Why a Cover Letter is One of the Most Important Letters You Will Write The cover letter that accompanies your employment resume is perhaps one of the most important letters you will ever write. Other than your resume, it is the single key document that will introduce you to a prospective employer and, if well-written, pave the way to that all-important job interview. It is an integral part of your overall job hunting campaign, and it can make... (492 views)
Resumes Resumes are terribly important. Although it is possible to become paranoid about them and to spend too much time developing them, it is essential that every prospective associate spend an appropriate amount of time on his or her resume. (8 views)
How Critical Is Your Appearance While Hunting For a Law Job Your resume and cover letter represent you. They convey all that you are as a newcomer to the profession. Consequently, the way these documents look is at least as important as what they say. In some ways, their appearance may be even more important. Every legal administrator has a story about otherwise good resumes that were discarded without further thought simply... (61 views)
How To Make Your Resume And Introductory Letter Count In The Non-Legal Job Market Legal training is comprehensive and intensive so it applies to a wide variety of career disciplines. You are preparing for some exciting and lucrative careers, careers that do not fall under the rubric of practicing law. This is your design. Businesses need people with certain backgrounds in various strategic positions. At least one-quarter of the law school graduates do... (32 views)
Tailoring Your Resume To Push Yourself Strongly For Non-Legal Jobs The vast majority of resumes look the same. Why? They look the same because the vast majority of job seekers do not put enough of their own thought or effort into writing them. They use a form resume out of a book as a template. Then, all that is left to do is slap together one page of seemingly unrelated data that ends up reading like an obituary notice, make a lot of... (312 views)
Importance of Resumes Resumes are terribly important. Although it is possible to become paranoid about them and to spend too much time developing them, it is essential that every prospective associate spend an appropriate amount of time on his or her resume. (241 views)
Legal Resumes and Cover Letters A resume is an opportunity to create a positive impression with an employer. It may be viewed as a photograph that presents a certain image, yet leaves a more compelling story to be told-perhaps during an interview. Because this document is a self-portrait, it is sometimes difficult to give generic advice on the preparation of a legal resume. Yet, there are key concepts... (677 views)
Cover Letter and Resume for Legal Professionals The cover letter, like all correspondence and writings sent to employers, should be typed on good bond paper by a professional typist/secretary on an electric typewriter or a word processor. Style and appearance count impressively in any lawyer's presentation. Substance is important, but a flawless, dignified presentation indicates careful attention to all aspects of a... (491 views)
Contents and Style in a Resume Every resume must identify and describe the writer. You must include the following: (28 views)
Writing Your Resume When writing your resume, always remember that its purpose is to make you interesting enough to a potential employer to secure you an interview. Your resume should be considered as an advertisement for yourself and, like a good ad, it should be visually attractive, brief, and informative. Above all, it should create interest in its product. In this case, you are the... (37 views)
How to Make Your Resume Look Good Since your resume probably will be the first contact between you and your prospective employer, it is imperative that it invite reading. The physical appearance of your resume is as important as the information it contains. A resume that is hard to read or confusing to interpret will end up in the wastebasket, while the reader goes on to the next one. Your resume is... (26 views)
How to Write Your Own Resume Now you are ready to start writing your own resume. The following worksheets will help you include all the necessary information and arrange it in a concise, organized manner. (27 views)
Special Resumes for People with Special Circumstances This article considers some of those special circumstances, whether they be a job problem related to age, a hiring advantage in being a member of a minority group, a decision to change fields or career direction, or perhaps a desire to surge ahead in the corporate world. (235 views)
What You Need to Know about Cover Letters Enclose a covering letter whenever you send your resume to a prospective employer. While it rarely gives any information that is not included in your resume, the letter is an act of courtesy and a sign of a serious and professional approach to job hunting. It gives each employer a feeling of personal attention. (137 views)
Power Attorney Resume Formats There are many formats from which to choose when writing your resume. The most common in the legal community is the chronological format, which lists your educational background and work experience in reverse chronological order. This style is excellent for someone with a solid work history. Another frequently used format is the functional style. This style is best for... (909 views)
The Job Information You Should Include on Your Resume A job resume is a summary of a person's job experiences and factors that relate to his or her job qualifications. It's like a job application form, but with a major difference: Where employers use standardized forms to simplify comparisons among applicants, job seekers write resumes to emphasize their special skills and desirable experiences, and can make up their own... (51 views)
What Law Firms Look for in a Lateral Resume The lateral resume is an extremely important marketing tool. It's a key component of the recruiting process. Although a lateral resume differs in some respects from a student's resume, some basic ground rules remain. Law firms generally want more information from lateral attorney candidates and are less forgiving when errors occur. So it's critical that you do your... (58424 views)
Resume Building Worksheet On the left below, list the qualifications and skills that the employer will expect you to have in your new position. On the right side, list the results, skills, and accomplishments you have gained in your prior work experience or through your education. These will now become the descriptions you will use to create a resume that will sell the employer on your transferable... (70 views)
Alternative Legal Careers: How to make a non-legal resume OBJECTIVE: An objective states what you want to do and where you want to do it. It is specific for the position and can be changed to reflect the exact position you are seeking. (1501 views)
Preparing Non-Legal Cover Letters A cover letter is an introduction. You use a cover letter to market your skills and abilities to the employer receiving your resume. When you write a non-legal cover letter, you have the opportunity to sell your skills and abilities, to an employer who may not understand why a law school graduate is inter¬ested in the position. The key to a good non-legal cover letter is... (2335 views)
Why is Having a Good Resume So Vital for a Law Job in Philadelphia? If you are just moving to Philadelphia or have lived in the city a while, you may start looking for law jobs in Philadelphia. You may just want to switch practices and are looking to land your first job in a new practice area. Even if you have years of experience as an attorney, if you're looking to make a change, you may find yourself looking for law jobs in Philadelphia. (22 views)
Standing Out in the Crowd Times are grim in many ways for the legal industry. And that means lots of resumes are hitting desks. (60 views)
Let Your Attorney Cover Letter Make the Case for Interviewing You Your cover letter is your personal marketing tool. Its purpose is to sell your qualifications to a prospective employer, and it provides you with your first chance to make a favorable impression. Many employers read cover letters first, and if they do not like them, they read no further. (2214 views)
Foreign language skills is definitely a key asset in an Attorney's Resume If you are bilingual, make sure to indicate it on your attorney resume. If you are not, and you are thinking of a career shift, consider learning Spanish. (1158 views)
How to Write a Legal Resume: Tips on Writing a Legal Resume to Get an Attorney Job The following article provides some guidelines for attorneys on writing legal resumes. Legal resumes differ from resumes written for jobs in other fields. Legal resumes may include sections and information, such as lists of representative cases and affiliations, which generally will not be found on other resumes. Highlighting accomplishments is key to writing an... (5317 views)
Grim Reality for Real Estate and Finance Attorneys The recent forced buy-out of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase is a significant catalyst for displaced lawyers. (155 views)
An effective and strong Resume can be useful as a Marketing tool I studied journalism as an undergraduate, a field that emphasizes identifying the audience to which one is speaking when writing a piece. For example, many local newspapers throughout the country are written to a fifth-grade-level audience, but the Wall Street Journal and New York Times write to a much more advanced level of education. Not only do such newspapers use... (88 views)
Using Strong Verbs in Your Attorney Resume Whether you use bullets or place structured phrases in prose form separated by semicolons in your resume, you know that resumes must sound assertive, project confidence, and place you in a category above the rest. Using strong action verbs in your consistently structured phrases makes your resume easy to read; potential employers can retain more information about you. In... (8046 views)
Sending a Transaction Sheet with Your Attorney Resume Including a representative transaction sheet as an addendum to your attorney resume allows you to provide more detail about the legal transactions you have conducted throughout your career. Usually one or two pages, the sheet lists transactions in bulleted prose and groups them by law category under headings with category names. (9924 views)
Your Attorney Resume: Use a Statement of Qualifications and a Cover Letter Instead of an Objective Some experts believe that attorneys should have objective statements on their resumes. They see the objective as a nice, friendly opener to let the employer or recruiter know immediately what your legal focus is. Particularly, they believe that an objective section at the top of your resume right under your name and contact information will clarify things if you have an... (15185 views)