What skills should a Fashion Designer put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Speaking, Active Learning, and Coordination among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Fashion Designer list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Fashion Designer work?

O*NET records 36 titles for this occupation, including Apparel Designer, Costume Designer, Designer, and Apparel and Accessories Designer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Fashion Designer need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 51% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Fashion Designer role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Fashion Designer resume example

A resume for a Fashion Designer needs to show the work itself: design clothing and accessories. Day to day that means work like this: sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements; examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Apparel Designer
Costume Designer
Designer
Apparel and Accessories Designer
Fashion Design Contractor
Fashion Graphic Designer
Fashion Stylist
Handbag Designer
Product Developer
Accessories Designer
Apparel Accessories Specialist
Athletic Shoe Designer
Clothes Designer
Clothing Designer
Custom Furrier
Dance Costume Designer
Dress Designer
Fashion Advisor

O*NET records 36 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
Confer with sales and management executives or with clients to discuss design ideas.
Select materials and production techniques to be used for products.
Provide sample garments to agents and sales representatives, and arrange for showings of sample garments at sales meetings or fashion shows.
Direct and coordinate workers involved in drawing and cutting patterns and constructing samples or finished garments.
Identify target markets for designs, looking at factors such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Collaborate with other designers to coordinate special products and designs.
Attend fashion shows and review garment magazines and manuals to gather information about fashion trends and consumer preferences.
Purchase new or used clothing and accessory items as needed to complete designs.
Visit textile showrooms to keep up-to-date on the latest fabrics.
Adapt other designers' ideas for the mass market.

20 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Confer with sales and management executives or with clients to discuss design ideas, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Select materials and production techniques to be used for products, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Creative Cloud software
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Autodesk AutoCAD Design Suite
Autodesk Revit
Autodesk SketchBook Pro
C-DESIGN Fashion
CLO Virtual Fashion Marvelous Designer
Computer aided design and drafting software CADD
Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite
Corel Painter
Fashion Toolbox

29 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Computer data input scanners
Computer drawing tablets
Computer laser printers
Desktop computers
Drafting curves
Drawing scales
Dress forms
Fabric pressing equipment
Fabric shears
Fabric steamers
Garment templates
Industrial fabric cutting machines

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Critical Thinking
03Speaking
04Active Learning
05Coordination
06Judgment and Decision Making
07Social Perceptiveness
08Time Management
09Complex Problem Solving
10Negotiation

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Design
Computers and Electronics
Production and Processing
Sales and Marketing
English Language

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

51%Bachelor's Degree
44%Associate's Degree
4%High School Diploma, or the equivalent

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Fashion Designer do?: Design clothing and accessories. Day to day that includes work like sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements and Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
What skills should a Fashion Designer put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Speaking, Active Learning, and Coordination among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Fashion Designer list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Fashion Designer work?: O*NET records 36 titles for this occupation, including Apparel Designer, Costume Designer, Designer, and Apparel and Accessories Designer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Fashion Designer need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 51% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Fashion Designer role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.