Blogging Can Make the Difference in a Landing a Law Job
Jack Whittington posted his tips for law students on getting that dream job out of law school at the Solo Practice University Blog. Jack credited blogging and using Twitter and LinkedIn with helping him nab a rare opportunity at a sports law firm. He submitted his resume to the firm as a result of some networking. When he finally got a call to interview, Jack says “the attorney already knew a great deal about me just from reading my blogs and information I had broadcast through social media.” Read here to get Jack’s in-depth story.
Last year I did a little coaching with NYU law student John Strohmeyer as he searched for a job in a tough market. Read more
Post Date: March 1, 2011
Improving Your Resume & Cover Letter
I recently received a request from a stranger to review his resume and cover letter and provide feedback to him. I don’t really hold myself out as an expert in reviewing resumes, but I do sometimes give clients my reaction to theirs. Frankly, however, my interest in reading resumes ranks just slightly above reading my homeowner’s insurance policy. I think I already read more than my quota of resumes back in my law firm days.
I have empathy for law students, recent grads and laid-off lawyers who hope to find a job in this challenging economy. So from time to time, I write articles and give talks that provide tips that may help make their job search more successful. I decline, however, to read unsolicited resumes unless I get paid to do it, or until I determine that I owe penance for some crime against humanity.
Although I did not read that lawyer’s resume or cover letter, I did take the time to respond to his email with some general advice on the subject of resumes for jobs in the legal industry. In service to other such attorney job seekers, I’ll share my thoughts and advice below. Please feel free to pass this on to people you know who might benefit.
Debra’s Resume & Cover Letter Advice
- Look at the websites of some legal recruiters in your area, in search of articles about resumes and cover letters. I recommend that because there might be some regional differences in expectations. If you don’t find any, www.monster.com has many excellent articles with job hunting tips.
- Include up front the stuff that relates most closely to what your potential employer is looking for. They’ll get bored and move on to the next resume if yours doesn’t appear relevant pretty quickly.
- In your resume use the words that match what they say they are looking for. Especially if you submit the resume online, they may have a filter that discards the resumes that don’t have the requisite words.
- Use action verbs instead of passive language to give your resume more punch and power.
- Use bullet points and don’t have a bunch of paragraphs or multi-line descriptions. Busy people don’t have the patience for detailed reading today. Most just skim over the resume and even one paragraph of prose can be annoying.
- If there is something interesting and unusual about you or your experience, try to find a way to include it. It can make conversation flow more easily during an interview, and it can make you more memorable.
- Spell check and proofread your resume several times. (If it’s too boring for you to do that…maybe you should rewrite it!) If you are dyslexic, ask someone who cares about your success to help you.
- Respecting the cover letter, I highly recommend that you pay attention to Kevin Houchin’s advice at http://houchinlaw.com/2010/04/14/how-not-to-get-a-job-in-a-law-firm/.
Debra’s Articles That May Be Helpful in a Legal Job Search:
How New or Re-tooling Lawyers Can Get Experience They Need
Unusual Tips for Laid-Off Lawyers
It’s Never Too Early to Raise Your Profile
4 Tips for Reluctant Networkers
A Free Webcast That Can Help Job Seekers:
Jumpstart Your Practice with Social Media - Debra’s tips in a State Bar of Texas webcast that can be used to make connections that lead to new clients or new job opportunities
Do you have some additional advice about optimizing a resume or cover letter? Please share your tips in the comments below.
Update: Here is a good article in the August 9, 2011 Wall Street Journal about what NOT to put in your cover letter.
Post Date: January 18, 2011
How New or Re-tooling Lawyers Can Get Experience They Need
A lot of lawyers today find themselves in the unexpected position of trying to practice law in an area where they have insufficient experience. Some of them are new lawyers who had hoped to get hired upon graduation and receive on-the-job training under the guidance of experienced lawyers. Some were downsized in the recession and, due to a slow market for their existing expertise, they find it necessary to develop a new area of practice. Other lawyers just want to make a change into a different type of practice.
This article sets out a number of ideas on how to garner needed experience when you don’t already have the support system to provide it. Since I’m a Texas lawyer, I cite examples of Texas programs, but other jurisdictions have similar options. Read more
Post Date: October 20, 2010
Sleepless in Seattle: A Lawyer’s Occupational Hazard?
“If a man had as many ideas during the day as he does when he has insomnia, he’d make a fortune.” ~Griff Niblack
In my law practice I often began morning instructions to my staff with “In the middle of the night, I remembered that we need to . . . .” One day, my paralegal responded, “Don’t you ever sleep through the night?”
Taken aback, I stammered, “Uh…no. Do you?” I was surprised to learn that she usually did. Perhaps I thought waking in the middle of the night was an occupational hazard of working in a law firm. I had awakened for so many years that I forgot that some people don’t.
Waking is not really a problem, unless I can’t get back to sleep for hours. I appreciate my faithful spirit guide — or whatever it is — for the midnight alert that something is about to fall through the cracks or for gifting me with brilliant solutions to thorny problems. John Steinbeck said “It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” I just wish The Committee would wait until morning to give me the good news. Who knows? Maybe the dark of night is the only time I am quiet enough to hear whispered answers or warnings. In any event, if I don’t get back to sleep until an hour before the alarm rings, I start the day in a fog and I’ll probably react irritably to someone by 3:00 p.m.
If this sounds too familiar, here are a few tips from an experienced wee-hour-waker that may help you get back to Snoozeville more quickly.
Post Date: August 30, 2010