Answer: The following are some well-established basic rules for preparing resumes in the legal industry.
First, keep it short and sweet. You want your resume to be just one page – two at the absolute most. Shorter is generally better. It is said that you will only have 30 seconds to persuade someone with your resume that you are a serious candidate for the job. Your resume must look great both at a glance and on close inspection. This means you need plenty of “white space.” In an effort to keep resumes short, many candidates use small type to squeeze in as many “accomplishments” as possible. The result is too often an unreadable mess. You must have a resume that “grabs the eye,” not repels it.
Inserting your college GPA may make sense if it is truly excellent (over 3.5), but not if it is more ordinary. Additional information that is less relevant should only be added if it is simple to understand and clearly impressive and helpful. For example, winning a Nobel Peace Prize would be worth mentioning. But writing at length about your undergraduate thesis on the eating habits of tadpoles or even just mentioning that you were president of your college drinking club may even hurt you by distracting or boring the reader.
Fourth, once you have more experience, you can consider adding a short “addendum” to the resume that summarizes key deals, cases, patents, etc. It is a separate document with additional information that is better kept outside the 1-2 page limit of the resume. Of course, you should only do this if the additional information is relevant and valuable to your goal of getting the job.
Fifth, you must proofread it very carefully. Even minor mistakes and typos can be fatal.
Sixth, do NOT do any of the following: Include an “objective,” a salary requirement (unless asked), any personal information or the phrase “references available on request.” Your only “objective” is to get the job. Writing something else can only hurt you. No one cares about your family or hobbies. Revealing such information may also hurt you. And lastly, the “references” phrase is both obvious and outdated.
- 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.
