We have curated this guide to help you with every step of writing a makeup artist resume. Without any further delay, let's dive in!
Professional makeup artist resume guidelines
📌 How to make your makeup artist resume professional?
- Use third person and past tense
- Label your document simply with your full name and the term resume or CV
- Use compatible document formats such as Microsoft Word or PDF
- Proofread the resume twice
- Remove any and every spelling, grammatical and factual errors
- Use maximum numbers and action verbs
Research
Whenever we begin something, we do a bit of research at first. Writing a makeup artist resume is no different. You should explore your role title or designation, your job duties, the industries of cosmetology, makeup artistry, beauty, and so on, your potential employers, and anything else that may be relevant.
This research will help you understand the current job market scenario. You will also find out what the hiring manager is looking for in a makeup artist.
All of this will help you write your own makeup artist resume in a way that you can stand out. The research will also provide you with insights that will come in handy when you are giving the interview for the hiring process.
(Source: https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/beauty-personal-care/united-states)
Resume format
A resume format helps you present your professional profile in the most efficient manner possible. The resume format provides the layout for the chronology of sections as well as how to write the sections in a way so that the important parts of your resume are appropriately focused upon and highlighted.
Types of resume format
- Functional resume format
Functional resume format is right for those who are recent graduates or freshers or have little to no experience. This resume format focuses on the skills and the education of the professional as they have no experience to showcase yet.
- Reverse chronological resume format
This resume format focuses on the experience section with a significant focus on skills as well. Most professionals who have significant experience or extensive career history, prefer this format as it helps them highlight their experience.
- Combination resume format
The combination resume format is the combination of the above two formats and focuses both on the skills and the experience. This is a suitable resume format for those who are looking for a career change.
Resume header
The resume header should all the contact information that we have listed below:
- Your full name with correct spelling
- Your contact number with area code as well as the country code
- The professional email ID that you use for professional communications, should be a formal ID
- Your professional headshot in formal attire (not mandatory)
- Your home address (not mandatory and if you choose to include it, keep it brief)
- Your LinkedIn profile link (only if your profile is carefully curated and you are active on the platform keeping the profile updated)
- Your portfolio link (it can be anything, a Google Drive folder, an Instagram page, or a website where you have uploaded all the photographs, etc., and where you operate in a professional capacity only.
Resume summary
The makeup artist resume objective or makeup artist resume summary should be short, crisp, and concise. It should consist of 3 to 5 bullet points that begin after the note of your role.
In the resume summary, you need to mention the total years of experience you have along with a little bit of background. You should also mention the most notable and highlight-worthy details of your resume in the summary section.
At last, you need to mention how you will leverage your skills, experience, and knowledge for success and good performance at your next opportunity and/or job.
To make the information and language more effective, use maximum numbers to quantify the details and action verbs to make the language more effective.
Experience / Work history
Your professional experience or work history is where you talk all about your past jobs. When you are writing your work history or experience section, you need to use the reverse chronological order, meaning you need to begin with your latest experience and then walk back to your first experience or job.
Writing the experience section is not difficult, all you need to do is mention your job title, the full name of your employer, and your total employment period with dates (start and end month/year). The details of job duties should be written in bullet points.
The details of your experience should be all-inclusive and thorough. You should mention every single task that you handled, anything apart from your job descriptions that you contributed to, any recognitions, any achievements, exceptional performances- everything should be included.
Do not forget to incorporate relevant skills in between as well. Keep in mind that you don't happen to undersell yourself, be confident and showcase everything.
Be sure to use maximum numbers to make the information quantified and efficient. You should also use maximum action verbs so that the language is more effective on the recruiter or resume reader.
Education
It is unlikely that you have a degree that is directly relevant to the makeup artist jobs. So when you are writing your education section, you need to mention your high school diploma.
In case you have done any online courses or programs or completed any relevant courses, you can mention those and emphasize the relevant subjects and your performance in those courses.
When you are writing your education section, first you need to mention the full name of the degree or course followed by the educational institute or the platform from where you acquired or completed the degree or course. Avoid mentioning the years in case you are a fresher or a recent graduate as it can lead to bias on the recruiter's part.
You can also mention any certificates you have or any training you have been through that is relevant to the makeup artist jobs. To write a really good experience section, you should choose the right makeup artist resume example and use that as your reference.
Skills
You have talked about your skills in the makeup artist resume summary or makeup artist resume objective, also in your work history, and perhaps in the education section too if you took any relevant courses. So why write a separate section for skills now?
You might have many soft skills and hard skills that you are exceptionally good with, they are your top and most important strengths.
The reason for this separate section for skills is to highlight them properly so that the recruiters notice them and do not miss out on them (that can happen in other sections because the skills will be mentioned as part of long sentences there). In this section, the skills will be mentioned in a list that will be easy to go through for any reader of your makeup artist resume.
You can take advantage of the makeup artist skills list mentioned below. In addition, you should also pick the important skills mentioned in the makeup artist job descriptions.
📌 Key skills for your makeup artist resume
- Makeup artist skills
- Hard and soft skills
- Makeup skills
- Customer service skills
- Makeup artistry
- Special events
- Retail sales
- Exceptional customer service
- Apply makeup
- Makeup application/ Makeup applications
- Corresponding makeup needs
- Knowledge of the beauty industry
- Theatrical makeup
- Technical skills
- Mac cosmetics
- Leadership skills
- Client satisfaction
- Skin care
- Knowledge of makeup for various skin tone
- Facial treatments
- Interpersonal skills
- Applying makeup
- Customer satisfaction
- Inventory management
Extra
If you have explored makeup artist resume samples or makeup artist resume examples, you would've noticed that sometimes there are extra sections. A standard makeup artist resume format usually consists of all the sections that we have discussed so far, which means every fellow job applicant will also have the same resume with the same sections.
So how can you stand out? How can you make sure that you impress the recruiter by offering something extra? Unlike most makeup artist resumes, you can stand out by adding extra sections. Okay, but what can you add in extra sections?
Do you know multiple languages with good fluency? You can add language proficiency details. Do you have personal interests that are relevant to your role as a makeup artist? You can add those as well. Have you ever attended seminars and workshops? Include that in a separate section.
Have you completed any online courses or programs? Include that on your makeup artist resume. You might have even attended any relevant events and programs in person, you can add that as well.
Keywords
In most makeup artist resumes and makeup artist resume examples and even makeup artist job description, you will notice there are certain words that are used frequently and seem to be noticed easily. They are the relevant keywords.
You may have heard of applicant tracking systems or the ATS. They are basically software designed to scan and filter the job applications consisting of resumes, cover letters, and more. Almost every industry across the globe uses this to handle the amount of job applications they receive.
To collect or note down the relevant keywords, you should keep this in mind when you are researching before writing your makeup artist resume or freelance makeup artist resume.
You should include the important and relevant keywords of your makeup artist job title, makeup artist job description, makeup artist jobs industry, and even potential employers.
Make sure you include the important keywords from the makeup artist job description without forgetting!
📌 Relevant keywords for your makeup artist resume
- Cosmetology license
- Retail store
- Makeup
- Makeup artist
- Skin care
- Makeup work
- Makeup artist job
- Salon manager
- Make up artists
- Theatrical makeup
- Natural beauty
- Beauty industry
- Makeup applications
- Nail technician
- Makeup application
- Apply makeup
- Special events
- Makeup artistry
- Hard and soft skills
- Hard skills
- Makeup department
- Makeup skills
- Good makeup artist
- Regular makeup artist
- Makeup job
- Relevant skills
- Soft skills
- Makeup artist positions
- Creative makeup artist
- Freelance makeup artist
- Makeup artist skills
- Makeup artist jobs
- Makeup artist
- Makeup artists
Cover letter
A cover letter is your opportunity to score extra points. When you write a cover letter, you should try to personalize it. One way to do that is to look up the recruiter and use their name when addressing them in the cover letter.
In your cover letter, you can reiterate your interest and showcase your dedication to the opportunity. You can talk about your skills, expertise, experience, and knowledge with a bit more context and details on your makeup artist cover letter. You can also use an informal tone instead of the strict formal tone that you used in your makeup artist resume.
You can also talk about your inspiration to get into the profession of makeup artist, your journey so far in your career as a makeup artist, how your experiences shaped you as a professional, your future goals for your, career, and so on.
Doing so will help you reflect your passion for the makeup artist jobs. If you take a look at makeup artist resume examples or makeup artist cover letter examples, you will also figure out which details should be focused upon.
Cover letters are not always mandatory however they can help you get a shot at the opportunity if you have written it well because it is your opportunity to pitch your candidacy to the hiring manager in a customized way that will be efficient.
Portfolio
As a makeup artist, you would've done many makeup artist jobs and you might have captured photographs and more to keep your work documented.
In case, you have such a collection of your past work that you can present as proof of your good skills and experience, you can create a Google Drive folder or some other space where you store all the photographs and more.
On your makeup artist resume, you can add the link to that folder or whichever space you have used to store everything. This would be your portfolio.
A portfolio is a good way to provide reassurance as well as samples of your work for anyone who is looking to hire you or wants to check out your skills. Portfolios can be really useful for hair stylist, and fashion designers, and even architects. Such professions often require you to provide some samples or such to prove your skills.
References
References can be mentioned in an extra section with the label 'References'. References are the evidence that helps you prove your skills and experience. You can mention 3 references on your makeup artist resume. Before you mention the references, you should get their permission to mention them on your makeup artist resume.
References you choose can be your past colleagues or superiors or such professionals that you have worked with, make sure they have a positive opinion of you so that when the recruiter contacts them, they give positive feedback on you and the recruiter gets the reassurance they are looking for.
When mentioning the references, you should state their name, their contact number, and their professional email address. You can also protect the privacy of references by mentioning -References will be provided upon request- so that the contact details of the references are not unsafe and out there.
Key Takeaways
Writing a Makeup artist resume or Freelance makeup artist resume or a professional resume for any kind of makeup artist jobs with any kind of job title, you need to know certain things such as how to write a professional resume, how to highlight your skills and experience in a way so that your makeup artist resume has the desired effect, impresses the hiring managers and gets you a shot at the opportunity you have applied for.
In this guide, we discussed everything from professional resume guidelines to tips to enhance your job application and not just your makeup artist resume. Now, what next? Well, you should go through makeup artist resume examples to get an idea of what an average makeup artist resume looks like.
We have a great collection of resume examples, resume templates, and resume writing guides that you explore. Our resume builder provides you with useful suggestions and AI prompts (similar to ChatGPT) to help you optimize the resume language as well.
And that's all! You are ready to write your own professional makeup artist resume! Good luck with the job search!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How many pages can I include in my makeup artist resume?
A standard professional makeup artist resume should be 1 to 2 pages long, try not to include a third page as it can lead to a loss of interest when the hiring managers are taking a look at your makeup artist resume.
Do I need a cover letter with my makeup artist resume?
Cover letters are not usually mandatory however they add great value to your job application. Enclosing a cover letter in your job application along with your makeup artist resume can really increase your chances of getting hired.
Are references necessary on my makeup artist resume?
References are not usually mandatory however they can really help you convince the hiring managers through your resume. When the hiring managers will talk to the references, they will be able to get reassurance of your skills, experience and general competency for the opportunity or job and they will give you a call for an interview.
