The Best Solutions Available to Create a Career Brochure are Right Here
Gather Your Raw Materials, Then Choose Your Method
If you need to create a career brochure to promote your professional identity as a whole, one of the software options or online design resources below will work well for you. I’m giving you several options because you might find yourself more comfortable or confident with one process than another. But whichever way you choose, the task won’t be so daunting with these helpful hints, links, and step by step instructions.
Whatever profession or occupation you’re creating a careers brochure for, you’ll have to gather all your own pertinent facts, news, pictures, and graphics pertaining to it to have on hand for the creation process. You’ll want to put your collective best foot forward on this brochure maybe with some good statistics, encouraging prods, and positive testimonials by experts or seasoned vets in the field. Consider your audience carefully and target them appropriately. You have to provide the content no matter how you choose to make this. Take a look at any brochures representing your field that are already out there; a quick web search will likely produce more than a few.
Before you go through with any of the methods outlined below, I think it would also be very prudent to review some very important and basic design tips which are pointed out in Brochures 101: Ten Brochure Design Tips for First Timers. From typeface to common mistakes about where to put the fold on it, you’ll get some worthy advice to consider for making your own. With all this knowledge on hand, you’re now ready to create a career brochure that best represents everything you want it to in the best light. The first few options are for those looking to do all the work themselves while the latter affords for various degrees of outsourcing. But you probably wouldn’t be reading this far if you didn’t want to get your hands a little dirty by putting your own creativity into the project.
Fully Functional Programs and Templates to Do It Yourself
Microsoft Publisher
If you are at ease using Microsoft Publisher (which can produce a really sharp-looking brochure), then I direct you to Producing Pamphlets in Microsoft Publisher 2007. Even though it says pamphlet, the directions are for a brochure too; plenty of tri-folds to choose from. Nice and easy directions to work with the built-in templates here for you Publisher fans. You might even find one that matches the career you’re in.
Adobe Illustrator
Those of you comfortable and proficient with the DTP software Adobe Illustrator might like the concise tutorial in How to Create a Brochure Using Adobe Illustrator. The author gives you step by step instructions to open up Illustrator’s CS3 templates and then add text, pictures, and graphics of your choice to make it your own. This application will do a great job too.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word makes the creating process easy by providing plenty of brochure templates right here at Microsoft Office Online. You’ll find a whole slew of template options which differ in dimensions, amount of folds, and styles. Browse through their offerings and choose the one you feel will best represent the career path you’re touting. You should already have an idea about what you want on it so choose one that meets your vision. Download that template and you’re ready to work with it in Word. Instructions for how to put your photos, logos, and graphics are right where you would do these operations on the document. Type over the sample text with your own with the font and size you desire. Once you’re finished with those details it’s just a matter of proofing and printing. If you don’t want to use a template, you can also build one from scratch in this program.
Resources for Outsourcing Some or All of your Brochure Design or Printing
There is always the option of feeding your content and design ideas to a printing company that operates on the Web and having them come up with the final design and then print however many you’re going to need. Read Fedex Can Print Your Files From Any Location Via the Internet. Your local print shop is always capable of doing this for you too if you want to go that route. And Vistaprint.com can do it for some pretty competitive prices too. At Docstoc.com you might be able to find an appropriate one free or pay for a premium version.
The HP Creative Studio for Business is also an excellent option for you. This online design studio allows you to choose from free or premium brochure templates and provides real easy instructions on how to upload photos and the rest of your raw materials for customization. Mybrochuremaker.com is another possibility we’ve heard some good things about.
Incidentally, if you happen to be looking to make a brochure for laboratory sciences, you might want to check out the free Careers in Clinical Laboratory Science that the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science produced. If it meets your needs then just download it, print, and your job is done. This brings me to my last point, there may be plenty of worthy brochures already out there representing your career (or profession so look for samples or even ones you could just download and print outright) to get good ideas before you make your own.
