How You Can Get the Legal Job You Want With the Prefect CV Or Resume

Lawyers may be used to writing, but when it comes to writing their own CVs their most important client – themselves! – goes all awry.

Why?

Because in a tough legal jobs market, such as the present, you need to focus on some key essentials required in the legal jobs market more than ever.

Some top lawyers may be able to score a job based on their past performance and reputation, but for most lawyers looking for the right legal job they simply want to get their foot in the door – and that requires a spot-on CV.

There are some keys to getting the legal job you want and it starts with your CV presentation. What should you be doing? More importantly, what should you not be doing?

Remember some of the keys towards putting together a winning CV that will help you land the legal job you’re after. Remember that there are no hard and fast rules, notwithstanding what some people may say, because different law firms and recruitment firms will prefer different styles.

However there are some keys you need to keep in mind while putting the all-important CV together.

Among them:

Many CVs will be quickly scanned (we’re in a tough legal jobs market – there are plenty of good lawyers out there), so you need to ensure your layout is crisp and clear. Don’t clutter the CV with long paragraphs and descriptive prose describing how brilliant you were in the appeal you won five years ago. Many CVs start with personal profiles, but these are largely involved with several, self-serving statements about your abilities and skills.

Your CV needs to be factual and clear, rather than a personal, subject appraisal.

Keep it straight forward, don’t over-write and work on keeping the document to around 2-3 pages.

Use a clear, regular font (10-12 point), use ‘white space’ rather than fancy borders and colors. No pictures.

Good grammar and English. If you’re not sure, then get your document checked and spell-check it. There’s nothing worse than poor grammar and spelling errors in terms of losing your dream law job. Essentially the law firm is going to be looking for the key information about you – that is, your personal details, your qualifications, your career history to date.

And here is where a lot of clients make mistakes. You need to outline what you’ve done, what experience you’ve had (particularly if you’ve worked in a smaller firm or a specialist law practice) because that is what the employer is looking for. Put serious thought into your career experience.