During Summer Doldrums, Fix Your Resume!

After your LinkedIn profile, your resume is the second most important thing to fix. You should always have a presentable resume handy because you never know when opportunities will arise. I have seen good candidates miss out when it takes them a week to pull together a basic resume. Take the time now to get it ready – you need to compress relevant data that is easy to read in a few seconds!

I liked these two recent articles on what constitutes an impressive resume. I’m summarizing their top three points:

1. Keep it simple. A simple design, short format (1-2 pages), and use of keywords for the job will make it easy for both robots and human recruiters to read. Don’t use different colors and fonts. Don’t be creative with lettering or formats because the legal field is quite conservative. Use the words straight from the job description instead of a synonym.
2. Include metrics to illustrate accomplishments. Quantify your track record to show you can hit the ground running. Examples are including the size ($ or #) of products/units you support, % growth over time, $ saved, awards won, etc. At least once a year you should be updating the details in your resume and perhaps picking up adjacent areas of law. For example, if you start your career with inbound contracts, try to pick up outbound contracts, then products, then privacy.
3. Tell a story. The reader of your resume should think it makes sense for you to be applying to this job. For example, you studied X in college, went to law school to develop X, interned at relevant firms/companies, worked at a firm in X for a few years, and now are at a company specializing in X, so it makes sense for you to build out X at this current company. That is an extreme example, but the more you can provide linkages between schools and jobs, the better. No one wants to hire someone they have to train from the ground up or who seems flaky.