1l law school resume
For more information and the latest updates, please visit the HLS coronavirus information page. Your goal in constructing your resume is to create an effective marketing tool. It should be a fluid document which changes as you earn degrees, gain professional experience and acquire new interests and career directions. Employers often spend less than a minute looking at each resume when they first receive it — so a well-organized, informative document is critical to your job search. Below are general guidelines to help you create a visually powerful resume that best reflects your strengths and accomplishments and enables you to land job offers with your top choice public interest employers.
Public Interest Resumes
While there are some general rules to bear in mind, such as adhering to brevity and listing highlights in reverse chronological order, each student has special skills and experience to offer to potential employers. You should make every effort to differentiate yourself by effectively marketing those unique qualifications. It is also important to remember what a resume should not be. It is NOT necessarily a listing of every work, educational and outside interest you have ever had. Design A one-page resume is preferred, especially for applications to private sector employers.
Eliminate sentences, especially first person narrative; use phrases to elaborate on accomplishments. This is a conservative profession.
Your resume should look neat, traditional, and easy to read. Clean, simple resumes are preferred by all types of employers. Use simple and often-used fonts — Times New Roman the font you are now reading is a good choice. Do not use a type size smaller than 10 point or larger than 12 point in the body of your resume although your name can be a little larger. We suggest either a left-justified or an indented style format, depending on your personal preference and how much information you plan to include on your resume.
Make the best use of space. Experiment with capital letters, bold face type, italics. Leave white space in your resume. Reproduction Resumes should be laser-printed. Money spent on your resume reproduction will be money well spent. You can purchase resume paper at most office supply stores.
It is not necessary to use matching envelopes - the least expensive white business envelopes will suffice. Your cover letter and resume should be on matching paper. Introduction There is no such thing as a perfect resume, which can be used for all employers. You may, in fact, want to have more than one resume, so that you can choose, organize and emphasize your background effectively to different potential employers. Take time to prepare a resume that is informative and effective.
This is often the first example of your writing that employers will read. If it is poorly organized, untidy, or words are misspelled, you've already created a negative impression. Bear in mind that it is estimated that decisions about whether to interview you may be based on as little as a 60 second review of your resume!
You may want to use both your law school and home address, depending upon where you are seeking employment. We suggest you use your Cornell email address. Educational Background - List schools attended in reverse chronological order, including, if applicable, any law school from which you may have transferred.
Under each institution, list honors, extracurricular activities, sports, etc. Note leadership positions - president, chairperson, captain, etc. List publications on which you worked or to which you have contributed. Include a thesis if you wrote one for any previous degrees.
The following are some general points to keep in mind, but they should not be viewed as a substitute for a counseling session. The decision as to whether or not you should use a grade report that includes your MPR mirrors the decision as to whether or not your MPR should be included on your resume.
If you decide to include your MPR on your resume, please note that rounding is not permitted. For example, a 3. Honors and Awards - Membership on a journal, receipt of a CALI Award or any other accomplishment that results from an academically-oriented selection process should be listed on your resume, usually in order of prestige. Experience - List in reverse chronological order. You may want to call attention to previous legal experience by listing it separately from other work experience.
Volunteer experience should not be overlooked. Do you have any lengthy gaps in your employment? Come talk to us on how to minimize this.
Include a brief description beginning each phrase with an action verb. Consider the examples on the following pages. References - Do not include references on your resume. Proofread, Proofread, Proofread, and then ask someone else to proofread your final resume copy. It is very easy to see what we expect to be on the resume, rather than what is actually there.
Even if numerous other people have looked over your resumes, you are ultimately responsible for your resume, and errors will be attributed to you alone. See Also: Samples.
Your goal in constructing your resume is to create an effective marketing tool. It should be a fluid document which changes as you earn degrees, gain. Most law student resumes should be one page in length. For example, many students choose to include law school clinical work, research for a Verbs (PDF); Frequently Asked Resume Questions · 1L Application Preparation (recording).
While there are some general rules to bear in mind, such as adhering to brevity and listing highlights in reverse chronological order, each student has special skills and experience to offer to potential employers. You should make every effort to differentiate yourself by effectively marketing those unique qualifications. It is also important to remember what a resume should not be.
Published December 10,
The Ohio State University. Concentrate on your studies and focus on getting used to law school. Join and take leadership roles in student groups that are related to your career interests.
