Some technical notes. If you send your CV electronically, it is best to convert it to a PDF file first. This way, your formatting and all document history are invisible and you can control exactly how your resume is displayed and printed. The email addresses in your contact information should be text, such as your phone number, not a hyperlink. Keep in mind that potential employers can see the name of the document. Stay clear and professional and include identifying information, such as jane_doe_resume2018.doc. Resume examples (These are included in PDF format to preserve formatting, an essential part of effective resume creation.) Go back to the content, then add a little more legal power by listing your relevant courses, student honors, or publications. Do you have questions about writing a lawyer`s resume? Ask in the comments section. We will get back to you for sure.

Thanks for reading! To get it right, you have to think outside the box. This candidate has cleverly used his volunteer work at the college and already looks like an experienced employee. But what if you don`t have relevant experience or success as a lawyer? However, follow our mandate and you will have a successful resume template in no time. Use the reverse timeline. You can list a brief summary of your most important tasks, or a better approach is to list the skills you`ve developed in the workplace so the employer can see what you can bring to the table. Your experience is worth it, not for what you have done, but for what it says about you and what you can do in the future. Everything that sets you apart should be included. Include the name and location of the employer, your title, employment information, and a brief summary of your main responsibilities. Focus on law-related work in each area, but don`t have a hard time making your experience seem more law-related than it really is. Many students come to law school without any legal experience, and employers know it.

Three or four sentences are usually enough, but go further if you have the space and believe that your tasks were particularly interesting, responsible and/or relevant to your legal career. If the name of the employer is not sufficient to express the nature of the business, try to include a description of the employer in your duties, for example: “prepared marketing materials and sales analysis for a start-up selling pet products on the Internet.” Avoid insider jargon. Use verbs in the present tense to describe your current work and verbs in the past tense with all previous positions. Provide specific information about actions and responsibilities (e.g. budget, percentage increase in sales or revenue, number of employees served, direct work with customers, etc.) Many skills learned in non-legal professions are transferable to legal practice (e.g., attention to detail, timeliness, writing, research and analytical skills, working under pressure, working with people from different backgrounds, etc.). Try to highlight these skills. If you have been employed for a long time, show promotions and increased responsibilities, if necessary. If you had a lot of part-time or temporary jobs during your studies, consider summarizing them, such as “working part-time while studying to fund your studies.” (Employers will appreciate the fact that you worked during your studies, especially if you were still able to do well academically.) For some professions, such as retail, gastronomy, or ski instructors, it can be helpful to omit the description altogether, as most people pretty much know what this job entails. Add summer jobs to avoid time intervals on your resume. If a previous job is your only connection to a potential employer`s city, add it. Any experience can be relevant, whether paid or unpaid, so if your volunteering or community service is important, include it in the body of your resume, especially if you`re applying for positions in the public interest. Volunteering can also be featured in a separate section on community services or at the end of your resume under a heading such as “Learn More.” They are generally assumed to be full-time, paid jobs, unless you tell you otherwise.

Be careful not to exaggerate your experience. Like a well-crafted complaint, it will lay out your career story with a clear structure. Recruiters get what they want in advance: their latest experience listed above the fold. School activities: Add activities that best illustrate your skills and interests, as well as the skills and interests that the potential employer finds useful. These qualities may include leadership, oral and written skills, and teamwork. Ask yourself these questions: What activities have been most important to you? What activities took the longest? Were any of the activities “legal” in nature (e.g., Student Judicial Council)? Refine your list of activities by selecting just one of the many activities of the same kind. However, if you are applying for jobs in the public service, you must declare all of your service-related activities to demonstrate your commitment to working in the public interest. In terms of social activities, don`t overdo it. In most cases, your resume is your first contact with a potential employer. It shows not only your previous experience, but also your achievements. Think about your target group.

Do you write to a law firm, a small non-profit organization, a large government agency or a judge? Find out as much as you can about the types of projects you would be involved in if you were hired. Use this information to determine which skills you need to highlight. For example, are your writing and research skills the most important or your communication and negotiation skills? You can choose to have a few resumes that cater to different types of employers. We recommend writing one. This is another way to showcase your legal resume. There you go. A section CV right work experience without experience. His area of expertise on a resume for legal jobs needs the biting and eye-catching power of a Johnnie Cochran one-liner.

Degrees: List your degrees in reverse chronological order. Do not include high school. In the Education section, add Honors and Activities under the appropriate school list. Note that the “Honors” category is reserved for activities for which you have been selected through some sort of selection process. Briefly describe rewards that are not explicit. If you are a joint graduate candidate or already have other graduate degrees, think carefully about how much space you will devote to these other degrees on your resume. Think about the degree of connection between the degree and the position you are looking for. The assumption of many legal employers is that Yale law students with other university degrees are more interested in academia than in legal practice. Think strategically about this, not only when creating your education section, but also your experience and publishing sections. For more examples of other sections you can add to your legal resume template, check out our guide: Resume Sections to Include on Your Resume.

Experience: The experience section should list all relevant employment relationships in reverse chronological order. The name of the employer must be indicated first, followed by the place and dates of employment. The dates you provide can be general (for example, summer 20XX) and do not need to specify specific start and end dates. You may want to include your job titles, depending on how impressive or helpful they are to clarify your responsibilities. Voluntary or unpaid employment may be included in this section with paid employment. Feel free to incorporate the work done as part of your academic experience into your area of experience, including legal clinic experience, research for a professor, a pro bono project, and extensive work for a student organization. Use action verbs in your job descriptions. For example, the state “researched and drafted memoranda on issues of jurisdiction and jurisdiction,” not “assisted lawyers in researching and writing.

Provide enough descriptions for the potential employer to learn more about the projects you`ve worked on and the skills you`ve developed. This information should be in large, bold type at the top of your resume. If you want to include both your school address and your permanent address, you must specify which address is. (Students often provide an address outside the region to show they have a connection to an area outside of Northern California.) Always include your phone number and email address, but only one at a time. (Your email address and voice greeting should be professional.) Think of this section on the lawyer`s resume as your ratio decidendi, but you need to add a few obiter dicta to really set a precedent.