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I have been a Graphic Designer for the past 14 years, and self employed for the past 5 years, I am applying for new jobs in different areas, nothing to do with Graphic Design, some of the jobs I am applying for require no experience, should I keep my resume the same?or what other options do I have?
Thank you for all your responses and suggestions in advance!
Short answer: Tailor your resume to the job you are applying for.
Highlight any areas of your experience that would be attractive to a hiring manager for that job, and play down any that are not applicable. The key thing you are trying to do is to let a prospective employer know that you have the skills that they need for the role.
You may find that you have different versions of your resume, depending on the types of roles you ar applying for. Remember, your resume is your advertisement. If it is telling the wrong story, then people won't buy what you are offering :)
If you have been self employed for 5 years you are definitely in need of a whole new resume. Make one that would appeal to the employer for whichever job you're applying for.
I would definitely mention your graphic design experience since this is applicable in many unrelated fields as well. It shows an ability to work with software, prepare/plan and complete projects and other things.
You seem to be applying for very low level positions though, so quite possibly your resume is not as important as higher level jobs. In my experience these sorts of jobs are usually looking for young, inexperienced (cheap) workers.
However that's no reason to skimp on your resume, focus on anything that directly pertains to the job, and list all your other skills as further arrows in your arsenal without emphasising them.
