Almost everyone is aware that in order to get a job, no matter what it is, you need a resume. Building a good resume is the first step to making yourself stand out from other candidates. It is the first professional file required to provide for recruiters. To write a lawyer resume worthy of the name, you will need to highlight your bar experience as well as your ability to provide legal advice. It is from your resume that recruiters will be able to judge your methodical and rigorous attitude and all the other sought-after characteristics that you possess. Our advice.
The design
For a very striking lawyer’s resume, the first thing to do is to focus on the design. It must respect certain codes specific to the legal sector. In other words, a lawyer’s resume is a very important document so it must be simple to read and uncluttered. You can refer to an online guide for writing your resume. But if you can’t find one, use the following tips.
To work on the design of your resume, use clear headings and align them in horizontal lines to structure each section. Write in a font that is more readable. Keep it simple and use only professional and serious language.
Also on the design side, don’t put too much color in your lawyer resume. This will show that you are still a beginner (if you are). Instead, use neutral colors if you want to separate the different sections of your resume and avoid extravagant colors like red, orange, green, etc.
The structure
The structure of a resume is also a very important point to see. A good lawyer’s resume should allow you to highlight your strengths in your field and not include unnecessary information that can negatively impact your application. It should be able to trace your career path and showcase your talents as a professional lawyer or in other jobs that are not outside the legal industry. In short, your profile should be effectively eye-catching.
Your CV must also reflect your real skills in relation to the legal field, i.e. it must be well structured so that your recruiter can appreciate your skills in this field without fail at a glance. To do this, you can use the keywords generally used in this sector.
And don’t forget to include your work experience in your attorney resume. Mention your previous law firm jobs and start with the most recent. And if you don’t have much experience in the field, you can add internships you’ve done previously or jobs you think will complement your criteria to stand out from the crowd.
And finally, still in the structure of your lawyer resume, the training section is also very important. Here, write down all the training (not the internships) that you have done during your professional career. These trainings will reassure your future employer about your ability to deal with problems when they arise.
For your information, the last diploma required to become a lawyer is the CAPA or the Certificat d’Aptitude à la Profession d’Avocat which is issued after a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in law at the University. You must also have completed one year of study in a judicial study institute and an additional 18 months of study at the CRFPA.
In short, to really influence your recruiter with your lawyer resume, work well on its structure by detailing every case you have handled before and that is related to your specialty. And on that note, don’t forget to mention your area of focus in the legal industry. Is it business law, criminal law, labor law or other? In short, know how to adapt your application to the profile sought if you really want to be retained.
The layout
Once you have finished writing your lawyer’s CV, the next step is to make sure that it is formatted properly. Headings, justified and well-balanced text (spaced out), appropriate choice of colors, perfectly readable font, all this must be well thought out. If you know how to do it very well, like when you defend your clients in court, you will be able to make your CV pleasant to read yourself. And the more your recruiter wants to read your CV, the more interested he or she will be to find out what is included.
Here, don’t forget your photo. Of course, it is not mandatory, but to reassure your recruiter, you must include a professional photo. And when we say professional photo, we don’t mean a photo with a smile on it or a vacation photo with the sea as a background, for example. When you take a professional photo, put on an appropriate outfit, not cool, but rather correct. And stand up straight with your eyes fixed on the camera.
And regarding the length, don’t exceed 2 pages and even if you have come a long way to get to this stage of job search as an expert lawyer. Only mention in your CV what is really essential to fit everything into one page. In short, to be among the most interesting candidates, be very careful not only on the writing of your CV and on the information to include, but especially on its overview. The longer your CV is, the less likely it is to be read.
To tell you the truth, no element should be minimized and even less left to chance in a lawyer’s CV. You can follow other tips on the net. But the best thing to do is to ask the advice of an expert lawyer who you feel is more qualified than you are, or a professional working in the legal industry who knows how to build a good resume or what points to emphasize in order to build a strong lawyer resume.
There are also free lawyer resume templates that you can download from the net and modify to fit your personal profile and expectations. In short, an attractive resume is the ultimate guarantee of the effectiveness of your application among many others for the same coveted position.
