When Can Non-Job Items Fall Off The Resume?

Resumes are not repositories for ALL of your honors and activities. They are curated collections that tell a story. I think of them a lot like my kids’ art. In the beginning, I saved it all. It was cute. My fridge was covered in paint smears and popsicle stick creations. But as time goes on, there literally isn’t enough space in our house for all the art that my kids produce. I need to curate it somehow and just save the ones that mean the most to me.

Some resume information is similar to the art. While we are of the opinion that old jobs should probably be represented on the resume in some way, we have a looser policy on non-job items.

What are non-job items on the resume? Glad you asked. Honors that you had while in school, scholarship information, peripheral honors earned in practice (or outside of the law), activities, publications and other material that HELPS tell your story, but might need to be dropped in the interest of brevity and then resurrected as anecdotes or stories in an interview (if needed).

Let’s say for example that you graduated with high honors from law school with a magna cum laude designation (remember, Latin honors are always written in italics). Further, you graduated from law school over 20 years ago. In that case, you might be able to drop some of the activities you did in law school, the scholarships you received, maybe even the journal you worked on (although Law Reviews are the last thing I would choose to drop – they are still powerful indicators of someone who excelled in school). The magna cum laude note shows that you are really smart.

If you are really crunched for space, the first place I might look to cut is in your activities section. Remember that those are there to show that you are well-rounded and involved in your community. They are also there as a crutch for an interviewer who may need a place to start to get the conversation going (“oh, I see you’ve run 15 marathons, which one is your favorite?”).

Also, you can remove a fair amount of bullet points from old positions when it is duplicative with your current or subsequent positions. Just keep 2 or 3 bullet points that shows what you did and explain the general level in which you did it. For example, if you worked at a top firm for 3 years doing complex litigation, stating that you were a litigation associate at an AMLAW 50 firm focusing on complex IP litigation is probably sufficient. If you had more space, you could talk more about the specific work you did (did you handle discovery, argue motions, take depositions, first- or second-chair trials, etc.).

Just make sure that anything you remove from your resume that tells a story about you has a similar item somewhere else on your resume that tells that story. If you remove the scholarship you received, make sure that somewhere else on your resume is an entry that demonstrates that you are smart (obviously it’s there). If you remove that you are involved in your community, make sure you have something that demonstrates that you generate business, for example (because that’s why many firms want you to be involved in activities outside of the firm).

In the end, a little curating should leave your resume reading a little tighter and make it easier on the reader to distill your experience and determine whether you are a good fit. And unlike my kids' art, no one will question what happened to the entry when they look at the fridge and can no longer see their masterpiece!

Interviewing is a Two-Way Street

A common flaw in the interview process is focusing primarily on what you want, which applies to both the interviewer and the interviewee. Intuitively, you would expect the person interviewing for a job approach to “sell” the potential employer on why they should be hired, but the conversation can often center more on ‘what can they do for me.’ Likewise, it is more common for an employer to focus almost entirely on whether this candidate is the right person for the position. Either way, you may miss an opportunity because you don’t address what’s important to the other side.

A critical component to a successful interview is to do your homework on the what the other party desires before-hand, if possible. This is undoubtedly easier for the interviewee if there is a job description, but both sides can and should explore what the other side desires in the interview and try to address those areas. For an interviewer, this may be simply asking why the person is interested in the opportunity and then specifically address the components of the job that would appeal to the interviewee. For the interviewee, there may be a template for the job in the form of a position description, but undoubtedly there are some areas that may matter more, and it often does not cover more subjective topics like working relationships, management style, etc.

Although a tight labor or job market may make it more critical to understand the needs and desires of the other side of an interview, it really shouldn’t matter when both sides want to find the best possible fit. Spending adequate time addressing what is important to the other side can land the desired candidate or the perfect job.

The Changing Dynamics of the Workplace

For the past year, a significant portion of the legal field has been working from home. The vast majority of people we’ve heard from have adapted fairly well to the home office. Sure, there are distractions and a lack of comradery that typically comes with in-person interactions, but there are some positives including decreased costs and eliminating time spent commuting to the office.

Now that vaccines are more readily available, most businesses and law firms expect to welcome employees back to the office within the next few months. What remains to be seen is whether employers will allow their workers to continue to work from home in either full- or part-time capacities and if employees will be required to be vaccinated. I suspect most firms and companies are waiting to see what others do before determining if they can/should require people to be vaccinated, knowing the potential for litigation on such a surprisingly controversial subject.

We are also starting to see some law firms with no physical presence in the Twin Cities offering attorneys the ability to work remotely now that they know it’s possible. Thus far, it’s been mostly in practice areas that are challenging to find candidates such as corporate and commercial real estate, but it will be interested to see if this lasts or even potentially expands to be more commonplace. Either way, the lasting effects of COVID has the potential of really changing the way people practice law.

What’s In A Name?

Pivoting to cover letter language for today, in the past couple of weeks I received cover letters addressed to “sir or madam” and another addressed to “to whom it may concern.” We’ll get to the use of those phrases in a moment, but keep in mind that my emails (where I received the letters) are CRAIG@sandsearch.com and CRAIG@legalresumereview.com (emphasis added).

Presumably if they typed my email address into the correspondence, they could have deduced my first name. If they wanted to be particularly formal, they could have gone to either website and found my last name to use “Mr. Sandok.”

Instead of impressing me with what was in the letters, I was left with the impression that they were either trying to be overly formal or they were just plain sloppy. Neither is ideal for the author.

Going back to the language at hand, I understand that these are relics of an older age when you couldn’t deduce the right person to send a resume to at a company. Those days are gone. “Sir/madam,” “to whom it may concern” and “Dear hiring manager” are all outdated.

Find a real human being on LinkedIn and use their name. Scour the job posting for clues about who might be the correct recipient. If it’s a law firm, find the Managing Partner or Director of Attorney Recruiting on their website. If it is a company, search to see who works in the human resources department. Even if you are wrong about them being the correct point of contact, you still have personalized the submission and made an attempt.

In my book, an attempt to personalize the correspondence is better than using outdated, generic terms. I think others note the effort, too. It’s like the baseball analogy – it’s better to go down swinging than being called out on strikes.

Don’t Sacrifice Practice Building for Immediate Compensation

A high starting salary or immediate pay raise is often one of, if not the, determining factor for associates in choosing a law firm job. While it clearly should be a factor, focusing solely on short-term gain can be a detriment to long-term gain, career advancement, and job security.

If you are focusing solely on a large paycheck, you should also anticipate increased billable hour expectations. There is nothing wrong with working hard and being paid well for such work but failing to recognize the need to spend time marketing and otherwise cultivating “your practice” can have consequences. Also keep in mind that while working for a top-dollar, large firm can open some doors and otherwise looks good your resume, it can also inhibit your ability to attract clients due to higher bill rates and client conflicts.

There has never been a greater premium on generating business, and you can be sure the first people out the door in trying times are those who can’t keep themselves busy. Not only will an attorney with their own portable business have immediate job security, but they will also be considerably more marketable for other opportunities. Also keep in mind that as a general rule, those who generate the most – earn the most.

Ready….FIRE!….Aim.

Wow – that looks like a good opportunity….I’ll send my resume there. And there. And there. Oooh, and there, too.

What is happening above is potentially a bad strategy. Sending resumes out without giving thought about the opportunity can be a roadmap for failure. Too often we hear of attorneys who will blindly send their resume out to a list of firms without think about the potential fit and the possible consequences. It’s best to not only be aware of WHERE you send your resume, but WHY you are sending it.

What that means is that before you send out a resume – and I mean each and every time – take some time to think about the firm you are contacting. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Who are their clients? What is their reputation? How would you fit in? What can I contribute to their firm that they couldn’t get from another candidate? Now take this information and make the case as to why you are a good fit for the firm. If you can’t convince yourself (or your spouse…or your mom) then you aren’t going to convince the firm. And let’s face it – not everyone is right for every job.

How can you tell if you might fit in with a firm? Do your homework. Read the local legal blogs and trade publications, work with a legal recruiter, talk to your friends, read the firm’s NALP form, look at the firm’s website or see how they present themselves on social media. These are great resources that can help you decide whether you would be a fit.

If you graduated at the bottom of your class and your experience isn’t on point, don’t waste your time sending in a resume to an AmLaw 100 firm that requires a top-of-the-class academic pedigree and spot-on experience. They aren’t going to change their standards just for you. On the other hand, if you are on the cusp with your experience and you can make a strong case about how you would slot into their firm culture/clients/etc. and that your experience or contacts would add to their practice then you should pursue that opportunity.

Choose your battles wisely, though. Another reason that blanketing a market with your resume could be a bad strategy is that you might be shooting yourself in the foot for future positions. Every rejection letter ever written by a law firm has the obligatory phrase “we will keep your resume on file for future opportunities….” While I think that might be true at some firms, it’s baloney at a great majority of the firms. If you are rejected for a position that you weren’t qualified for, you are now in their system as a candidate who was reviewed and rejected. You just made it very easy to overlook your resume if you send in your resume again in 6 months for a position that you are PREFECT for.

So remember to aim before you shoot. I’m sure you will hit your target with greater frequency.

There is Land in Sight

It’s been over nine months that we have lived in sea of COVID craziness that has not only affected our health and safety, but our day-to-day work lives as well. In particular, most of us have worked from home and many have suffered financial consequences from austerity measures by their employer or even layoffs. From a recruiting perspective, the job market has largely been stagnant as could be expected with a worldwide pandemic, except for a few exceptions such as corporate and estate planning. With the promise of a new vaccine(s) getting FDA approval, we can now finally see land on the horizon, but it’s still going to be a while for most of us before we make it. That being said, the hope is that the pending distribution of the vaccine boosts confidence in the market while we wait for mass vaccination. Continuing with this analogy, it seems that the most challenging part is still ahead of us though with an increase in COVID cases and deaths akin to crossing the breaking waves before touching land. Let’s stay positive and take the necessary precautions so we can hit the ground running when we do touch land.

Google You.

Google yourself. Go ahead. I’ll wait. It’s not an act of vanity, it’s a key job searching technique. What do you see? Hopefully what comes up contributes to the narrative you will convey in the interview. Are you an associate who is involved in several organizations or are your college party pictures from Facebook showing up? Are you the rainmaking attorney who is constantly pounding the pavement for clients or are you completely invisible on the internet? Whatever you see, tells a story to a potential employer (and potential clients for that matter). If the story isn’t what you plan to discuss in an interview, then you have to account for the differences. The time to create that plan is NOW and not when you are in the middle of an interview.

As we know, the problem is that you can’t just call up Google and ask to edit the search results. Sure you can take steps to organically change the results, but that takes time. Since you likely don’t have that kind of time, you have to understand everything that an employer can see and be prepared to discuss them if it gets brought up in the interview. This can include some stressful topics – anything that is a public record is something that can (and sometimes does) come up in an interview. We are seeing more and more employers search public records to get a fuller picture of a person, especially now that in-person interviews are less common.

Clearly you can’t undo the past, but you need to be prepared to discuss those items and take ownership (and show how things have changed for you). Showing an employer that you understand your past and can speak clearly about it is a good thing. If the results are positive, you can amplify them. If the narrative is not positive, you can explain them. Either way, knowing what an employer may turn up gives you a way to be as prepared as possible in an interview – and that’s worth all the effort!

Make Sure Your Resume Provides Enough Detail

We see a lot of resumes. The vast majority look like your typical resume: job history, education, bar admissions and maybe a section on interests and activities. Often times, this is all condensed to fit on one page – the way we were taught in college. While the format is generally okay, the biggest problem with most resumes is a lack of detail. Some people intentionally hold back thinking they will provide more detail in the interview. The problem with this strategy is you may never get to the interview without demonstrating enough pertinent experience in the resume.

The key when drafting your resume is to view this as means to “market” yourself – not just a reverse chronological list of job history. There is no such thing as too much information so long as it conveyed correctly (clear and concise). There are two ways to accomplish this: with a detailed resume or with a general resume supplemented with a detailed practice addendum. The addendum is often broken down by skills (securities, M&A, commercial agreement) with short/bullet point examples listed underneath. The benefit of using an addendum is that you can shift the order of skills dependent upon the job to highlight the pertinent areas and just use the same general resume. Otherwise, you want different versions of your resume if providing all the detail in just that document. Whatever method you use, just make sure you are providing enough detail to fully demonstrate why you are the right candidate for the position.

Your LinkedIn Profile

At Sand Search, we are constantly reminding people that they should be minding their online resume – the one that is on LinkedIn. While it doesn’t take much to maintain your account, there are a few things that will help you keep the account active and up-to-date, even if there is a sudden career change.

Something you can do right now that can help you with your job search in the future is to update your LinkedIn profile to have a non-work email address linked to the account. If you leave your current job (willingly, unwillingly or because of a crisis) or you simply can’t remember your password, you will avoid a lengthy process to get access to your account.

You will save yourself a lot of time and avoid a huge headache is you just take 3 minutes RIGHT NOW and add a personal email account to your LinkedIn profile.

Not sure how to do it? Here is the quickest way to update your account:

• Click “Me” on the top bar
• Under “Account” click “Settings & Privacy”
• Click “Account”
• Click “Email addresses”
• Enter a non-work email address

*Special thanks to IT Recruiter Paul DeBettignies for this great tip.

The Future of Firms – When You Can Go Back, Will You Go?

The legal job market is still slow and we are all starting to get used to working from home. The transition from pressed suit to flip flops has gone more smoothly than we thought. We’ve mastered Zoom meetings and have come up with ways to keep the dog from barking on the most important calls. In short, we’ve adapted to the Covid-19 work environment.

At the risk of sounding tone deaf, I understand that things are far from improving in some areas of the country, but as things generally start to improve, what will be asked of the American attorney? Will they return to their office? Will the modern trend of smaller offices, open floor plans and shared community spaces still make sense, or will attorneys be encouraged (or demand) to use their physical office only as necessary and primarily work from home?

Sadly, we don’t know yet. As we are talking to attorneys, there does seem to be a large number of them that do not want to return to the old system of working from an office. They want to work from home either out of fear of infection, that they are more efficient at home or both. But there also is another cohort that really is struggling with the work-from-home mentality. This group thrives on interpersonal communication and collaboration. They are anxious to return to the workplace. Historically, legal departments and firms have not been good at saying “do whatever works for you.” we are an industry of standards, billable hours and conformity; our industry doesn’t do well with true individualism.

So how will law firms and in-house legal departments navigate these two groups? Without a crystal ball, there is no clear answer, but it does seem reasonable to think that there will be a fracturing of legal jobs.

One group will be with firms and employers who have their legal team primarily work remotely. The other group will be much more of a pre-2020 employer requiring attorneys to be in the office. It will be interesting to see how talent splits along those lines. It’s also not too big of a stretch to imagine the marketing of the work environment as a distinguishing point–both lateral attorneys and potential clients. “Our firm works together in person, we don’t have the barrier of a screen in front of the legal team representing your interests” versus “our firm is progressive and we care about the safety of our attorneys, who have mastered the art of remote working – your file is best suited with us.” In a landscape where many firms are largely indistinguishable, this would provide a small data point which might help potential clients choose a firm.

What do you think? When we are all allowed to go back to work, will you go? If the firm culture changes at your firm based on their interest in allowing attorneys to work remotely, will you consider another employer? If the decision to bring employees back becomes “weaponized” to attract clients, will it work? Only time will tell, but it does seem that firms and lawyers are breaking along this fault line and there will be a lot of movement in the coming months because of it.

Twin Cities Legal Market Coronavirus Update

Well, we’ve exceeded four months of the coronavirus craziness that has turned our lives upside down, including hiring in the Twin Cities legal market. While some businesses are starting to reopen or otherwise return to work, there is still enough disruption and uncertainty in the market to affect the amount of legal work being done and, as a result, the need for law firms to bring in laterals. There are a few areas that have remained in need, estate planning and more recently bankruptcy, but otherwise the focus is almost exclusively on lateral partners with portable business. That being said, for those with portable business, now may be a perfect time to maximize your potential given the tremendous demand. Sand Search Partners has extensive experience assisting partner-level attorneys and would be happy to have a discreet conversation to explore the many options.

What to do while we wait for the legal job market to recover

Well, the world sure can change quickly, can’t it? One minute the legal market is humming along nicely and the next minute the job market has evaporated. What can you do?

The short answer is this: wait it out, but use this time to prepare. We at Sand Search have been through our share of market downturns. After the tragedy of 9/11, the legal market collapsed…then came back roaring strong. After the economic recession in 2008, the legal market collapsed…then came roaring back strong. And now we face the COVID-19 crisis and the legal market has all but collapsed. But if history can teach us a lesson, it is that this is temporary and that the market will come back, possibly stronger than it was earlier this year, so the best thing that you can do with your time now is to prepare the recovery.

Let me start off by saying that hiring is still going on despite the lockdown. If you have a niche practice that an employer NEEDS, opportunities are available. If you have a book of business and want to stay in private practice, there are DEFINTELY opportunities available (and frankly, now is the perfect time to think about the platform your firm offers and whether a change might be best for growing your practice). But for many attorneys, the dearth of opportunities is disheartening.

If you are facing a lack of opportunities, be patient. Use this time to network. Use this time to update your resume. Use this time to think about what skills you have that would be valuable to an employer. It might be time to reach out to a recruiter and introduce yourself. Make sure that you are thinking about the future and not just the present day. It’s akin to the old adage that you should be playing chess while others are playing checkers. Think a couple of moves ahead and start planning for a future move now.

You can use this downtime wisely or you can squander the time. If history is any indication, we are staring down the barrel of a roaring comeback in the future, so how ready will you be for that? The choice is yours.

It Is An Opportune Time To Update Your Resume

There is no question the coronavirus has changed our day-to-day work routines. The vast majority of attorneys are working from home. This worldwide pandemic has increased workload for some practice areas while others may be struggling. The latter group may find themselves with a more down-time than usual, which is a perfect time to update your resume.

When it comes to updating your resume there are three keys things to keep in mind:

1. Keep it easy to read;

2. Don’t shy away from providing detail; and

3. Focus on what is important for the desired position.

First, a resume should be “user friendly.” Law firms and companies often receive hundreds of resumes for an open position. The initial “browse” is typically done by someone in human resources or a recruiting specialist who neither wants nor has the time to spend reading long paragraphs stuffed into a single page. Make it easy to read by using appropriate spacing and font.

Second, “user friendly” doesn’t mean leaving out details that could be critical to getting an interview. The idea of keeping your resume to one page was best left with the college career services advisor. There is no way an attorney who has practiced more than a few years could effectively market their skills and experience in just one page. So long as it is conveyed in a clear, concise manner (think section headers with bullet points underneath), listing detailed experience such as M&A deals or representative litigation on multiple pages can be very effective in highlighting keys skills and attributes. This can often be accomplished with a general resume supplemented by a detailed practice addendum.

Finally, your resume should focus on what is important for a particular position. Admittedly this is a challenge when you are attempting a complete shift in expertise, but for many attorneys their experience overlaps on a number of practices areas. If your practice includes commercial litigation, general business and real estate, be sure to lead with the area that addresses the primary need in the position – even if that is not the majority of your practice. For example, if you are applying for a transactional real estate position, focus on real estate first, general business next (given the inherent overlap) and then any real estate related litigation. That is not to say you should fabricate or otherwise overstate certain skills, it’s just a matter of focusing on what’s important.

Clearly, we would all like to put the coronavirus behind us as quickly as possible, but for those who now have extra time on their hands it is a perfect time to update or hone or an ineffective resume.

Job Searching, The Legal Market and Covid-19

At the outset, I’m writing this with the hope that this post doesn’t age well. With luck (and some aggressive hand-washing) I’d like to think that in the near future this post will be seen as irrelevant, alarmist and completely outdated. But until then, I wanted to give you some off-the-cuff thoughts about the developing pandemic.

First off, I hope that everyone can calm down. Things are bad, but the sky isn’t falling yet. As of the day I’m drafting this, there is reason to be cautious, but I still haven’t heard a good argument for hoarding tranches of toilet paper. Major law firms have just announced that they will be closing their physical doors, but that their staff will work remotely.

This would be terrible news 20 or 30 years ago, but we are in 2020 and the technology needed to work remotely and efficiently is at our fingertips. Phones are easily re-routed, and connectivity is baked into all of our computer systems.

Secondly, there is every reason to believe that the legal industry will not experience a slowdown, but actually be forced to deal with significant growth. Just thinking about all of the potential business agreements and ensuing litigation that can arise from the outbreak is enough to make any attorney’s head spin.

To deal with this potential uptick in business, there is no doubt that firms will leverage the attorneys they have (who may be working remotely) but they will need to bring on new attorneys as well. Undoubtedly there will be hiring taking place during these times.

But the hiring process may not look like it did before.

There is a very real chance that recruiting, interviewing and, indeed, the entire recruiting process will be done remotely. Video interviews may very well become the norm. Relying on writing samples, resumes and transcripts may have to take the place of meeting attorneys in person.

So what can you do to get ready for this potential future?

First off, you should be ready to demonstrate that you are the type of attorney who can work remotely in an effective manner. That may mean thinking about times you have worked autonomously with success and being able to speak to them in an interview.

Secondly, it makes sense for you to think about where you could interview and work at home, if you needed to do so. Find a dedicated space that will work for you.

Third, it is time to brush up on your technical skills. Chances are there won’t be easy access to IT support if we are all working from home, so brushing up NOW on how to make a video call (for interviewing, but also for conducting normal business) is impotnat. There are a number of options for video conferencing, so find one that works for you. I strongly recommend that you test it out before any interview to make sure you understand the functionality and the sensitivity of your microphone. Also, learn how to use the word processing systems and familiarize yourself with document sharing systems.

We are really entering a scary and unprecedented time for our legal community, but being as prepared as possible will help you be ready for the market as it adapts to this crisis.

And for what it’s worth, please go wash your hands.

Improve Your Job Search

Want to increase your odds of finding a job? Use every resource available to you, which means doing more than just replying to job postings and start taking some proactive measures.

Relying solely on publications and websites for job postings puts you at a distinct disadvantage with others who have networked their way to the top of a candidate pool – before the job was ever posted. Of course, you won’t be able to connect with every potential employer, and many do not have pre-determined opportunities, so there is nothing wrong with responding to job postings, but try to increase your odds by getting to potential employers before your competition does.

Using the right recruiter is another excellent way to separate yourself from other job applicants. The key is finding a recruiter who has established relationships with potential employers and has built enough trust with the employer to be shown deference when recommending a candidate. In fact, there are times when a good recruiter can create opportunities for you by marketing your skills and experience to an employer before a job is open.

There is nothing wrong with replying to job postings, but why not improve your chances of getting landing the job through your own networking efforts and the help of a good recruiter?

Self-promotion acknowledged - the recruiters at Sand Search Partners would be happy to have a low-pressure, confidential conversation about job opportunities any time!

Happy New Year

It’s 2020, and I’ll spare you the vision-related puns. The new year is a great time to think about your career and assess whether you are in the right position for you and your career goals. For many, the golden handcuffs have come off with year-end bonuses having been paid and vesting events in the rear view mirror. With this clean slate, many attorneys start to think about their platform and whether it makes sense to explore the local legal market.

Is the firm you are working for the right platform for you? Does it give you the ability to market to your desired clients? Are you at a local firm and need a national platform or vice versa? Maybe a change is good for you.

Are you compensated adequately for your time and your business development skills? If not, a new position gives you the best leverage to maximize your compensation in 2020.

The same analysis holds true for in-house attorneys. Is it time to make a move? Is there a path for you to grow in your current legal department? If not, is there a different company that can give you more responsibility (or less, if you are drinking from the proverbial firehose)? Has your compensation stagnated?

If you have thought about a job change in the past, now is a good time to freshen up your resume and explore the market. The recruiters at Sand Search would be happy to have a confidential, no-pressure conversation with you about the legal market, even if you are just curious about how the rapidly-changing legal landscape will affect you and your current employer. Give us a call.

Whether a move is in your future or not, Sand Search wishes you a very happy, prosperous and successful new year!

Are You Being Paid Your True Market Value?

Compensation for attorneys can be determined by a number of objective and subjective factors including tenure, quality of work product, profitability, and information gathered from salary studies. You may know how your compensation stacks up to others at your firm or even what people make at other firms, but do know if it is comparable to what you would make in the open market?

A lot of attorneys have no idea if their compensation measures up to their true market value. By true market value, I am referring to how much you could expect to earn if you decided to explore other options in the legal market – not what a typical attorney makes after so many years of experience. Some people are actually making more than they would in the open market because they are currently being rewarded for factors that are not given the same consideration by prospective employers. Yes, loyalty and teamwork is valued by all employers, but it is often measurable attributes such as business generation and working receipts that carry the most weight in the open market.

If you are working hard to generate business and starting to see real revenue growth as a result, you should ask yourself how much of your potential income is going to others who are not as productive (especially those who make no effort). There may be other factors that make your current work experience so positive that the potential of lost income is okay, but if you could have a similar experience and make considerably more money elsewhere it might be worth your time to explore your true market value.

For Lawyers, It’s a Resume – Not a CV

Unless you are applying for a position at a law school or other academic institution, a lawyer should be sending a resume, not a CV, when applying for a position. The CV, which stands for curriculum vitae, literally means “course of one’s life” in Latin. Knowing that definition, then it’s easy to see why you don’t want to use a CV. Your life is long, and employers don’t want to her the whole story – just the relevant parts!

Your resume should always be targeted and tailored for a specific position. CVs, on the other hand, are meandering discourses that highlight all of the work that you have done to date. CVs are long, thorough and demonstrate the progression of your career. Resumes are as long as they need to be (but no longer) and they are artfully tailored to demonstrate how your skills match the skills sought by the hiring firm. You shouldn’t include everything you have ever done in a resume. Clearly your law school internship can fall off your resume if you are a senior partner, but in a CV, it is used to demonstrate the progression of your career.

Think about it this way, studies show that employers spend as little as 8 seconds reviewing a resume before making a determination on your candidacy. Do you want them reviewing the most pertinent information about you and your career or a long, meandering treatise on how you got so smart? Exactly – you need a tactical strike, and that comes with a well-drafted resume.

Even if a job posting uses the phrase “CV” when requesting materials, you should send a resume.

Lawyers get to use a lot of Latin in the course of their practice, but curriculum vitae should not be used!