- Our customers have been hired by: *Foot Note
An effective interior designer CV showcases both creative flair and professional experience. It highlights your progression from design assistant or junior designer to head designer or other senior roles. A strong educational background complements this, with qualifications such as a BA or BTEC in Arts and Design.
With advice on salary, core skills, formatting your CV and more, as well as CV templates and interior designer CV examples for UK jobs, you’ll discover everything you need to design, tweak, and produce a CV that will instantly grab recruiters’ attention.
SEARCH ALL CV EXAMPLES
Interior designer CV templates
Interior designer CV top tips and techniques
From choosing the right content to formatting your CV correctly, check out our helpful tips and tricks for creating an attention-grabbing interior design CV for UK jobs.
Scope out the job description
Before you start designing, it’s important to hear exactly what your clients are looking for first. Similarly, before writing a CV, you need to know what recruiters want. An interior designer job description will give you all the information you need about the candidate they’re looking for, including key qualifications, work experience, and skills. Make a list of the ways you meet – and exceed – their criteria, and include these details throughout your CV.
Showcase your achievements
Just as a well-designed room needs striking decor to make it stand out, your interior designer CV needs to be accessorised with the defining moments of your career. Rather than just listing out your responsibilities from previous roles, recruiters want to see exactly what you achieved. Tell them about the luxurious bathroom you designed on a strict budget or a project you worked on that brought brand-new clients to your company. Emphasise these specific achievements throughout your CV, as well as in your covering letter – where a link to your interior design CV portfolio can also help.
Style with an interior design CV template
Style is integral to a successful interior design career. To create a professional interior designer CV, it needs to look the part, with a clean and streamlined design that makes it clear and attention-grabbing. Use an understated colour scheme and a plain font to avoid confusing recruiters and drawing attention away from your achievements. CV templates can take the stress out of creating a professional-looking CV, so make use of an interior designer CV template to give structure and style to your CV.
Declutter your CV
Great interior design removes unnecessary clutter to allow the decor and natural features of a room shine through. Your CV should be much the same. If you look at some interior design CV examples for UK jobs, you’ll notice that they’re not padded with information. There’s no need to mention side jobs or GCSEs if they’re irrelevant to the role in question.
Add structure to your work history
As well as using templates, you should also consider CV formatting carefully. The best CV format for an interior designer is reverse-chronological, showcasing your most recent position first, and then works backwards. This means that recruiters get an instant snapshot of your most relevant positions first, making your CV attention-grabbing from the outset.
Interior designer CV technical and transferable skills
Core interior design skills include both technical knowledge about creating beautifully designed interiors, but also transferable skills to connect with clients and their home design dreams.
Essential hard skills for an interior designer
- Design skills
- Computer-assisted design (CAD)
- Construction and building regulations
- Drafting and sketching
- Project and budget management
- Photoshop proficiency
Soft skills for an impressive interior designer CV
- Creativity
- Communication skills
- Problem solving
- Attention to detail
- Time management
- Organisational skills
Professional interior designer CV top FAQs
How to become an interior designer in the UK?
Interior design is largely based on experience and ability. But any qualifications that complement this will put you in an advantageous position. Generally, a degree in interior design, art and design, architecture, or a related subject is a common route. However, a more practical approach such as a diploma or apprenticeship will also impress employers. You could also work your way into the industry by starting as a design assistant. Even with a relevant degree under your belt, work experience is vital to include in a professional interior designer CV, so taking on an internship can also help to secure your first position after university. CV examples can give you a clearer idea of the types of qualifications you’ll need to include in your work history, so having a careful read of an interior designer CV sample is a good first step.
How to become an interior designer with no experience in the UK?
If you’re planning a career change to interior design, you might be wondering how to meet the required qualifications. If you have a degree in an art or design subject, but would like to head down a new career path, then taking a Master’s degree in interior design can lead to many new opportunities, particularly if you select a course approved by the Chartered Society of Designers (CSD). Above all else, interior design employers want to see your creative flair and experience, with specific evidence of both. You should have a portfolio of your work with images, videos, and plenty of details about each project. Your CV and covering letter should allude to this, so you can expand on it at the interview stage.
How much do interior designers make?
The average salary in the interior design industry falls between £25k to £35k per year. Starter jobs in this career path begin with a salary of around £18-£20k. The salary per year of an interior designer with vast industry experience and qualifications can go up to £45k. Meanwhile, a freelance interior designer salary in the UK averages at around £28k per year.
What qualifications do I need to be an interior designer?
Interior design is a competitive industry, so having the right qualifications behind you can help to make your CV stand out. A degree in a relevant subject, such as interior design, architecture, art and design, or furniture design, is the most beneficial option. You could also decide to take a Higher National Diploma (HND) in a relevant subject. A senior interior designer CV will also often feature a Master’s degree in interior design, architecture, or a similar subject. Though a Master’s degree is not essential, it can help candidates to network, develop core skills, and build on their design knowledge.
Create an interior design CV personal statement that will wow recruiters
When writing a personal statement for an interior design CV, it’s important to keep it short and simple. No more than 3-4 sentences is needed. Copy-and-pasting your work history won’t impress recruiters, but crafting a unique summary for your interior designer CV absolutely will.
Use this short summary to highlight your major achievements, core skills, and relevant qualifications, so recruiters can see at a single glance why you’re their dream candidate. If you’re stuck for ideas, taking a look at an interior design CV sample can help you to see the details that competitive candidates should include.
Design a professional interior designer CV for your dream career
Once you’ve followed our CV tips and gathered together all the information you need, it’s easy to create a professional interior designer CV that will immediately impress recruiters.
First, choose a CV template to give structure and style to your CV. Then use our online CV builder to fill out your CV with industry-specific pre-written content, from your personal statement to your work history. Once your CV illustrates exactly how you meet the interior designer job description, it’s time to proofread and send it off to recruiters.
*The names and logos of the companies referred to above are all trademarks of their respective holders. Unless specifically stated otherwise, such references are not intended to imply any affiliation or association with myperfectCV.