Jeni’s Design Diary

Resumes are hard things to write. It’s your sales-pitch. It needs to be confident, but not conceded. It should be concise and eye-catching among a number of other things.

I tend to read about resumes every couple of months, hoping to find some new information that will help me create a winning resume. Recently, my attention has been drawn to the different types of resumes, and the concept of having a creative one.
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I’ve now been looking for employment for 1 year and 3 ½ months. I’ve heard it’s typical to be on the “job-hunt” for 6 months; but over a year? I have to admit I’m getting burned out. Your thoughts are screaming at me saying, “So, what are you doing?” I’d like to answer them by sharing my thoughts and tactics.

First off, I should clarify what I’m looking for. I would like to be hired for an interior design position that is not sales* and is within my commute threshold (about 20 miles). That’s my criteria. Since my husband is extremely good with money, a job is not financially necessary. That gives me a cushion to be a little more picky and able to hold out for a job I really want. There have been positions I’ve wanted, but they weren’t offered.
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A while ago I was actually reading a section in one of my Architectural Digest magazines. Usually, I don’t read them. I just look through the pictures then wonder what I’m going to do with it, and why I bought it. So what caught my interest? Designer interviews. The last segment of each one started with, “For Inspiration, I Go To…” Each one had a different answer. Some answers they gave were: their libraries, friends, history, and their travels. After several interviews my thoughts turned inward. I started asking myself where I go for inspiration. I’ve been thinking over this question for several weeks now.

I know what doesn’t inspire me: magazines (at least not initially), books, and what appears to me as the endless amount of photographs on the Internet. After looking back at my process of working through projects, I learned that I only found magazines helpful after I had idea of what I was looking for. I’d have a picture in my head of what I wanted, and then I set out to find it.
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