Applying for the legal field could be intimidating and stressful, the content and quality of your work dictates if this process takes days, weeks, or months.
It is NOT enough to just have a resume, speaking from experience from both assisting hiring candidates and putting myself out there to be hired by prospective firms.
Landing a legal job can be potentially life-changing, as the average salary for positions within firms are competitive and generally pay well.
Although the pay can be lucrative, the workload can be massive as a result. Firms want to feel confident that who they hire can fulfill that workload and deliver.
So how do you stand out?
Preparation
When writing your resume, understand that most legal writing and pleadings are straightforward and ‘to-the-point’ and therefore, it is imperative to not over-explain yourself and save the talking for the interviews.
Hiring managers go through a ton of resumes a day, with candidates having to compete with hundreds of others. Platforms like Indeed, Linkedin, and Glassdoor make it easy to submit to multiple firms.
How do you make yourself more likely to get a call back?
Stand Out
When I was desperately looking for a legal job after putting in my two weeks at my old firm, I was frantically submitting my resume on Indeed to multiple employers.
In the beginning, I would just submit a flashy resume that was more similar to what you would find an art student’s than a law student’s. I thought that an aesthetically pleasing resume was what everyone wanted from a candidate and hoped that my experience was enough to wow people.
I got zero call-backs the first week of trying that.
On paper, I seemed like the perfect candidate for any of the jobs that I applied to but yet, it wasn’t my experience or effort holding me back. It was the fact that I was misplacing my effort.
What helped a lot was four things:
4 Things to help you stand out in your legal resume
1. Personally calling the firm and asking if the position was still around.
Most hiring managers were NOT available to speak, but I got through to some and eventually after submitting myresume, most managers did call back. It can be nerve wracking to put yourself out there to people who don’t even know you and statistically, most will turn you down but making a good first impression never hurts.
It is important to introduce yourself to show firms that you are hungry and eager at an opportunity.
Most people lay back and hope the opportunity comes to them, but it is NOT enough to just submit your resume and wait. Since a successful hiring is a combination of luck and timing, it is better to show initiative by introducing yourself personally.
2. It is suggested to keep an Excel spreadsheet of the places you called and submitted your resume
Don’t be discouraged when you get rejected. Since you will be applying to hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs it is important to keep track of who you called and when you called that way you are able to network and keep connections even if an opportunity doesn’t happen right away.
Out of the 197 jobs I applied to within giving my month’s notice, only 30 called back and 15 offered a position.
Jobs that I called months ago were barely getting back to me, it truly does take time and can be discouraging but it really is a numbers game at the end of the day.
The best thing to do is raise your odds by being persistent.
3.Submit a more direct and forward resume.
Most firms do not want too much going on in your resume as they usually skim through, especially in a professional setting. If there is too much to read, that can harm you more as managers have to go through hundreds of resumes and want simpler ones. Save your explaining for the interviews.
Leave enough to read, but leave them wanting more.
4.Tailoring your resume to fit the keywords of the job description.
If you can articulate and tailor your resume to certain keywords of a listing on indeed for example, it will make employers more likely to hire you
Legal Resume Template Format
Typically, firms prefer you put your Relevant Experience first then Education at the bottom, and then additional information on your skills on the last . (See the template below)
Experience:
The most important subject on your resume. Prospective employers, especially in the legal field, look at this first because the truth of the matter is most jobs do not want to go through a rigorous training with a new candidate.
They want someone who they can train easily and can hit the ground running.
In order to stand out on experience, list relevant projects and work duties that make you more valuable to the firm.
Example:
Education:
This is important especially if you are fresh out of school, but not as important as experience.
Regardless, be upfront about your education and what credentials you have, make it as simple and concise as possible.
Certainly the quality of your schooling does matter at some places, but unless you are applying at a top law firm in your area, most firms do not really look towards your education as a indicator of your future performance.
Of course your credentials and degree matter, and it should be the bare minimum, but what good is it if you can’t apply it in a professional setting?
Example:
Additional Info:
Adding in skills that you possess outside of your education and also emphasizing what you have already stated makes your resume stand out even more.
Listing your technical knowledge is always a plus, as most modern work is done electronically, with the field transitioning towards it even more.
List the programs you are familiar with, both legal and common office applications, as well as paraphrase the skills that you have already stated for emphasis.
Example:
Legal Resume Template Example
Mark Dizon
Writer | Articles & Blog Posts | IT | Legal
Mark has 9+ years of experience in the Legal and IT field, assisting law firms in setting up shared networking as well as doing paralegal work. Some of his favorite writing topics are sports and finance. Mark has been key to the continued growth and sustainment of ULTMECHE in Google SEO and digital marketing.