Employment Patriotism For years, applicants have been utilizing objectives at the tops of their resumes or cover letters in attempts to grab organizations' attention and create appeal. Unfortunately, with advances in the hiring process and the large growth of the population in general, those doing the hiring have a lot more applicants to pick from, and an objective for career growth just will... (7 views)
Nothing about you can be kept hidden from your employers For some reason, there is this crazy idea floating around that portraying yourself in the best possible light also means saying whatever you need to say to get the job. I would like to submit that this idea could not be further from the truth. (7 views)
Make a proper appearance of your Resume Resumes and cover letters are the documents potential employers are going to look at and either be intrigued enough to file away for the future or be unimpressed enough to place in cylindrical files for homeless men on street corners to use as insulation on cold winter nights. Unfortunately, most employment-seeking documents are just lackluster or laborious enough to get... (16 views)
Show Me the Money...or How You Will Make Me Money This week, I spoke with Rick Gillis, who, over a short number of years, has developed quite an impressive career as an employment expert, public speaker, author, and radio show host. As founder of The Really Useful Job Company, Gillis has built the formula of fundamentals that will get job candidates hired. (40 views)
Using Psychology to Get Your Resume Noticed This week, I spoke with Paul Endress, a nationally recognized expert in the application of psychology to business in the areas of communication, hiring, and retention. Over the past 25 years, he has started nine companies, which means he knows a thing or two about hiring and what to look for in cover letters and resumes. (75 views)
The Online Resume: A Window into One's Soul? I have said it once, and I am going to say it again: technology has given many of today's job seekers the misconception that a good old-fashioned hard copy resume is way too old school. As a result, many candidates are sending employers links to their personal webpages, which happen to showcase their resumes, revealing perhaps too much information, if you catch my drift. (48 views)
The ill effects of lying about facts and information in Resume When most law students graduate, they face an oh-so-daunting Catch-22: many entry-level jobs require previous experience, which many law graduates obviously do not have. They may also be encouraged to lie about which schools they attended, since consideration of the school a candidate graduated from is often a make-or-break factor in getting hired by a top firm. This leads... (457 views)
Daring Resumes: Are They Worth the Risk? As we look around at the 12-year-olds blabbing on their BlackBerry devices and jamming to thousands of songs on their microscopic iPod shuffles, there is no debate as to whether our society has become overwhelmingly technologically savvy, but is that necessarily something that should be reflected on our resumes? With many of today's businesses looking for more streamlined... (69 views)
Preparing Curricula Vitae for the International Market These days, with our global economy expanding at such a rapid rate, many young American law school graduates and professionals are broadening their horizons and applying to foreign firms, companies, and organizations. When applying for a job with a foreign employer, the application process has a few considerable differences that must be addressed, as our American practice... (39 views)
Employers' Biggest Resume and Cover Letter Pet Peeves Whether they are right out of college or 20 years into their careers, many people cannot seem to overcome the alarmingly noticeable resume and cover letter flaws and missteps that many employers describe as their biggest pet peeves. Do yourself a favor and pay attention because in this business—as in any business—there are no second chances when it comes to committing... (342 views)
Broadening Your Resume When Job Experience is Scarce Many law students spend their entire college careers focusing on their studies and overall academic performances, which leaves them no time to hold down full-time jobs. Although this sacrifice pays off when students end up with records of high scholastic achievement upon graduation, full-time law students can find it difficult to put together resumes demonstrating strong,... (3073 views)
The importance of soft skills in Email Etiquettes In our contemporary, technology-savvy workplace, it is almost impossible to avoid emailing cover letters and resumes to potential employers; in fact, email is usually the initial means of communication between employers and their job candidates. A series of questions may cross a person's mind when he or she is about to send a submission via email. Because email is still... (223 views)
The Power of Words in Your Resume and Cover Letter When composing resumes and cover letters, many people underestimate the power of words. Whether it be a resume, cover letter, essay, or email, the entire meaning of a work can be altered by word choice. Evaluating the connotations of words used in your resume and cover letter and making necessary adjustments can both streamline the flow of your documents and allow you to... (813 views)
How to draft the best resume and covering letter to get the job When preparing cover letters and resumes for a job search mailing, you should never consider submitting two of the same cover letter—or even two of the same resume, for that matter. It is invaluable to know as much as possible about the jobs you are applying for, so that your letter and resume can be focused and concise. Each letter and resume must speak directly to each... (278 views)
How to eliminate unwanted things off your Resume While lawyers concerned about the best possible presentation on their resumes (as we all should be!) may agonize over formatting and fonts, the key to creating a powerful resume is simplicity. Often, a resume that leaves the best impression is one that's been edited to remove extraneous content, leaving the most relevant parts for the potential employer's review. Being... (181 views)
How Long Should My Resume Be? and Other Questions and Answers This week, Mother Resume would like to take some time to answer some of your most pressing resume questions. As you all probably know, the only dumb question is the one you don't ask, and this is especially true when it comes to resume writing. Your resume is what gets you noticed and gets you in for the interview. Therefore, it is the single most important document in... (23 views)
Resume writing tips While Barbara Chalsma is gone, other resume experts will be filling in for her. This week, Stephen E. Seckler, a recruiter with BCG Attorney Search, gives his resume writing tips. (32 views)
The nitty gritty's of drafting a proper Resume and advice on how to avoid the 5 dangerous mistakes When it comes to crafting their resumes, there are five main mistakes people make on a regular basis that keep them from landing the interviews that lead to the dream jobs. In hopes of saving you from these resume blunders, I'm going to let you in on exactly what the infamous mistakes are and give you some tips on how to avoid making them. (184 views)
The importance of proofreading, suggestions, Reader Response and Q&A's In a previous column on formatting, an error was inserted into the paragraph on proofing your documents. The subject was how easily we could mistakenly use a homonym. You remember what homonyms are: those words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings, such as hear/here or there/their. The example I used in my column was to/too/two. However,... (156 views)
Formatting Your Resume It used to be that only graphic designers were judged to have the necessary skills and talent for designing and formatting. Now that page-layout software is ubiquitous, everyone thinks him/herself to be a formatter and—by extension—a graphic designer. It is off-topic here to debate whether flyers that ''everyone knows'' are poorly designed actually speak to their... (6052 views)
Tips on How to Write a Great Cover Letter and a Resume Your resume and cover letter are arguably the most important documents of your career, and you have direct control over exactly how good or how bad they are. When your career is at stake, it's important to make sure your resume and cover letter are not only excellent, but that they reflect who you are and the many skills you can bring to the firm or corporation to which... (4612 views)
Essential Resume Profiles We at Attorney Resume believe that your Profile, which we put at the very top of a resume (immediately after your name and contact information), is essential to help a potential employer picture who you are. Your Profile can stand on its own, whether or not you have a cover letter. It should be accurate and backed up by details that you include in the rest of the resume.... (3048 views)
Resumes: Responsibilities vs. Accomplishments For many people, resume writing is like going to the dentist. Thinking about it is stressful, so you postpone the task as long as you can. And as time goes by without action, anxiety and consequences increase. With teeth, you may lose them. With your resume, you may forget all the great things you accomplished, hastily make grammatical errors, and/or fail to construct a... (473 views)
The Essential Guide to Writing a Resume for Law Firms Page 2 - Action Verbs Appendix I: Action Verbs A: accelerated accomplished achieved acquired acted activated actuated adapted administered adopted advanced advised advocated aided allocated altered amended amplified analyzed approved arbitrated arranged ascertained assembled assigned assumed assessed assisted attained attracted audited augmented authored authorized... (236 views)
Creating a Digital Resume: Tips & Best Practices from Legal Professionals You can easily develop an electronic resume and send it by e-mail, but there are caveats. (42 views)
Law Firm Resume Writing Tips: How to Stand Out to Employers The experts give some advice on what specifically "legal" resumes need to focus on — and what will make it jump out at hiring organizations. (4844 views)