Prestigious law schools admit only the best candidates. This means that you have to be among the best to qualify for admission. “When you are considering applying to a prestigious school, you really have to figure out what sets you apart from other qualified candidates that will allow you entry into the school”, stated Ben Tejes, Co-Founder and CEO of Ascend Finance. Most of the reputable law schools require candidates to submit resumes. While you may be familiar with a job resume, a law school resume is significantly different. Here is what you should include in the admission resume.
What to include in a law resume
Educational qualifications are critical when applying for a law school. Hence, the resume should emphasize your educational experience. Apart from education, the following sections would be essential in the document:
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Achievements.
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Work experience
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Skills and interests
Resume Writing
Since you have never constructed a law resume, you may find it difficult to write the first one. In such a case, you can pay someone to prepare your first resume. You should expect the following parts in the document:
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Heading. Include your name, telephone number, and email address on the top of the resume.
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Education. Include the name of the institution you have attended and the degree or certificate earned together with the GPA in your undergraduate. These should be in chronological order. Remember, this is the major section of the resume hence you should ensure that it contains all the relevant educational qualifications.
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Achievements. List all the awards and honors you received and the respective years you got them.
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Work experience. Include the name of the organizations you have worked with to demonstrate your experience. Quantify your roles in various organizations.
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Skills. Mention skills that you possess in a particular field. For instance, you could be proficient in a foreign language or advanced computer skills.
Tell your Professional Experience
Your professional experience is critical and should be well highlighted. Check objective resume examples and you will notice that the professional experience is in reverse chronological order, whereby the latest experience appears on the top of the section. State the organizations you worked with and also provide the dates. It is important to include job titles where possible especially if they will make the document more impressive. Be free to leave the employment opportunities you feel will not make an impact on the resume.
Length and Formatting
Remember that the members of the admission board are dealing with applications from many candidates. They do not have the time to read through a lengthy resume. According to expert from Edujungles — Leon Edmunds: a law resume should be one-to-two pages long. This will ensure that someone can determine your candidacy within the shortest time possible.
The formatting should be professional. You can achieve this by including:
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Headings for each section. This will make it easy for someone to identify your credentials without having to read the whole document.
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Bullets. Have bulleted details to make it easier for the reader to identify specific qualifications or achievements.
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Readable font. Choose a font that is easy to read like the Times New Romans.
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Standard margins. Ensure the document has margins on all sides.
Resume Affiliations
While you can include affiliation to particular ethnic, gender or political-based organizations, you should be careful to ensure the affiliation is relevant. There are two ways of including the affiliations:
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In the education section. You can decide to have affiliations in the educational section. However, they can make the part unnecessarily too long.
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Separate resume section. This is the best approach as it leaves the affiliations visible. Ensure all the affiliations are under one heading.
Leadership Positions
Have a separate section where you include a list of leadership experiences you have. Having occupied leadership posts in the past is an advantage. Law schools are looking for students who can demonstrate leadership skills. You could be having problems including your leadership positions in the document. In such a case, you can get in touch with ResumeThatWorks, an online company that specializes in resume writing. According to the recruiting department of essaybasics.com, ResumeThatWorks us the best resume writing service . The company has experienced writers who are specialists in different fields. Your writer will customize the resume to ensure that all the relevant leadership positions are included in the document. As a result, your candidature will stand out among other applicants.
Volunteer Work and Community Involvement
We are living in a world where selflessness is encouraged. Demonstrating that you care for others will give your resume more weight. The admission committee members consider learners who have been actively engaged in community work or volunteer programs. Demonstrating that you have been involved in caring for the needs of other members in the society shows that you are a responsible person.
Concisely, feel free to check any skills resume template to get an idea of how to structure your document. Remember, your resume determines whether or not you will achieve your lifetime dream of joining a law school. Hence, be careful when writing it to ensure it demonstrates the best of you.
Author of the article:
Allen Cranston is an analyst and resume writer. Allen committed to helping talented professionals show the world what he is truly capable of. Since launching in 2012, Allen has helped over 4,000 job applicants land their dream jobs for resumethatworks. He is constantly looking for new ways to help people achieve their career goals.
