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My question results from many people telling 0Ls to improve their resume if they want to do summer prep. This sounds like a great idea, but what should I put on it/take off of it?

Three specific questions:

1. I don't have any legal experience. I only have some part time work, summer internships, athletics, etc.. that I used for my law school apps. I don't see how I could change it much from how it is now, except for putting the name of my law school on there, which would take two seconds.

2. Would law firms appreciate the fact that I know java, c, and matlab, or that I interned for a power generation company? I'm thinking I should take that stuff off my resume... is that right?

3. Also what about undergraduate extra-curriculars? I did NCAA athletics. Leave that stuff on there or delete it?

Thanks for the advice.

I am interested in this topic as well.

Not sure about the rest but def. leave NCAA athletics, especially if we're talking football, basketball, or baseball. People love to talk about that stuff.

^ ha, okay cool.. thanks for the advice.

How long can the resume be? Is 2 pages OK or is it a 1 page deal?

1 page unless you are that money

bartleby wrote:1 page unless you are that money

This.

no other advice? Anyone?

Yeah thanks for starting this thread was thinking about this earlier

Yea I went and bought that Ann Levine book...maybe I'm a sucker?

Ex-law school admissions officer from non T14 school says : 2 pager is ok. I would just ask the admissions office at whatever school you're applying to. If they say two pages is ok, I say go for it. Get as much info in front of them as possible, but obviously put the stuff that's most relevant front and center on the first page.

DaftAndDirect wrote:Yea I went and bought that Ann Levine book...maybe I'm a sucker?

Ex-law school admissions officer from non T14 school says : 2 pager is ok. I would just ask the admissions office at whatever school you're applying to. If they say two pages is ok, I say go for it. Get as much info in front of them as possible, but obviously put the stuff that's most relevant front and center on the first page.

This thread is about resumes for legal employment/1L summer positions, not for application resumes.

Woof.

The Daft is in my handle for a reason folks. I am occasionally a huge dumbass.

No worries!

Help us out, law students!

Why not just the same resume you use for jobs or the one you used before applying to LS

dr123 wrote:Why not just the same resume you use for jobs or the one you used before applying to LS

I'm going to have to cut it down once I add my law school, and I have a lot of stuff that I'm not sure is applicable (like study abroad institutions, every UG club/honor, menial jobs I've had that I'm not sure should go on a legal resume) so I don't think it will look the same at all and I'd like to know what should/shouldn't stay.

Your law school app resume may have a bunch of crap on it that employers do not care about. Revise it back to basic education and relevant work experience sections. You do not need to account for every moment of your time since age 12 as your school apps probably required. Your college sport is a good line for the interests section, or maybe add it as a line in the section for the college where you played.

Law firms will not care about your coding skills or internship; all they care about is your 1L grades (if they even consider you, which is unlikely). Other employers might or might not care about grades; they will care if you seem like you will work hard and have some genuine interest in what they do. Unless you have lawyers in the family or worked at a law firm that has invited you back, you should assume you will not be working for a firm your first summer.

Start thinking about what nonprofit or government agencies and what judges you might want to apply to for internships during your 1L summer; at least consider the geographic areas where you will focus your applications. Also figure out a 1L budget that will let you save enough money to get through three months with no income. It will be an immense help if you can go into 1L summer without having to worry about money; most people fail to plan ahead for this, and it leads to all sorts of pain and disappointment.

My law school application resume was 3 full pages at 10 point font accounting for every thing I did since I started college. I had a really solid cycle, so this was apparently cool for admissions committees, but I doubt this would fly with law firms.

DaftAndDirect wrote:Yea I went and bought that Ann Levine book...maybe I'm a sucker?

Ex-law school admissions officer from non T14 school says : 2 pager is ok. I would just ask the admissions office at whatever school you're applying to. If they say two pages is ok, I say go for it. Get as much info in front of them as possible, but obviously put the stuff that's most relevant front and center on the first page.

I would absolutely not go beyond a page unless you are a 40+ yr old, big-dog CEO with tons of stellar experience. Otherwise, you're just giving them a whole lot of info that they really don't give a shit about. It's best to stick to your strongest points and leave out the filler.

timmah427 wrote:

DaftAndDirect wrote:Yea I went and bought that Ann Levine book...maybe I'm a sucker?

Ex-law school admissions officer from non T14 school says : 2 pager is ok. I would just ask the admissions office at whatever school you're applying to. If they say two pages is ok, I say go for it. Get as much info in front of them as possible, but obviously put the stuff that's most relevant front and center on the first page.

I would absolutely not go beyond a page unless you are a 40+ yr old, big-dog CEO with tons of stellar experience. Otherwise, you're just giving them a whole lot of info that they really don't give a shit about. It's best to stick to your strongest points and leave out the filler.

+1 My boss is the Controller of my company, and his resumé is one page and only includes his senior level management experience.

He definitely trumps anything us 0Ls could possibly have going on.

Here's a link with sample resumes.

--LinkRemoved--

I have high hopes for this thread.

OP: It sounds like, judging by your post, you're pretty must straight from UG, and don't have any legal experience. So, the best thing you could do would be to find a way to make what experiences you DO have seem applicable to the legal field.

1) Leave the athletics . People love it. I played a college sport too and now I am working for a federal judge this summer in a big market and one of the clerks who interviewed me also played the same sport in high school. Got me the interview. Only word of advice is to not let it take over your resume. Especially if you played intercollegiately, you probably could fill up a couple pages of resume based on athletic accomplishments. While it's a great way to get in the door, you don't want to have it be the only thing you have on a resume.

2) Try to spin everything you have (without lying, of course) in some way. You worked retail? You were responsible for maintaining organization of the store. You did an internship? You worked closely with senior staffers to meet client/staff deadlines. It's all true, it just sounds a hell of a lot better than "i folded clothes" or "i made coffee/copies". The best is if you can find a way to make it somehow legally applicable. Like any job, organization, client relations, ability to work well under pressure, etc all translate well to a legal job

3) The best thing you can possibly have on your resume during 1L, other than making whatever work experience you have applicable, is going to be good grades and scholastic accomplishments. List any schollys you might have to the school. When you're applying early in your 1L year (before your first grades come back), if you receive a grade on an assignment (e.g. an LRW assignment midway thru the semester), use it as a writing sample and indicate the grade you got on it, if applicable.

Realistically, your best bet is to just have a shell of your outline ready to go. Get all the work experience/UG experience/athletics you can fit, leave a line for law school accomplishments, and you'll be miles ahead of the pack come the first batch of job applications. Federal judges opened for applications December 1 this past year, right smack dab in the middle of the finals push. You'll be very glad you got it squared away and just need to fill in a couple blanks.

Hope it helps somewhat

d34dluk3 wrote:I have high hopes for this thread.

What?

StyrofoamWar wrote:Hope it helps somewhat

Thanks for the helpful info! Very much appreciated.