Top Skills Every Web Designer Needs On Their Resume

Are you looking for your first web designer position or interested in changing jobs and need to write a strong web designer resume that can help get you an interview fast? You’ll need to make sure your resume’s skills section is up to par by featuring in-demand web design skills to impress potential employers and hiring managers.

To show you’re a well-rounded candidate capable of getting the job done and getting along with team members and relevant stakeholders, here are 10 hard skills and soft skills every web designer should have on their resume.

Top 5 Hard Skills To Include On Your Web Designer Resume

Here are the best web design-related hard skills to list on your resume:

1. Digital Marketing

As a web designer, you need to have a strong understanding of digital marketing principles to create websites that are visually appealing and effective in driving traffic and conversions.

When writing your resume, be sure to include any relevant experience you have with developing and executing digital marketing campaigns. Visual storytelling, for example, is one commonly used way to boost a brand’s content marketing strategy.

Including digital marketing skills on your resume tells future employers that your web design skills enable a greater emotional connection with target audiences, create greater engagement, and can help with product launches and conversions. 

It also shows employers that you understand a brand’s customer journey and can adapt your visuals accordingly. Additionally, it proves you’re able to collaborate easily with a digital marketing team.

2. Web Design Software

If you’re an expert in WordPress, Squarespace, or Adobe XD, for example, listing web design software in your resume skills section will demonstrate to employers that you’re proficient with essential web design tools and will be operational from day one on your next project.

Because 43% of all websites are powered by WordPress, most web design jobs will require at least some familiarity with this platform. Even if you’re not an expert in a particular tool listed in the web designer job description, include it on your resume and describe which features you’ve used in previous projects.

3. Visual Design Skills

As a web designer, you need to have an excellent sense of visuals and be able to translate abstract concepts into engaging and visually appealing designs.

Some examples of in-demand visual design skills include typography, contrast, layout, and composition. Visual design concepts like font psychology and color theory show your understanding of why some visuals work well with a target audience and others don’t.

When listing your visual design skills on your resume, be sure to include a link to your online portfolio to better illustrate how you incorporate design elements in your projects.

4. HTML And CSS

HTML and CSS are the foundation of all web design. As a designer, it’s essential that you have a strong working knowledge of both.

If you’re not confident enough in your abilities to list them on your resume just yet, there are plenty of free online resources and paid courses that can help you brush up on your skills, like the following:

• FreeCodeCamp’s Responsive Web Design Certification (free)
• Getting started with the web by Mozilla (free)
• Real World Coding in HTML & CSS from UdeMy (paid course)
• Zero to Mastery by Coursera (paid course)

Regardless if you’re a beginner or more advanced in coding, mentioning HTML and CSS skills on your resume as well as your proficiency level will boost your profile.

5. UX Design Knowledge

User experience can make or break a business. As a web designer, you need to have strong UX design skills to create websites that are easy to use and offer an intuitive navigation experience to keep visitors on a website as long as possible.

UX design is especially important in cases where businesses want to scale and localize their product. A beautifully designed website loses value if it’s not user-friendly or if visitors don’t understand the brand’s message. 

Demonstrate you’re aware of the impact slowly loading times on a visual-heavy website can impact user experience negatively, for example, and how you can offer a rich and optimized UX experience. You can also show that you understand how words, colors, and image layouts can affect an audience’s brand perception by sharing the positive impacts your web design choices have made on a business, like higher conversion rates or a better understanding of brand identity.  

When writing your resume, be sure to include any relevant experience you have with UX design, such as conducting user research or creating wireframes and prototypes. If you’re unsure how to include these in your resume, a resume-building service can help you format your resume in a way that clearly and succinctly highlights your skills. 

If you feel you need to improve these skills, you can find popular courses online with certification options that can fit your schedule and budget, like the following:

• Google’s UX Design Professional Certificate on Coursera
• User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide by Interaction Design
• UX Design Academy by Designlab
• UX Design program by Career Foundry

Top 5 Soft Skills To Include On Your Web Design Resume

When writing your web designer resume, it’s important to include both hard and soft skills. Soft skills are the personality traits that will make you a good fit for the job and company culture.

1. Time Management Skills

As a web designer, you’ll often be working on multiple projects with tight deadlines. Showing potential employers you’re able to manage your time effectively and deliver high-quality work within deadlines is always highly sought after.

You can demonstrate these skills in your resume introduction and your skills section, but you should also illustrate them in your work experience section by giving concrete examples of your efficiency.

You can do this by mentioning, for example, how you coordinated and scheduled design creation with regular project updates to relevant stakeholders.

2. Communication Skills

Good communication skills are especially important to include in your resume because they show you’re able to communicate clearly with clients and team members.

Note that there are different types of communication, and while all are important to a certain degree, web designers will especially benefit from including the following on a resume:

• Verbal and written communication.
• Digital communication tools and software (Slack, Zoom, Hangouts).
• Active listening.
• Responsiveness.

Be sure to mention your communication skills throughout your resume by listing them in your skills section and highlighting them in your work experience section with clear examples of what they helped you accomplish.

Here are a few examples illustrating different communication skills on a resume, like active listening and verbal, written, and digital communication:

• Translating a client’s vision into a beautiful and highly functional website.
• Successfully getting your message across to a target audience.
• Collaboration with team members on a project.

3. Client Management Skills

Web designers need to be able to manage client expectations by setting realistic deadlines and defining the scope of their work. 

Be sure to list these skills in your resume skills section and illustrate them with an example from your work history. For example, you might mention how you successfully managed a client’s expectations by being highly responsive by email and finishing a project well within the deadline.

Client management is especially relevant if you’re a freelancer as you’ll need to demonstrate that you’re easy to work with. This translates into setting clear expectations upfront, automating payments, and having a professional website of your own.

4. Creative Thinking

Creativity is important for web designers because they need to be able to come up with original designs that impress clients. They should also be able to think outside the box to solve problems.

You can first showcase your creativity in your resume by featuring a link to your online portfolio. Then, in your work experience section, bring up examples of projects where you had to put your creative thinking skills to the test.

Additionally, you can highlight your creative thinking skills by mentioning any creative side projects, awards, or other recognition you have received for your work, even if they’re not directly related to web design.

5. Project Management

Web designers often work on multiple projects at once. That’s why it’s important to have strong project management skills to keep everything organized and on track to meet deadlines. 

Mention your project management skills in your resume skills section while providing examples of when you used them to complete a project in your work experience section. For example, if you managed a team of designers on a large project, mention how you delegated tasks, communicated effectively, and kept everyone on track to meet every milestone.

Cover letters are an excellent way to elaborate on what you’ve already mentioned on your resume and to expand on highly relevant responsibilities and skills you developed in previous roles. It’s a good idea to look at other creative professionals’ cover letters for inspiration first to have a better idea of how much you can include and what you can omit to keep your cover letter’s layout uncluttered.  

Conclusion

While there are many skills required to be a successful web designer, the best resumes are the ones that clearly and accurately reflect your profile as a potential candidate. This is why selecting in-demand web design skills to put on your resume will encourage potential employers and hiring managers to contact you for an interview to further discuss your qualifications.