The What, Why, and How of My CV

My CV has quite a few different job titles, companies and industries on it.

Graphic design, marketing, UI and UX, digital communication and production. Some roles lasted longer than others and from the outside, my career might not look like one perfectly planned route.

That's because it wasn't.

I like quick action, variety and figuring things out along the way. Every role taught me something about what I'm good at, what gives me energy and what kind of environment brings out the best in me.

And although the jobs were different, there was one thought that followed me through almost all of them.

There's more potential here.

So instead of only showing you where I've worked, here's the what, why and how behind my CV.

Where it started

My first serious work experience was at NEMO Science Museum, where I learned how design could make complicated information easier to understand.

After that, I interned at Mediadam and got to experience a completely different side of the creative industry, with commercial projects, deadlines and lots of feedback.

Those internships gave me my foundation as a designer, but they also showed me early on that I liked variety.

Discovering marketing

At Partywinkel, my role became much broader. I combined design with marketing, newsletters, social media and customer contact.

It was busy and varied, and that suited me.

For the first time, I wasn't just responsible for making something look good. I was involved in different parts of the business and started discovering how useful it was to have a mix of skills.

At PF Concept, I moved further into email marketing and campaigns. I learned more about the strategic and commercial side of communication, but also discovered something important about myself.

I didn't want to lose the creative part.

Different industries and new skills

At Dero Group, I worked in marketing and created content for industrial machinery. It wasn't exactly the most glamorous subject matter, but that actually made it interesting.

How do you make something technical understandable and attractive?

It taught me that creativity isn't dependent on having a creative subject.

My time there ended earlier than expected because of staff reductions during the COVID period, which meant it was time for another step.

At Buyitdirect, now Bechtle, I worked as a media designer on banners, whitepapers and promotional materials. It was a fast paced commercial environment where I learned to think beyond whether something simply looked good.

It also had to work.

Finding out what doesn't fit is useful too

My time at Dunico was relatively short. I worked there as a web and graphic designer on different projects, but it became clear that the working environment wasn't the right match for me.

And that was useful to learn too.

I work best in an environment where people work together, ideas are welcome and there is room to take initiative.

Not every job has to be the perfect match to be valuable. Sometimes finding out what doesn't work for you teaches you just as much about what does.

Taking on more responsibility

At Florisoft, I had the opportunity to use much more of the experience I had built up over the years.

I worked on the corporate identity, UI and UX, websites and the beginning of a design system for their applications. I created templates that made it easier for junior designers to work independently and helped guide the creative work within the team.

My role naturally became broader than just producing designs.

And once again, I noticed that this was exactly the part I enjoyed.

Not just receiving a task and completing it, but looking at what was needed around it and thinking about how I could contribute.

My most recent step

My most recent role was at FHC Formulebeheer, where I worked on the graphic team creating materials for several different formulas and brands.

By then, I had years of design experience behind me.

But something had changed.

Instead of only thinking about the design in front of me, I increasingly found myself looking around it.

Could something be organised more efficiently? Could information be clearer? Could a process be smarter? Is there something nobody has had time to pick up yet?

That familiar thought was there again.

There's more potential here.

Only this time I realised that maybe I wasn't looking for the next design role at all.

Nine years later

Every company I've worked for has added something.

Design taught me to think visually. Marketing taught me to think about the audience and the goal. UI and UX taught me to question how things work. Working in different teams taught me how much I value collaboration, independence and having the freedom to take initiative.

For a long time, I tried to find the job title that combined everything I enjoyed.

Now I think I was looking at it the wrong way.

I don't need one perfect box.

I'm a creative all rounder. Someone who can design when design is needed, but who is just as happy organising something, improving a website, figuring something out, supporting a colleague or finding a smarter way to get something done.

After nine years, I haven't stopped being a designer.

I've simply discovered that I have much more to offer around it.