Resume for a lawyer: sample and tips
Are you a student or recent law graduate? Read the instructions on how to write a proper legal resume writer, create your own cool resume. So, let’s go item by item.
Education
Becoming a legal professional without a degree is not easy, but it’s possible. Keep in mind, even if an employer will turn a blind eye to your credentials, you will still be in demand – you need to know all the basic job duties and possess key skills.
If you want to become a lawyer from scratch, take a good look at entry-level jobs and consider what you already know and what you still need to learn. For example, someone with a background in paperwork could become a paralegal by studying the law and then moving on to other areas of legal work. However, it cannot be stressed enough that university education is an important point for employers and in the future it might be that the possibilities of lawyers without a university degree will be very limited.
Work experience
Many companies and law firms are happy to take on students and recent graduates to give them routine job responsibilities. Of course, poring over documents all day will be boring at first, but it’s a great experience and a chance to see the real side of the job.
Students can apply for internships – paid or unpaid – or for fixed-term work contracts until graduation. Recent graduates with no or little experience are welcome to apply for paralegal or paralegal positions. Look for internships or vacancies on the website of your department or ask the dean’s office for information – your favourite institution can not only give you knowledge, but also help with work.
If you have some experience, everything is simple – describe it competently. But writing a lawyer’s CV without experience will be more complicated, but also realistic. Recall everything you studied at university: what documents you reviewed, cases you parsed, laws you studied.
The courses are
Law is not an Internet marketing, here online courses are hard to do: you can’t get the fundamental legal and legal knowledge from home. But you can always enrich your law resume with information about some interesting and informative course.
The format
Rules for writing and formatting resumes are the same for any profession:
- Avoid overly creative design in the layout;
- Use legible fonts;
- Be clear about your achievements and responsibilities, preferably in a list;
- Download your resume in a format that is easy to view on any device.
Also, don’t forget to study the taboo clauses, which should definitely be removed.
For a lawyer’s CV, do not opt for bright design colours and out-of-the-box templates. Stick to classics and subdued colours: black, grey, navy blue.
Cover letter
Once again, let us remind you – with a cover letter, young professionals can at least make up for little or no experience. Provided, of course, that the cover letter is really catchy.
In your cover letter, tell us about your motivation and professional dreams: do you want to develop in this particular company, are you only considering the banking sector for study, etc. It is often the cover letter that makes the difference when selecting candidates!
