Content design your CV: Stand out in the crowd
Image from Unsplash
By Deni Quintela Dacosta
With a background in translation, Deni has been a Projects Administrator for Scroll for the past seven years. She has worked on hundreds of content designer CVs.
Your CV is part of your content
As content designers, we know you’re good at designing clear, human-centred content. You care about clarity, consistency and detail. You shape user journeys, structure information and refine messages so every word earns its place.
Which is why it can be surprising when content designer CVs - sometimes even from experienced and dedicated content pros - don’t show that same level of care.
(Of course, if you work through a limited company, your CV might actually be a ‘professional profile’ - that’s because you will need to describe your company’s experience, and not just your own.)
Design your CV with care
A CV is the first impression you make. It’s not just a list of roles and responsibilities; it’s a piece of content in its own right.
Like any other content you design, it should be:
well structured and easy to read
free from spelling and grammar mistakes
consistently formatted (align those headings)
thoughtfully worded
concise - 2 pages is ideal
We’re all human. The odd typo or formatting gremlin happens. But when there are repeated errors, inconsistent styles or unclear layouts, it can start to raise questions about attention to detail or your knowledge about making content accessible and, by extension, about your work.
To really stand out, add these details
When Scroll pitches for work, we need to provide quite a lot of detail to show that we understand the project requirements and know we can provide the right content designer, with the right experience, to make a really great fit.
Getting a few more details from you can help us get to know you a little better, too.
So, for recent projects (usually going back no more than 3 years) it’s really helpful to include a brief description of:
your activities in the role - what you actually did
how you worked with other roles and teams
any significant outcomes or wins
For example:
‘I was the sole content designer in a multidisciplinary team on a discovery at [organisation]. The programme’s aims were [state the aims], and the users were [give detail]. My work helped to secure the contract for the alpha. I also then led the content team when more designers were recruited.’
It’s absolutely fine to be honest! Don’t feel you need to make claims about your job title that aren’t totally true, or over-egg the scale of achievements – exaggerations will be quickly spotted and called out by our clients. If you want to talk about something you’ve achieved but can’t take sole credit for it, that’s fine. Just make it clear that you were part of a team that did it, or state that you helped to do it.
This kind of colour helps us work out whether you’d be a good fit for a piece of work, and whether the services you’ve offered elsewhere could complement what Scroll is being asked to do right now.
The good news
The good news is that making your CV really work is within your control. A quick review, a spellcheck, or asking a peer to take a look can make a big difference.
Think of your CV as the first step in your content journey with a new client or employer (that’s us). It’s an opportunity to demonstrate your skills before you’ve even said a word.
So if you’re updating your CV or sending it out soon, treat it like any other content you’d design: user-focused, tidy and easy to engage with.
It might be a few small details, but it speak volumes.
Looking to make a change in 2026, and keen to get your CV out there? We would love to hear from you: get in touch with Scroll.