Law
School Resume Information
Law School
Resumes
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Purpose
The main purpose of a resume is to get you an interview. Your resume conveys who
you are and what you have done with your life. It also demonstrates your ability
as a writer. Spend the time and effort needed to create a resume that:
- Highlights
the academic and work-related experiences that make you a qualified applicant;
- Demonstrates
your additional skills, achievements, personal qualities, and interests;
- Reflects
your ability to present information in an organized, succinct, and eye-catching
manner;
- Demonstrates
your ability to write well and pay close attention to detail.
Ideally, resumes should also be tailored to the type of job you are applying
for: for example, a resume that is being sent to public interest employers would
include more detail regarding public interest activities. Let's say you are
applying to an environmental defense organization; you might include information
regarding membership in the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council,
etc., even if you did little more than attend meetings. If you are applying to a
private law firm, however, memberships in organizations in which you did not
hold an office or involve yourself in specific, notable projects would be one of
the first things deleted. It is, however, important for you to examine your
resume and make sure that you feel comfortable with it, because it is after all,
a representation of who you are.
Resume
Format
Appearance
A legal resume is not the place to express artistic creativity. Instead, the
resume should appear organized, structured and balanced. A resume should always
be printed on 8 ½'' x 11'' paper. Use heavy bond paper that is white, off-white,
or a pale shade of cream. Avoid using excessively large type for your name. Your
name should be in bold type. Part of a balanced approach is the use of
parallelism. For example, italicizing your title under the name of the employer
(Judicial Intern, Research Assistant, Summer Associate) helps to pull together
the look of your resume. Highlighting certain words, or using italics or bold is
an effective way to make your resume more interesting to read. Be careful of too
much of a good thing, though: overuse of bold or italics can make the resume
appear cluttered and distract each reader. Use of different fonts is rarely
effective. Choose a simple font and stay with it. The bottom line of resume
writing is readability.
Most student resumes should be confined to one page. Although it may be
necessary to change font size or margins to make your information fit on a page
this trick should be used only as a last resort and not at the sacrifice of
clarity.
Content
Heading. Put your name, address, and telephone number at the top of your resume.
Be sure to include your work (if applicable) and your home telephone numbers.
Include your e-mail address and be sure to check it frequently. If you have an
amusing email address, DO NOT use it. Use your Seton Hall account. If you are
applying to employers in your home state, you may wish to include both your
school and permanent addresses.
- Job
Objective. Job Objectives are rarely (if ever) found on a legal resume.
- Education.
List your current (Seton Hall) education first and proceed in reverse
chronological order: e.g. legal education, graduate institution where
appropriate, and undergraduate background. For each institution, indicate the
year of graduation (not years in attendance) and the degree obtained or
expected. Do not include your high school education.
If you have attended a summer program, you have at least two options. You can
describe your program in a separate listing, or it can be included as a
sub-category under the appropriate undergraduate or law school.
For example:
London School of Economics, London, England
Studied political theory and European economics, Summer 1997
William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA
Bachelor of Arts, May 1998
Study Abroad: University of Madrid, Summer 1997
Indicate law school grades, honors, activities, law review, clinic, and research
projects. It is typically not effective to include clubs or organizations in
which you are only a member.
- Surprisingly,
the Honors section is one of the most underused sections. Honors can
include basically any position in which a student is selected by his or her
peers or appointed by a faculty member. For example, if a faculty member chooses
members of a Moot Court Board based on writing samples provided by students,
being chosen is an honor. It is also important to explain honors fully. If the
honor is not clear, you won't get credit for it.
- Grades.
Employers are always interested in your academic record, and most will ask for a
transcript. Seton Hall GPAs should be listed as they appear on your transcript
since most of the time the employer will ask to see a transcript eventually.
Ranks must be listed in the same way Seton Hall calculates them. Rank is
calculated twice each year. Do not estimate your class rank.
For example: GPA: 3.33 Rank: 78/232 If your grades improve, you might consider
breaking down your GPA by semester or year to reflect that improvement. You
might even break down your GPA by subject area. For example, if you are a tax
student, you could indicate your overall GPA and then your GPA in your tax
courses. If you choose to list any part of your GPA, you must also list the
cumulative. The Registrar's Office lists the most recent semester's GPA as
current GPA. If you were to list only that semester's GPA with the label
current, most employers would believe that meant cumulative and it could
inadvertently mislead them as to your overall GPA. That could prove
embarrassing, at best, and damaging to your career opportunities, at worst. If
you list both, it is acceptable to list the higher number first. Since people
read left to right, they'll see the higher before the lower one.
For example:
GPA: 3.40, '99-00; Overall: 2.90
GPA: 3.35, Fall '99; 3.00, Overall
Tax Coursework GPA: 3.79; Overall GPA: 3.0
If your grades do not positively reflect your abilities, you may omit them. Know
however, that some employers will not consider resumes that do not show some
measure of academic performance, and that many employers assume that a failure
to list a GPA indicates a poor academic record. Consult with a career counselor
about how to proceed and at what point you should consider adding grades to your
resume, as well as how to respond to questions on this topic. The general rule
of thumb is that if the GPA is a 3.0 or better, or in the top 50%, include it.
If it's below that mark, it may be better to exclude it.
When preparing your resume, keep in mind that inaccurate information with
respect to your academic record or school activities can constitute grounds for
revocation of a job offer and disciplinary action by the Law School.
- Do
not include your LSAT score on your resume. Some employers may request your
LSAT score and that's better dealt with on a case-by-case basis, but in no
circumstance should you include it on your resume.
- Experience.
By using the term "experience" as opposed to "employment," you may include
volunteer work, clinic experience, and internships in this category. List your
experience in reverse chronological order, beginning with the most recent
position. If you are still working at a position, make it clear that your job is
until the "present." It is not necessary to include every part-time job you ever
held.
For each position include:
- name of the employer;
- location of the position;
- job title; and dates of service
- Include significant part-time or summer employment. Write a brief
paragraph using action verbs to describe your responsibilities and
accomplishments. For examples please see the Appendix. Resist the temptation to
begin every position description with responsibilities included. Quantify
descriptions wherever you can. For example: As chairman, increased membership by
120%. Also, be sure to include details on the type of legal work you performed
and the practice areas addressed. Legal employers see "researched and prepared
memoranda of law" on hundreds of resumes. The resume that will stand out is the
one that indicates what was researched.
- As
you progress in your law school career, you may also wish to summarize
part-time, summer, and non-legal experience in a few lines. Try, however, to
describe both your legal and non-legal employment in a non-generic way that will
both distinguish you from other applicants and will interest the reader. For
example, when making hiring decisions, employers often give weight to
self-financed education. For instance:
- Financed over 75% of undergraduate education through part-time work
in retail sales and restaurant management.
It is difficult to prepare a resume as an application for legal employment that
does not include legal experience. As a first year student who may have only
worked part-time you may find yourself struggling with what to include and what
not to include on your resume. Generally, you can indicate any of your prior
employment if you know how to dress it up. For example, if you waitressed you
might consider listing the corporation that owns the restaurant instead of the
restaurant name as your employer. Someone who waitered at TGI Fridays could
indicate that they worked for Carlson Restaurants Worldwide. You should also
include the dates you worked, the location, "waitressed" and then include how
many hours a week you worked and how much of your education you financed.
Skills/
Hobbies/ Interests and other categories.
The purpose of these categories is
to facilitate conversation or break the ice during interviews, and to give
employers a more well rounded view of your background. Some professionals think
that a resume should not include this information. However, the practitioners
who support listing your hobbies and interests usually have obtained employment
at some point in their legal career because of what they listed here and a bond
that it may have established with their interviewer. If you decide to include
this information, be prepared to talk about it. Also, make sure your personal
interests are descriptive. For example:
- Enjoy travel to the Far East, Mexican cooking, and Nineteenth Century literature
is much more effective than
- Enjoy travel, cooking, and reading.
Spell Check: The Golden Rule
It is remarkable, in this era of the computer, the number of spelling and
grammatical errors still found on resumes. The most frequent grammatical errors
are incorrect use of capitalization, incorrect punctuation and failure to use
parallel sentence structure. Use of grammatik may help identify these errors.
Neither spell check or grammatik is foolproof, however, and nothing substitutes
for several careful readings of your resume.
Resume Falsification
In a competitive market, it can be very tempting to exaggerate your credentials.
You must resist this temptation! Be ethical and practical. All the information
on your resume can, and very likely will, be verified. If you choose to
participate in Seton Hall Law's On-Campus Recruitment Program in the spring of
your first year, OCS will verify your grade and rank information before
submitting your materials to employers. Most law schools, including Seton Hall,
have student codes of professional responsibility. These codes include a
statement cautioning students to avoid even the appearance of impropriety when
they prepare their resumes, cover letters, application forms, and other career
materials.
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