The resume: a daunting task with many questions. Is this entry important enough? Will I even be able to use this skill at this job? Am I allowed to mention that? Does it matter that I can do this? Can I use this font? Is this the correct format? The list goes on and on—but we hope to simplify some of these confusing decisions. Once you know the rules, the art of crafting your legal resume is not as hard as it seems.
You might already know the basic rules of resume formatting. However, that does not mean they are any less important, and a reminder can never hurt. Do not use a flashy or unique format—doing so can make you appear unprofessional and cause you to stand out in a negative way. Keep your resume to one page. (Although, it is important to note, for transactional attorneys or litigators with more experience, that it may be necessary to add a deal sheet or a case sheet.) Use an eleven- or twelve- point standard font and standard margins no smaller than half an inch on any side. Throughout your resume, use consistent text formatting decisions—bolding, underlining, or italicizing certain items. As a final formatting tip, clear up any clutter and add space between your entries for easy reading and comprehension.
Regarding the layout of your resume’s entries, list your name, email address, cell number, and mailing address at the top of the page. Use headers to guide the reader to each section of your resume. For the order of your sections, a common suggestion is education first and experience second if you have less than five years of experience, but experience first and education second if you have been working for longer. If you are listing more than one education experience, use a reverse chronological order, putting your most recent degree first. Also apply this rule for the work experiences you choose to include.
Easy stuff aside, we must now turn to the more difficult decisions: what experiences, skills, and strengths to actually include on your resume. Below are six pieces of advice meant to aid you in crafting your legal resume into something of which you are proud, something in which you are confident, and something by which your prospective employer can get a glimpse into how you work as a legal professional.
1) Remember the importance of your resume.
Your resume is, with the occasional rare exception, someone’s first impression of you. It always matters, whether you are seeking an entry level position, a lateral position, or an in-house position. Prospective employers make quick decisions upon first glance at your resume, and you want to include compelling information that leaves them wanting to reach out to you for the next step in the application process. Do not let this level of importance scare you; instead, let it encourage you to be thorough. Start creating your resume early, giving yourself enough time to do it properly, because it may take longer than you expect. Also, above all else, be selective about what you include—your reader does not need or want your entire life story.
2) Keep it short and sweet.
Because lawyers and recruiters make such quick decisions based on resumes, you want the entries you include to be both interesting and easy to comprehend. Keep your explanations of each experience short and specific, using descriptive sentence fragments separated by semicolons. If you include any work experience from ten or more years ago, your descriptions do not need to be as detailed as your recent jobs. Remove all language that uses the word “I.” Make sure your format is clean and organized, allowing your reader to digest the important information by simply scanning your resume.
3) Be honest.
Do not exaggerate any of your previous experiences—this can, and likely will, harm you in the long run. Make sure everything you include is something you are prepared to talk about during an interview. If you list any part-time jobs or unpaid volunteer work, make sure to indicate them as such. You do not want to seem as if you are overstating your experience. This advice is equally important if you choose to include an interest section, as you want to be open and truthful about your passions, while also keeping them relevant to the job.
4) Showcase your strengths.
Clarify that your entries show off your specialized skills that align with the requirements of the position for which you are applying. Do not include any skills that are not relevant for this specific job, even if they are impressive. Also consider the recency of your experiences; employers may not want to know about your internship from fifteen years ago when you were still in school. This may mean adjusting your resume a bit for each job to which you apply.
5) Check relentlessly for typos.
Proofread more than you think you need. Determine what information is unnecessary and can be removed. Use every editing trick in the book—reading aloud, reading each sentence individually from bottom to top, having a colleague or friend read over your resume for you. Just one measly typo can cause a lot of harm. Many lawyers and recruiters are reading countless resumes, so they likely will not hesitate to cast yours aside if they spot a mistake.
6) Think carefully about revealing personal information.
As a general rule, do not include surface level personal information that your prospective employer does not need to know, like your age or your marital status. Beyond that, there may be some entries that you wish to list in your resume that reveal something about your political or religious beliefs, your ethnicity, a disability, or your sexual orientation. Including these is a difficult personal decision that requires a good deal of thought. It is ultimately up to you, but keep in mind that the inclusion of an entry like this may work against you or in your favor, depending on your reader.
Hopefully, some of the questions you had a few minutes ago have now been answered. If you follow these tips, your resume can be pristine and concise—providing all of the necessary information while emphasizing your skills and strengths. The RMN Agency’s founder, president, and CEO Raj Nichani notes that “your resume is one of the most important pieces of paper. It represents you as a person. Before you even get in the door with your prospective employer, they are judging you based on this one page document.” Even with your resume’s importance in mind, you do not need to be scared of this task. Just put in the time, effort, and thought, and you can send your resume off without any doubts.
