Resume question Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm starting to broaden my 2L search to include my hometown. When adjusting my resume, I have added my parents address as a second address to highlight my ties to the city. Would it be weird to add my high school also? It's kind of a well-known school in the area, so I thought it may help in that regard, but seeing it there is awkward to me. Yay or nay? FWIW this is a very "good ole boy" type of area.

[Lwoods]

Don't put your high school on your resume, but you can mention it in your cover letter when talking about your ties to the area.

[Anonymous User]

I put mine as an activity under my Additional Information section. I went to one of Exeter/Andover and listed that I was part of the Alumni Association to demonstrate ties to the Northeast. I've heard that listing it under education is inappropriate and can rub some people the wrong way, but my high school has been brought up by each of my interviewers from the area.

Since the firm is in a "good ole boy" type of area and since most people don't even read your cover letter, I would consider listing it under Additional Information or whatever section is at the bottom of your resume. Stressing your local ties is important to landing interviews, so I would try to find a way to include them.

[emciosn]

Is your hometown St. Louis by chance? People there are obsessed with where everyone else when to high school. Before living in StL for three years during law school I would have thought that referencing your high school on your resume would be silly but now... If I went to high school is St. Louis and was applying for a job there I might try to find a way to sneak it in (like the Alumni Association thing the poster above did).

[Anonymous User]

I'm starting to broaden my 2L search to include my hometown. When adjusting my resume, I have added my parents address as a second address to highlight my ties to the city. Would it be weird to add my high school also? It's kind of a well-known school in the area, so I thought it may help in that regard, but seeing it there is awkward to me. Yay or nay? FWIW this is a very "good ole boy" type of area.

I went to a high school that is well known in the area and has a strong alumni network (so alumni from my high school will go out of their way to hire other alumni). I've been told it is something good to put on my resume when applying in the area. I think if you are active in some sort of official alumni community, that's a good way to put it. Otherwise, I've been told that, in this situation, it is fine to put just a one line (XX High School, Town, Dates) under education.

Another way to capitalize on it is to connect to current attorneys who are also alumni. They might be more of a help in getting your resume to the top of the pile or such.