What skills should a Photographer put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Service Orientation, Active Learning, and Complex Problem Solving 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 Photographer list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. 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 Photographer work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Commercial Photographer, Photojournalist, Portrait Photographer, and Advertising Photographer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Photographer need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 27% reported their level of education as "Some College Courses". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Photographer 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.

Photographer resume example

A resume for a Photographer needs to show the work itself: photograph people, landscapes, merchandise, or other subjects. Day to day that means work like this: adjust apertures, shutter speeds, and camera focus according to a combination of factors, such as lighting, field depth, subject motion, film type, and film speed; create artificial light, using flashes and reflectors. 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.

Commercial Photographer
Photojournalist
Portrait Photographer
Advertising Photographer
Graduation Photographer
Newspaper Photographer
Photo Editor
Sports Photographer
Studio Photographer
Aerial Photographer
Automotive Photographer
Biological Photographer
Biomedical Photographer
Crime Scene Photographer
Digital Photographer
Event Photographer
Fashion Photographer
Finish Photographer

O*NET records 40 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.

Adjust apertures, shutter speeds, and camera focus according to a combination of factors, such as lighting, field depth, subject motion, film type, and film speed.
Create artificial light, using flashes and reflectors.
Determine desired images and picture composition, selecting and adjusting subjects, equipment, and lighting to achieve desired effects.
Transfer photographs to computers for editing, archiving, and electronic transmission.
Use traditional or digital cameras, along with a variety of equipment, such as tripods, filters, and flash attachments.
Manipulate and enhance scanned or digital images to create desired effects, using computers and specialized software.
Take pictures of individuals, families, and small groups, either in studio or on location.
Enhance, retouch, and resize photographs and negatives, using airbrushing and other techniques.
Test equipment prior to use to ensure that it is in good working order.
Estimate or measure light levels, distances, and numbers of exposures needed, using measuring devices and formulas.
Perform general office duties, such as scheduling appointments, keeping books, and ordering supplies.
Review sets of photographs to select the best work.

28 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.

Adjust apertures, shutter speeds, and camera focus according to a combination of factors, such as lighting, field depth, subject motion, film type, and film speed, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Create artificial light, using flashes and reflectors, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Determine desired images and picture composition, selecting and adjusting subjects, equipment, and lighting to achieve desired effects, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Transfer photographs to computers for editing, archiving, and electronic transmission, 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 After Effects
Adobe Creative Cloud software
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Apple Final Cut Pro
Apple macOS
Blinkbid
Cradoc fotoBiz
Email software
Facebook
Genbook

35 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.

Board reflectors
Bubble machines
Camera cleaning brushes
Camera flash attachments
Camera positioning tripods
Computer inkjet printers
Computer laser printers
Contact print frames
Darkroom thermometers
Darkroom timers
Digital pens
Digital photo printers

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 Photoshop

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
02Speaking
03Service Orientation
04Active Learning
05Complex Problem Solving
06Critical Thinking
07Judgment and Decision Making
08Monitoring
09Reading Comprehension
10Social Perceptiveness

Knowledge areas

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

Customer and Personal Service
Sales and Marketing
Computers and Electronics
Administration and Management
Communications and Media
English Language
Fine Arts
Production and Processing

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.

27%Some College Courses
18%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
14%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school

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 Photographer do?: Photograph people, landscapes, merchandise, or other subjects. Day to day that includes work like adjust apertures, shutter speeds, and camera focus according to a combination of factors, such as lighting, field depth, subject motion, film type, and film speed and Create artificial light, using flashes and reflectors.
What skills should a Photographer put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Service Orientation, Active Learning, and Complex Problem Solving 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 Photographer list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. 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 Photographer work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Commercial Photographer, Photojournalist, Portrait Photographer, and Advertising Photographer. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Photographer need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 27% reported their level of education as "Some College Courses". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Photographer 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.