Resume Length Forum

[echooo23]

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[bdubs]

The general consensus seems to be that resumes should not be more than one page, but the problem then becomes reducing it down to what matters. I have 13 years of work experience - the first one dating back 13 years was law related, then after a prolonged gap, the last 6 years were also law related. If I edit out those 4 non-law jobs in between to get the resume down to one page, would the 8 year "gap" in employment reflect poorly on me?

How is a job from 13 years ago relevant? Experience that dated is almost always unhelpful. If you must, you can do one liners for the other jobs to show that you were employed in the interim.

[dingbat]

The general consensus seems to be that resumes should not be more than one page, but the problem then becomes reducing it down to what matters. I have 13 years of work experience - the first one dating back 13 years was law related, then after a prolonged gap, the last 6 years were also law related. If I edit out those 4 non-law jobs in between to get the resume down to one page, would the 8 year "gap" in employment reflect poorly on me?

How is a job from 13 years ago relevant? Experience that dated is almost always unhelpful. If you must, you can do one liners for the other jobs to show that you were employed in the interim.

Seconded. I had to trim a lot of meat off my resume to get it to fit on one page and it sucked, but there are very few people who credibly need 2 pages. I know of a person who is former biglaw partner, former director of multinational, former CEO, current board member of two publicly traded companies who started his own group of firms and still manages to keep it down to a page

[atcushman]

just use the xp for the past 6 years...also just b/c employment wasnt law related dosnt mean employers wont care about it

[echooo23]

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[A. Nony Mouse]

FWIW, I have that much job experience as well, and my CSO told me going onto a second page was fine. I haven't had any problem getting jobs with a 2 pp. resume (during school/clerkships/post-clerkships). Mind you, as I get more legal experience I've condensed the previous experience more and more, and I think it's totally appropriate to put something like, "Employer X, Employer Y, Employer Z - positions in [whatever previous field] - [dates]", so it explains what you've been doing but takes up really minimal space. But I don't think having a second page is really that big a problem.

(The previous experience wasn't directly applicable to law, but it showed advanced research/writing skills so I wanted to include it - also to make clear I'd been doing something after I graduated college!)

[Agent]

I recommend exceeding one page.

[worldtraveler]

Mine is two pages because for public interest that is tolerated and expected much more than in the private sector. OP, what are you planning on applying for?

[bdubs]

Well, it's relevant to the extent that it's law-related. And it may count for something that I was a paid intern at the DA's office when I was still in high school, so I certainly don't think it would be unhelpful. I did reduce the others down to a single line, but it's still too long. The only way I can see it work is by eliminating even the one-liners, but I'm worried about the gap.

Wait.... you want to go back 13 years to put high school work experience on your resume?!?!?! You can't be serious.

[echooo23]

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[Anonymous User]

Well, it's relevant to the extent that it's law-related. And it may count for something that I was a paid intern at the DA's office when I was still in high school, so I certainly don't think it would be unhelpful. I did reduce the others down to a single line, but it's still too long. The only way I can see it work is by eliminating even the one-liners, but I'm worried about the gap.

Flame

Hopefully no one is actually this ignorant. No employer will ever look at your filing in high school as relevant to the legal work you will do. I interned at the DA's office multiple summers in undergrad and even that is only relevant because of a law clerk who took me under his wing one summer.

[Anonymous User]

Mine is two pages because for public interest that is tolerated and expected much more than in the private sector. OP, what are you planning on applying for?

Pretty much anything and everything in my target market. In this economy, I don't think I can afford to be too selective. Just going to cast a wide net and see what turns up. I'm putting together a few resumes - some longer, some shorter, and some more geared toward certain fields.

Well, it's relevant to the extent that it's law-related. And it may count for something that I was a paid intern at the DA's office when I was still in high school, so I certainly don't think it would be unhelpful. I did reduce the others down to a single line, but it's still too long. The only way I can see it work is by eliminating even the one-liners, but I'm worried about the gap.

Wait.... you want to go back 13 years to put high school work experience on your resume?!?!?! You can't be serious.

And yes. Like I said above, I believe that a 1L who already has paid work experience at the DA's office could be helpful, or at the very least, not unhelpful. It could also show that I have been committed to this field for a significant period, even if there were gaps in between. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like work experience from long ago is only unhelpful if it was not related to the job for which the application is being made or if there is significant similar experience that is more recent. For me, I had some experience 13 years ago, had a gap, and then worked for 6 years at a law firm. If I only put the most recent law firm experience it would show an incomplete picture of me at first glance. At the very least, I just don't see how it's unhelpful. And it may put me ahead if the person who's reading is looking for someone who is older and who shows a greater commitment to law than some dipshit 22 year old barely out of diapers.

Ok... I will say that if your going back 13 years is to put high school experience on your resume then you need to reformat a bit. My professional resume outside of law is 2 pages but my law resume I was able to cut down to 1 page with margins set to narrow, with size 11 font and I used spacing judiciously to make it not looked cluttered. I did eliminate some things more than 6 years back that were entrepreneurial in nature (summarized in 1 line or added to a cover letter if the position made it relevant), but I made even the largest experiences 5 lines or less and made a lot of awards etc into one line rather than listing them one per line.

13 years ago I was also in high school, and so I really think it should be doable for you too. Remember, if it doesn't have anything to do with negotiations, disputes or actual law, summarize it all into one bullet for that job. IE, engineering experience is not something a legal employer will ask about unless they have a common background.

You can put it on there but coming from the banking world, even college experiences should be minimized by this point in your career. If you put something that many people would think barely counts as experience on your resume, it takes away from your actual qualifications as you come across as puffing on your actual experiences. (For example, the interviewer might think if this guy has to tell me about what a stud he was in high school, how good can he actually be at what he's doing today.) I would limit the high school experience to one line at most just to say you did it I guess, with almost no details on what you did.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Yeah, although I'm a fan of the 2 pp resume for people who have extensive pre-LS WE, I think high school is pushing it (I don't have anything from earlier than a few years out of college on mine, and really, I should cut some of that down myself). I'd be more likely to mention it in a cover letter, something like "My interest in [whatever area of law] began in high school, when I interned with the DA in [wherever]."

[deadpanic]

What did you do in high school? I'm guessing you were answering phones, sorting the mail, getting coffee & making copies? If so, just leave it off. It is in no way helpful when seeking a job. The fact that it was at the D.A.'s office, rather than some other office is pretty much irrelevant unless you are applying for that exact office.

[echooo23]

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