A
resume is a brief summary of your abilities, education,
experience, and skills. Its main task is to get you
a job interview. An effective resume enables a prospective
employer to see how you will fit into his/her organization.
At The Paralegal Institute of Washington, D.C., we help
you to succeed in your job search by providing professional
assistance in refining your resume. The key is to emphasize
your accomplishments and provide proof of your potential
value to an employer.
Do
your research
A good way to begin to improve your resume is by researching
job openings and seeing exactly what employers find
desirable in their ideal candidates. Review job ads
on employment websites and look at required qualifications,
skills and experience. Then incorporate your matching
credentials in your resume so hiring managers see that
you've got what they want. In constructing a resume
for a legal employer, you must express your educational
and experiential background in a way that shows you
have acquired the skills necessary to function in a
legal setting.
Choose
your format
Use the best format to effectively communicate your
individual skills and experiences in the most positive
way. Job seekers who have significant professional experience
should consider a chronological format. This format
is generally preferred for the legal profession: educational
and work histories are set forth in reverse chronological
order. Those who have developed great skills through
their experiences but do not have great job titles should
use a functional or combination resume to highlight
skills and accomplishments but to de-emphasize position
titles. This format is often helpful to individuals
who have had breaks in their careers, or who have switched
professions. The combination format uses elements of
both the functional and chronological styles. Those
pursuing a second career may choose to add a section
summarizing their qualifications for the position before
listing their experiences and education.
Create
your content and design
-
Use action verbs (e.g., drafted; managed; prepared)
to present yourself as a doer and achiever.
-
Choose concise, effective language, e.g., "Managed
20 cases for lead trial attorney" instead of
"Handled files". Avoid the first person
pronoun.
-
Minimize the job-hopper image by combining several
similar jobs into one "chunk," e.g., 1993-1995
Secretary/Receptionist – Fletcher’s Bakery,
Microsoft; Carter Jewelers; 1990-93 Waitress/Busgirl
– Smith's Diner, McDonald’s; Porter’s
Coffee Shop. Drop some of the less important, briefest
jobs, unless you acquired important skills or experience
in those jobs that are relevant to your current
job search.
-
Only
include hobbies if the activities are somehow relevant
to your job objective or clearly reveal a characteristic
that supports your job objective, e.g., "Talented
in learning languages" might seem relevant
to some job objectives (e.g., Immigration Law) but
not to others.
-
Physical appearance of the final copy is crucial.
Items should be positioned on the page so that a
prospective interviewer’s eye can focus on
information quickly. Use one professional looking
font and different font sizes, bold, capitalization,
spacing, etc., to stress and highlight. Proofread
carefully to be sure the resume is error free. Printing
must be on one side of the sheet only, on high-quality,
8.5 x 11 inch white or off-white paper. The right
side of the page must be in "ragged" format,
i.e., not right justified. Right justification creates
awkward white spaces.
-
When sending your resume to a prospective employer,
be sure to include a separate cover letter. This
is usually one page long. The letter indicates your
interest in a particular firm or position, summarizes
the most important aspects of your education and
experience, and lets the employer know where and
when you can be contacted for an interview.
Remember that your resume is your marketing tool. It
is about you, the job hunter, not only about the various
jobs you've held. It must emphasize your accomplishments,
rather than simply list your past job duties or job
descriptions. With a well-written resume, you can market
your past to create a promising future. Good luck!
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