company’s ethos and their target audience’s needs. Craft a narrative that illustrates your innovative approach, emphasizing problem-solving and outside-the-box thinking. Incorporate concrete examples or past projects to back up your ability to execute and to tie in your skills and past success. Use compelling language to paint a picture of your vision, igniting the imagination of the audience. Finally, outline how you’ll measure the success of the campaign with data and other KPIs.
As another example, if you’re a fashion designer, pitch a concept for an upcoming season’s collection. Outline your inspiration sources and create a mood board as a PDF or provide a clickable link that presents the color palette, key silhouettes, trims, and fabric types. Provide a brief narrative of how the collection appeals to their audience’s aesthetic and functional needs to demonstrate your understanding of their brand.
Pitching ideas shows potential employers that you can walk the walk, not just talk the talk about your creative abilities. They don’t have to actually execute what you present—the point is to create a mock scenario of what you can bring to the table when you have the job. And you can bet for certain that this approach will grab the hiring manager’s attention and steer it away from candidates who only include a traditional cover letter and resume.
3. Create Your Own Projects
What do you do if you’re new to the industry or are a recent grad and you don’t have a portfolio? If you’re applying to a creative job with no experience, this one’s for you!
In many cases, particularly in entry-level jobs, enthusiasm and dedication can compensate for lack of experience, especially when you know how to make the most of what you do have.
If you don’t have professional experience to highlight, create your own projects to showcase and tailor it to the company you’re applying for. For example, if you want to be a fashion designer for lululemon, design a capsule collection of pieces that fit their brand’s aesthetic. If you want to be a photographer, ask family and friends to model in photoshoots that show off your techniques that are similar to what you see in a brand’s campaigns. If you want to be a fashion marketer, design a fictional campaign to promote the company’s latest product offerings.
The list goes on, but the key takeaways are to build a portfolio of a collection of your own projects and to tailor it to the type of companies you want to work for. This shows the hiring manager what you’re capable of and helps them directly picture how your creative talents will fit in with their brand.
4. Get Specific
In creative roles, specificity is key. Generic applications casting a wide net that doesn’t offer much substance. When you’re specific in articulating your ideas and experience, you can craft a tailored narrative, showcasing not just skills but a nuanced understanding of the role and its requirements.
For example, instead of saying that you’re a photographer who can capture all kinds of images, detail the techniques, aesthetics, and subjects that you specialize in. If you’re a writer, detail what kind of writing you’re the most versed in, whether that’s journalistic writing or web copy. You can still say that you’re versatile and comfortable working in a variety of styles and formats, but get specific on what your creative sweet spot is.
Precise details reveal a candidate’s depth of knowledge, passion, and suitability for the position. Being specific helps hiring managers identify how you’ll fit into the job and gives a more concrete sense of the skills you can bring to the role.
If you’re looking for inspiration on what types of specifics an employer is looking for, take a closer look at the job posting and the role description. For example, if a posting for a fashion photographer specifies that the role will mainly focus on editorial shoots, you’ll want to detail your experience in editorial projects rather than speaking generally about your photography skills.
5. Optimize Your Social Media
Social media is a dynamic tool for showcasing creativity when you’re pursuing a creative job. By curating content that reflects your skills, style, and personality, platforms like Instagram or TikTok can serve as living portfolios.
Regular updates highlight your evolving talents, while engaging captions give employer’s insight into your thought process. Interacting with industry professionals, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of your work, and engaging with your followers demonstrate your passion and commitment. When you take advantage of social media’s reach, you can amplify your work, attracting attention from potential employers, collaborators, and clients. Ultimately, your online presence becomes a narrative of your creative potential.
If you don’t have any professional experience to create social content about, it’s the perfect time to create your own projects to post about. Say you’re an aspiring fashion stylist, post a series of flat lays of outfits you’ve curated for fictitious vacations in cities around the world. Or post photos of friends and family that you’ve styled for a certain dress code, like a business-casual series or a black tie series.
It’s a known fact that hiring managers are checking out candidates’ social media accounts to learn more about them, so if you use your platforms to demonstrate your professional skills and serve as a portfolio of your creativity—and link to your accounts on your resume—you’ll stand out as a strong contender over candidates who don’t go this extra mile.
6. Step Outside the Application Box
In a competitive job market, setting yourself apart from the pack is key. To stand out when applying to a creative job, think beyond the traditional resume and cover letter format. Craft a captivating narrative about your skills and experiences, but don’t stop there. Consider other mediums you can use to give the hiring manager a better sense of who you are.
For example, create a short video to accompany the email you send with your resume, cover letter, and portfolio. A video application showcases your personality and passion, and provides a unique approach to introducing yourself.
By thinking of creative ways to stand out when applying for a job, you not only capture the attention of potential employers but also demonstrate your ability to push the envelope and step outside of tradition, which is an asset for any creative position. Not only will the hiring manager have a lasting impression of you that sets you apart from other candidates, but an outside-the-box application lets you sneak in even more evidence of your creativity, in addition to what you’re showcasing in your resume, cover letter, and portfolio.
7. Stylize Your Application Package
In a competitive field where innovation is key, a well-designed resume isn’t just an accessory; it’s your first opportunity to make a lasting impression. An aesthetically designed resume is paramount when vying for a creative role as it showcases not just your skills but also your artistic sensibility.
Creativity isn’t just about what you can do; it’s about how you present it. A visually engaging resume captivates attention, instantly setting you apart from a sea of plain text on a page. It elevates your candidacy as a creative, demonstrating your commitment to excellence, your desire to go above and beyond, and your attention to detail.
If you’re a graphic designer, creating a stylized portfolio is an easy task. If not, don’t worry. There are plenty of beautifully designed resume and cover letter templates to choose from, giving you the ability to select a style that speaks to your aesthetic. Or, try your hand at design using platforms like Canva, which are easy to use and intuitively designed for anyone to use.
Style Nine to Five offers a great selection of job application templates where all you have to do is paste in your details and you’ve got a sleek and stylish resume and cover letter with minimal effort. Many of the templates also include a portfolio page so you can create a complete application package of cohesive-looking assets.
8. Write a Creative Cover Letter
In a pile of applications, a creative cover letter can be your secret weapon and your golden ticket to making an unforgettable impression. It’s your chance to leap off the page and into the imagination of the hiring manager. Unlike generic letters, storytelling infuses personality and establishes a memorable connection.
A creatively written cover letter paints a vivid picture of your journey, passions, and aspirations, bridging the gap between your hard skills, qualifications, and the company’s culture.
Using Style Nine to Five’s winning cover letter formula, you can grab the hiring manager’s attention right off the bat by writing a compelling opening paragraph. Start with a unique cover letter opener that sets the tone that you’re a top applicant who isn’t afraid to make a bold statement.
Your second paragraph is where you do a deep dive into your skills and experience, and where you can pitch potential ideas that you have for the role. Finally, wrap it up by tying the company’s values to your own, setting yourself up as a great cultural fit for the role.
Through your narrative, you showcase your unique perspective, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills, and the more clever, witty, or edgy you can be, the more likely your application is to come to life and leave the hiring manager wanting to learn more.
The Bottom Line
Question: What if the job posting doesn’t ask you to include a portfolio, pitch ideas, or showcase your personal passion projects in your application?
Answer: Do it anyway! This shows that you’re willing to go above and beyond the basic requirements and shows how serious and committed you are to getting the job.
Landing a creative job requires a multifaceted application approach that combines preparation, presentation, and persistence. Craft a standout portfolio showcasing your best work, tailor your resume and cover letter to highlight relevant skills and experiences, and approach each of your application assets with enthusiasm and authenticity to show off the best—and most creative—version of yourself.
Need help finding the words to communicate your skills along with your creativity? Try Style Nine to Five’s Cover Letter Refresh service where Founder Christie Lohr helps you tell your unique professional story to captivate hiring managers and make you stand out as a top candidate.
Jeanine Gordon is a freelance content marketer with a passion for creating stellar strategies for global brands and small businesses alike, specializing in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.
Feature Image: Adobe Stock