Let us discuss the important steps to follow while writing a lawyer resume.
Importance of a Strong Lawyer Resume
A strong lawyer resume can offer you a lead over other candidates you will be competing against for the desired position. During the job search process, an impressive lawyer resume can draw the attention of the recruiters to hire you for an interview over other applicants.
It also helps in creating a long-lasting first impression telling the potential employers that you will serve as an asset to the firm.
Writing a Well-documented Lawyer Resume
Here are some tips to boost the overall effectiveness of your lawyer resume.
Keep the Resume Brief
Do you wish the recruiter to thoroughly review your qualifications? You should aim at keeping the resume to a single page in length. You can consider exceeding the one-page rule only when you have more than 4-5 years of legal experience. However, aim not to extend it beyond two pages.
To make the resume highly effective, highlight the key points or descriptions on the resume for serving a specific purpose. Lastly, to keep things concise, you can enlist the work experience, achievements, and education like your JD degree.
Simplify the Formatting While Writing a Lawyer Resume
The overall formatting matters. This is because the entire look of the lawyer resume often serves to be the first impression an employer will get of your profile.
You should opt for a resume format following a single colour pattern, fonts, and text boxes. As a lawyer, you should note that law firms implement serious work.
Law firms usually search for employees who are professional, dedicated to the career, and serious. You also want the resume to be easy to read because legal professionals are busy people.
It is suggested to make use of bulleted points, bold words, and proper headings to ensure a quick scan of the most important points.
Be Specific
Lawyers can feature more than a single specialty. Some of the specialties could be personal injury, criminal, family, bankruptcy law, medical malpractice, and so more.
On your lawyer resume, you should emphasize the specialties as well as skill sets that might make you stand out from others.
For instance, if you wish to stand out, you should include skills that every lawyer should possess. Moreover, you can also add references to the classes or courses you undertook.
Moreover, if you are submitting your application for the role of a real estate attorney, you should reference successful transactions in your career. It is recommended to customize different points for which you apply to.
Choose Between Experience and Education
The order in which you list down your experience and education also matters. This is because you should list down first the one that makes your application unique from others. The list should also make you appear highly qualified and well-suited for the given job profile.
For instance, if you are applying for the job of a legal associate, you can highlight your education over experience -especially if you are a beginner. On the other hand, if you have been in the industry for several years, you should list down the experience first.
In case you are not decided, always prioritize listing your education over experience. Highlight both the sections in reverse chronological order. Therefore, you should state your most recent experience or education first on the list. This allows the recruiter to easily know about your latest accomplishments.
Use Relevant Data and Action Verbs While Writing a Lawyer Resume
As you include bullet points with relevant action verbs, it can help in highlighting your overall responsibilities as well as achievements to the work experience. You should perfect the utilization of language on the legal resume for showcasing hiring managers that you are proactive in your overall approach.
Most of the larger legal firms or recruiters make use of advanced application tracking systems for quickly scanning lawyer resumes and checking for keywords. Therefore, it is recommended that you should highlight target keywords that the recruiters are searching for. Some of the common actions verbs to use are:
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Negotiate
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Advice
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Suggest
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Define
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Implement
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Reduce
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Achieve
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Draft
Additionally, you can also include quantifiable results for supporting your bullet points. This allows the recruiters to measure your overall success in the given industry.
List Only Relevant Education & Work Experience
You should include only education and experience information that are relevant to practicing law. In case you do not have experience working at a leading law firm, you can include past jobs showcasing you as a reliable performer.
For instance, if you have previously served in some service-oriented job position or something honourable of societal relevance, you can include the given information.
It is always great to include your engagements with organizations or clubs like religious groups, political affiliations, sororities, fraternities, and causes.
Mention Personal Interests or Hobbies Related to Law
You should avoid being too personal in your lawyer resume. In case you mention some personal interest or hobby in the document, ensure that it is related to the job profile. Some information that you should avoid including in your resume are:
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Religious memberships
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Non-work or unprofessional emails
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Details about your home life
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Links to personal pages or blogs that are not related to law
Include Relevant Professional Skills When Writing a Lawyer Resume
Professional skills like proficiency in some other language will enhance your resume. However, you should include skills that are related to the position.
For instance, if you are applying for the role of an immigration lawyer, you should hold competent conversation skills in the sought-after language.
Are you starting out in a legal career? Or, are you a seasoned lawyer with several years of relevant experience?
Whatever might be the case, you need a relevant lawyer resume to enhance your chance of securing the desired lawyer role. A resume that is well-planned and strategically composed can improve the likelihood of being noticed by leading legal firms.
Prepare a compelling lawyer resume based on your skills and qualifications. All the best!