You will note that we did not mention a Personal section, which would describe your personal interests and hobbies. Resumes used to routinely include a personal section in the 1970s and before, but a Personal section is no longer considered germane to the hiring process. Including such information may make you seem out of touch.
Education
An entry paralegal should include formal paralegal training at or near the top of the resume. Following your paralegal training, in reverse chronological order, insert your other educational experiences. Include four-year degrees, associate degrees, certificates, seminars, or programs attended. No matter how you lead (whether with the degree, the school, or the date), make sure it is a consistent presentation that includes the following information: school, city, state, date, degrees or level attained, kind of program, curriculum description.
Citing an example of a Paralegal resume, the education section covers a full one-third of the page because the paralegal is young and lacks a long work history. The applicant has fully described not only her paralegal curriculum, but also a special educational qualification (Child Development), followed by her substantial four-year degree program. Note that she has described her education in such a full and detailed way because all of it relates to the practice area she is seeking. Her Employment Objective is a "challenging career in a Juvenile/Family Law practice." In this case she is not only establishing her educational credentials in general, but she is also making a case for being a well-trained entry juvenile/family law paralegal. She is definitely putting the "sizzle" at the top by following her Education with a Special Skills section.
If you are older and have quite a bit of educational and professional experience, you may want to treat some older educational background lightly or not at all. Some people who have bachelor's degrees simply leave off an older associate's degree to make room for something else that they deem to be more important. You need not put even a certificate gained or seminars attended, if they go back too far or have questionable benefit to you.
If you do not want to emphasize previous educational experience by placing it at the top of the resume (for example, if you have an incomplete degree or a degree that does not seem relevant to the paralegal position), there is the technique of separating your "Legal Education" from your "Previous Education." This is highly subjective and may not be a problem to some. But truly, "One man's sizzle is another man's fizzle." Please note the other example of a resume in which the paralegal training is blended in with the legal experience at the top, and the previous experience is put together with previous education.
A Word about Omitting Dates: Often people are trying to hide their age when they omit dates. However, omissions will be noticeable and bring people's attention to the spot that the applicant is ostensibly attempting to conceal. This is not to say that you are committing an unpardonable sin by omitting a date on an early educational experience, but at the same time, one should consider the irony that someone, upon viewing the absence of a date, just might assume you are older than you are!
Professional or work experience
The Hard Chronology
You must add a "Hard Chronology" somewhere to your resume. A resume without dates and job listings is not recommended. There should be a part of your resume in which a mildly interested person can discover the basics of your background. The entry should contain at least these elements-your hard chronology:
- Company
- Title
- City
- State
- Date
- Description
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
In over many years of Business Management, have proven ability to:
- Worked efficiently in busy job environments by utilizing high energy, time management skills, and task prioritization
- Prepared budgets, P&L statements, and accounting reports
- Generated reports and documents via various computer systems
- Operations Manager - in a reputed firm of USA! Acted as operations manager in hiring, firing, training, and developing of 100 employees! Achieved highest Quality Assurance score in company! Developed new procedures that increased customer service and revenue!
- Senior Projects Manager - in a well-known firm in USA! Trained 50 employees, including management, clerical, supervisory, maintenance, valet, and cashier personnel! Streamlined operational methods that improved overall efficiency and employee morale!
- District Manager - of a reputed firm in USA! Operated busy district with five offices as district manager! Reversed deficit in district within two months!
Another resume shows that the paralegal sums up her experience at the beginning of the resume with a "Profile." With this treatment, the paralegal applicant is declaring who she is and how she thinks she can contribute to a law office. This is a no defensive approach to a strong professional background. The sense that is being conveyed is that this person made a deliberate, considered, and well-thought-out decision about a new career transition. Without this approach, the interested reader might wonder, 'Ts this person over-qualified and expecting too much?" "Will this person work in the world of law?" "How can a producer of the electronic media have any interest in the law?"
In the very beginning of the resume, she begins with the value that she is bringing to the law firm. She is declaring her skills before her work background. She is deflecting the focus away from her actual job descriptions (which have to do with TV stations and publishers) and "forcing" the attention of the reader on the qualities that she thinks she brings to the legal environment.
- See 6 Things Attorneys and Law Students Need to Remove from Their Resumes ASAP If They Want to Get Jobs with the Most Prestigious Law Firms for more information.
