Resume Tips

Resume Tips for College Graphic Communications Students

By the time you reach college, you have more than classroom knowledge to offer an employer. Your graphic communication education may have given you experience with design, production, printing technology, software, equipment, and real-world projects. You may also have developed valuable workplace skills through internships, part-time jobs, student organizations, and team projects. Your resume should bring all of that together to show employers what you know, what you can do, and how you can contribute to their team.

1. Lead With Your Technical Skills

Your technical skills are one of your biggest advantages as a graphic communication student. Make them easy for employers to find.

Depending on your coursework and experience, consider highlighting:

• Graphic design and page layout
• Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign
• Prepress and file preparation
• Digital printing
• Offset printing
• Flexographic printing
• Wide-format printing
• Packaging and label production
• Color management
• Typography
• Variable data and database-driven printing
• Print production workflows
• Paper, substrates, and inks
• Finishing and bindery
• Quality control
• Equipment operation
• Production planning and scheduling
• Estimating and job costing
• File troubleshooting
• Sustainability and waste reduction

Be specific about your level of experience. If you have operated equipment or used software in the classroom, that is valuable experience. Just be clear that it was classroom or laboratory experience if you have not used it in a professional setting.

2. Don’t Forget Your Soft Skills

Technical knowledge may get an employer’s attention, but soft skills can help demonstrate that you will be a good employee and teammate.

Graphic communication is a collaborative industry. Designers work with customers. Salespeople work with production teams. Operators work with prepress and finishing departments. Everyone has to communicate, solve problems, manage deadlines, and pay attention to details.

Consider highlighting skills such as:

• Communication
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Problem solving
• Critical thinking
• Attention to detail
• Time management
• Organization
• Creativity
• Adaptability
• Leadership
• Customer service
• Project management
• Meeting deadlines
• Taking direction
• Working independently
• Willingness to learn

Don’t simply list these skills. Show them through your experience.

For example:

Worked with a team of four students to develop, produce, and present a multi-piece marketing project while meeting a production deadline.

That tells an employer about your teamwork, communication, organization, production knowledge, and ability to meet deadlines all at once.

3. Show What You Learned in the Classroom

College coursework can provide significant hands-on experience. Instead of simply listing course titles, think about what you actually learned and accomplished.

For example:

Print Production: Developed an understanding of prepress, production workflows, color management, substrates, finishing, quality control, and production planning.

Or:

Packaging: Designed and prepared packaging projects for production, considering substrates, dielines, color, finishing, structural requirements, and production costs.

Your classroom experience becomes much more valuable when you connect the course to the skills you gained.

4. Treat Internships as Real Experience

An internship is professional experience—so don’t hide it at the bottom of your resume.

Include:

• Company name
• Position
• Dates
• Major responsibilities
• Equipment and software used
• Projects completed
• Skills developed
• Accomplishments

Focus on what you actually did, not just what the company does.

Instead of:

Intern at ABC Printing

Write:

Assisted with prepress file preparation, digital production, quality control, and finishing. Worked with production staff to troubleshoot files and complete customer projects according to specifications and deadlines.

5. Include Part-Time Jobs

A part-time job may not be directly related to printing, but it still demonstrates valuable workplace skills.

A restaurant job can show customer service, communication, teamwork, and working under pressure.

A retail job can demonstrate sales, organization, customer service, and problem solving.

A warehouse job can demonstrate safety, accuracy, organization, equipment operation, and dependability.

Don’t assume an employer will make those connections for you. Use your resume to explain what you learned.

6. Highlight Projects and Hands-On Experience

Your college projects can demonstrate skills that employers are looking for—especially if you don’t have extensive professional experience.

Consider including projects involving:

• Branding and identity
• Publications
• Packaging
• Labels
• Direct mail
• Signage
• Wide-format graphics
• Digital printing
• Variable data
• Photography
• Prepress
• Production planning
• Estimating
• Sustainability
• Client-based projects

Describe your role, the tools or equipment you used, and the result.

7. Include Leadership and Campus Activities

Employers want to see that you are involved and willing to take initiative.

Consider including:

• Student organizations
• SkillsUSA
• Leadership positions
• Industry associations
• Campus jobs
• Volunteer activities
• Competitions
• Community projects
• Student publications
• Industry events and conferences

These experiences can demonstrate leadership, teamwork, communication, initiative, and professionalism.

8. Build a Portfolio Along With Your Resume

For many graphic communication positions, your work can speak louder than your resume.

Create a portfolio that shows your best work and demonstrates different skills. Include a short description of each project explaining:

What was the project?
What was your role?
What software, equipment, or processes did you use?
What did you learn?

Your portfolio doesn’t have to include only beautiful designs. A production-focused project, packaging sample, print piece, prepress example, or problem you successfully solved can tell an employer a lot about your abilities.

If you’ve won a student PICA Award, be sure to include that in your portfolio, too.

9. Use Action Words

Start your resume descriptions with strong action words:

Designed • Created • Produced • Prepared • Operated • Managed • Developed • Collaborated • Troubleshot • Coordinated • Analyzed • Researched • Improved • Organized • Assisted • Presented

Instead of:

Responsible for creating a brochure.

Try:

Designed and prepared a multi-page brochure for digital production using Adobe InDesign.

10. Connect Your Education to Your Career Goals

Your degree is important, but employers want to know how you plan to use it.

A graphic communication degree can lead to careers in design, prepress, production, packaging, sales, estimating, customer service, marketing, operations, management, and many other areas of the industry.

Your resume should tell a clear story:

Here is what I’ve learned.
Here is what I can do.
Here is where I’ve gained experience.
Here is how I can contribute to your company.

The Bottom Line

Don’t think of your resume as a list of everything you’ve done. Think of it as a marketing tool for yourself.

Your classroom projects, technical skills, internships, part-time jobs, campus activities, and volunteer experiences have all helped prepare you for the workplace. Your job is to connect those experiences to the skills employers need—and show them that you are ready to learn, contribute, solve problems, and grow.

Resume Tips for Printing Industry Professionals

Whether you are looking for your next opportunity, pursuing a promotion, or simply updating your resume, your experience in the printing industry is a valuable asset. Your resume should do more than list the companies where you have worked—it should clearly communicate what you know, what you can do, and the value you bring to an employer. Highlight your technical expertise, leadership and soft skills, industry experience, education, certifications, and accomplishments.

1. Lead With Your Technical Skills

Printing is a highly technical industry, and your hands-on knowledge matters. Make your technical skills easy to find on your resume.

Depending on your experience, consider highlighting:

• Offset, digital, flexographic, or gravure printing
• Prepress and file preparation
• Color management and quality control
• Press operation and troubleshooting
• Wide-format printing
• Packaging and label production
• Bindery and finishing
• Variable data and personalized printing
• Estimating and job costing
• Production planning and scheduling
• Workflow management
• Equipment maintenance
• Inventory and materials management
• Safety procedures
• Lean manufacturing and process improvement
• Sustainability and waste reduction
• Customer relationship management
• Print management and project coordination

Be specific. Rather than simply saying “digital printing,” identify the equipment, processes, or technologies you have experience with.

2. Highlight Your Soft Skills

Technical expertise is only part of what makes someone successful in the printing industry. Employers also need people who can communicate, lead, solve problems, and work effectively with others.

Consider highlighting:

• Communication
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Problem solving
• Critical thinking
• Attention to detail
• Time management
• Organization
• Customer service
• Sales and relationship building
• Adaptability
• Decision making
• Conflict resolution
• Project management
• Training and mentoring
• Accountability
• Ability to work under pressure

Whenever possible, demonstrate these skills through your experience instead of simply listing them.

Instead of:

Good communication and leadership skills.

Try:

Led a production team of 12 employees while coordinating schedules, resolving production issues, and communicating priorities to meet customer deadlines.

3. Focus on Your Industry Experience

Your years of experience are important, but employers also want to understand what you accomplished during those years.

For each position, include:

• Job title
• Company
• Dates of employment
• Major responsibilities
• Equipment and technologies
• Team size or department responsibility
• Customers or markets served, when appropriate
• Accomplishments and results

Use your experience to show progression. If you started as a press operator and moved into supervision, management, sales, or operations, make that career growth clear.

4. Quantify Your Accomplishments

Numbers can make your experience much more powerful.

Whenever possible, include measurable results:

• Increased production by 15%
• Reduced waste by 10%
• Managed a $2 million annual book of business
• Supervised a team of 25 employees
• Improved on-time delivery from 85% to 96%
• Reduced setup time by 20%
• Managed 50+ customer accounts
• Trained 15 new employees
• Reduced material costs by $50,000 annually

Think beyond job duties. Ask yourself:

What did I improve? What did I save? What did I grow? What did I manage? What problems did I solve?

5. Showcase Your Education and Training

Education doesn’t stop being important once you enter the workforce.

Include:

• Degrees and certificates
• Technical schools or community colleges
• Graphic communications education
• Industry training
• Manufacturer training
• Leadership programs
• Safety training
• Software training
• Equipment certifications
• Professional development courses

If you have completed specialized training in printing technology, color management, estimating, sales, management, sustainability, or other areas, include it.

6. Include Professional Certifications

Certifications can help demonstrate specialized knowledge and a commitment to professional development.

Include relevant certifications, credentials, and industry training along with the organization that provided them and the year earned, when appropriate.

7. Don’t Leave Out Leadership Experience

Leadership isn’t limited to people with “manager” or “director” in their job title.

You demonstrate leadership when you:

• Train new employees
• Lead a production team
• Mentor coworkers
• Manage customer projects
• Coordinate between departments
• Lead process-improvement initiatives
• Serve on industry committees
• Participate in professional organizations
• Manage vendors or suppliers
• Take responsibility for solving difficult problems

Make those experiences visible on your resume.

8. Use Strong Action Words

Avoid repeating phrases such as “responsible for.”

Instead, use words that demonstrate action and accomplishment:

Led • Managed • Operated • Improved • Reduced • Increased • Developed • Implemented • Coordinated • Trained • Troubleshot • Supervised • Negotiated • Produced • Streamlined • Designed • Analyzed • Managed • Mentored

For example:

Implemented a new production workflow that reduced turnaround time and improved on-time delivery.

is stronger than:

Responsible for production workflow.

9. Keep Your Resume Current

Don’t wait until you are looking for a new job to update your resume. Add new equipment, technologies, certifications, accomplishments, promotions, and training as you gain them.

Keeping an updated resume also helps you recognize how much your skills and experience have grown.

10. Remember: Experience Has Value

Printing industry professionals often have a combination of technical knowledge, hands-on experience, problem-solving ability, customer knowledge, and leadership skills that can take years to develop.

Your resume should tell that story.

Don’t just tell an employer where you have worked. Show them what you have learned, what you have accomplished, what you can do, and the value you can bring to their organization.

IN THIS SECTION:

RESUME TIPS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

COLLEGE STUDENTS

INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS