3 Resume Fixes for Every Law Student (and Lawyer)

I must have seen more than 100 law-student resumes over the past year. Often I see them after a law-school career office has reviewed, and after everyone thinks the resume is “final.” Here’s the problem:

I still catch formatting errors and see other obvious areas for improvement. 

Here are 3 fixes for every legal resume:

1: Cut almost all these words:  the, a, an, of.

▪️ “the,” “a/an”

In a resume entry—much like in the parentheticals you write to describe court cases—you rarely need to use these sort of introductory words before nouns.  (These words are technically called “articles”).

▪️ “of”

The word “of” is another culprit behind resume clutter.  Change your word order to create a possessive form that is tighter and just as clear.

Examples*
{*I’m not saying these examples are perfect. I’m merely trying to illustrate the above.}

🚫 “Attended meetings of the committees and agencies to prepare a summary report on the next steps for completion of the project.”

✅ “Attended committee and agency meetings to prepare summary report on next steps to complete project.”

—> IMO, it’s hard to notice any difference. No meaning is changed. No clarity is lost. But the second sentence is crisper and more concise.
______

🚫 “Supervised the team of paralegals to conduct a research project in regards to a motion for summary judgment for the manager’s presentation to the Board of the Agency.”

✅ “Supervised paralegal team to research summary judgment standards for manager’s presentation to agency Board.”
-or-
✅ “Led paralegals’ summary judgment research for manager report to agency Board.”
___

👉 See Fixes 2 & 3 in attached.

🗳️ What legal resume problems do you see over and over again?

🗳️ What resume questions might you have for me?

Fondly,
💌 Amanda

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