Law School Student Resume Example and Writing Tips

Are you writing a resume for your first job out of law school? Resumes and cover letters submitted for entry-level attorney positions are generally far more conservative and concise than resumes for most other professions.

In other career fields, companies often use online job application and applicant tracking systems that give preference to resumes that contain relevant keyword phrases. By contrast, many law firms will immediately screen out resumes that are verbose, repetitive, or provide too much non-related personal information.

Tips for Writing an Entry-level Law Resume

Less is more. As a graduating law student, you should stick to a single-page resume—typically the standard even for experienced lawyers. Remember that attorneys are trained to read critically and to pinpoint and challenge ambiguous or superfluous details. Don’t open yourself up to immediate criticism by “padding” your resume with unrelated information—things like descriptions of non-legal jobs you have held or the awesome things you achieved as an undergraduate.

Avoid providing too much personal information. Because of the conservatism of their profession, attorneys are expected to be as objective and low-profile as public-school teachers are, avoiding controversial associations at all costs.  For this reason, dodge the temptation to provide links on your resume to a personal blog or social media pages (with the exception of LinkedIn), or to offer personal details like your race, gender preferences, political leanings, or religious beliefs.

Be selective when highlighting your interests. While it’s a good idea to provide an “Other Interests and Activities” section at the end of your resume to demonstrate that you are a well-rounded and versatile individual, these “interests” need to be those that would contribute directly to your being an outstanding lawyer. Do not include activities like extensive political activism or travel that might distract you from your work obligations at a law firm.

Use a conservative font and resume formatting. Good fonts to use for your resume include Times New Roman, Courier New, or Verdana.

Use a narrative-only format for your cover letter. Cover letters for other professions will often include a bulleted section where professional achievements and qualifications can be showcased. Law firms, however, only want to see narrative text in cover letters, since this gives them a better idea of how well their job candidate can communicate in writing. Write in complete sentences, avoiding comma splices and sentence fragments.

Law School Student Resume Example

The following is an example of a resume for a current law student. This resume includes the student’s academic accomplishments as well as his professional achievements. The job seeker also mentions some personal interests that might help him stand out to a law firm, such as his knowledge of Spanish and his debate awards.

Download the law school student resume template (compatible with Google Docs and Word Online).