HEADING

Your Name - Decide
how you wish to be known professionally.  Your name appears at the top
of the résumé and serves as the title.  It should be typed
in larger point than the rest of the résumé, but not too
large, since some employers have been critical of that.  Note: the word
"Résumé" should not appear on your résumé. 

Your Address(es), Telephone
Number(s), and E-Mail - Provide your current address, telephone
number and, if you check your e-mail regularly, your e-mail address. 
If your permanent address is outside the Madison area, you may want
to include it if you are seeking employment in that region of the country. 
Make sure your answering machine message is professional and brief. 

JOB OBJECTIVE

This section is almost never appropriate on a legal
résumé.  It is more effective to tailor your résumé
to a particular position and discuss your specific career goals in your
cover letter and during an interview. 

EDUCATION

Law Students & Recent
Graduates

For law students and recent graduates, the name of the law school, academic
performance, and achievements in law school are usually the most important
elements of a résumé. 

Begin with the name of your law school, the
degree expected, the month and year you anticipate graduating, and
the city and state.  Indicate your anticipated law degree as: "Candidate
for Juris Doctor" (or "J.D.") or "Juris Doctor
anticipated." 

Following your degree, list any honors you
received, such as cum laude.  Latin phrases should always appear
in lower case letters and be italicized. 

Secondary education should be excluded unless
you are applying for jobs where your school or hometown establishes
important geographic ties. 

Transfer Students

Transfer students may include information about their first-year studies
as part of the UW Law School entry.  For example you could write "Completed
first year of studies at New York University Law School, 2001-2002". 
Alternatively, you may list your previous law school as a separate entry. 
This method is more effective if you want to highlight significant positions,
activities or honors you achieved during your first year of law school. 

Honors and Activities

Under each school you have attended, detail your academic achievements
and organizational memberships in that school.  You may use separate
subheadings such as "Honors", "Awards", or "Activities". 

Indicate if you have a distinguished record
in competitions (i.e. finalist, quarter finalist, best brief). 

If you had quite a number of collegiate activities,
consider listing those that are significant to you or the employer. 

List major honors received, including scholarships,
elected offices and awards. 

If any of the honors or activities you include
are not self-explanatory by title, include a brief description. 

If relevant, include "Worked 20 hours
per week to finance education" or "…to defray cost
of education".  This will tell potential employers a great deal
about you and your commitment to education. 

G.P.A.

It will be necessary for you to calculate your
own G.P.A. or
ask the Registrar's Office to calculate it for you.  To calculate
your GPA, disregard any courses in which you received a grade of S
or U. Those courses do NOT factor into your cumulative grade
point
average.  Next, multiply the numerical equivalent of the letter
grade you received in each other course you have completed, times the
number of
credits that you earned in the course. ( For example, if you
received a B in Property, which is a 5 credit course, you would
multiply 3.0
times 5, and the result is 15.0 GPA "points").  After you have
multiplied the number of credits times the numerical equivalent for the
grade
you received in each course, then add all your GPA "points" together
and divide
it by the total number of credits represented by your letter-graded
courses.  The resulting quotient is your GPA.  It
should be rounded to the second decimal place, using conventional
rounding
methods; e.g., a 3.2489 becomes a 3.25; whereas a 3.24489 becomes a
3.24. 

Although the Career Services staff encourages
employers to consider many indicators of competence, recruiters
often focus on G.P.A.s when selecting students to interview.  This
is more likely to be the case with large, well-known law firms and
organizations than with smaller ones.  It is, therefore, important
to present yourself in the most favorable light. 

First-year grades may not yet have been computed
when you are applying for jobs next summer, so employers will look
at your undergraduate G.P.A. as an indication of your academic achievement. 

As a general rule, if your G.P.A. places you
in the top 50% of your class, include it.  Otherwise, omit it, but
be prepared to discuss it in an interview. 

A statistical chart of approximate percentile
ranks based on students' grade point averages is available by clicking here. 

If you received an outstanding grade in Legal
Research and Writing, you may want to include that on your résumé. 

If there is a significant improvement from
one semester to the next, you may want to list your semester G.P.A.s
separately. 

For a detailed discussion on the Law School's
grading system and computing G.P.A.s, read section 2 of the Career
Services Handbook or the "Grading
System and Class Standing" section of the Career Services
web site. 

LSAT Scores

LSAT scores should not be included on your résumé.  Remember,
LSAT scores were relevant in evaluating your potential as a law student. 
They are not a predictor of your success as a lawyer. 

EXPERIENCE/EMPLOYMENT

The heading "Experience" or "Employment"
can be used, but "Experience" offers the advantage of
encompassing paid, volunteer, intern and clinical positions.  List
jobs in reverse chronological order. 

This section can be divided into "Legal
Experience," "Related Experience," "Professional
Experience," "Work Experience," or "Other Experience"
categories.  This is particularly useful for students with extensive
work experience prior to law school. 

For each position, list the name of the organization,
job title, city and state and dates of employment.  Note that it
is easier to read "Summer 1998" than"6/98-8/98"
or "June 1998-August 1998". 

When describing your employment experience,
include more details for jobs that involved legal responsibility. 
Other employment can be summarized briefly to avoid leaving large
gaps in your employment history. 

If your experiences are not directly applicable
to the position for which you are applying, then describe transferable
skills that you have acquired in different subject areas that demonstrate
similarities with the employer's work. 

Common legal skills that almost all organizations
look for include research, writing, client interviewing, and evidence
of analytical, organizational, interpersonal and leadership skills. 

Use short phrases, not sentences, to describe
employment.  Begin each entry with a law-related action verb, such
as "Coordinated", "Developed", "Drafted",
"Oversaw", "Researched".  For a list of action
verbs suitable for your résumé , click here. 

Review how an employer describes its work,
and then convey that you understand the field by using similar language
to describe your own job responsibilities and activities. 

List the most substantial responsibilities
and achievements first.  Be brief but specific, including numbers,
dollar amounts and percentages whenever possible.  For example, "Supervised
staff of 15," "Managed $45,000 budget," or "Increased
sales by 15 percent." 

PROFESSIONAL
CERTIFICATIONS

If you have earned any other professional certifications, such as a
CPA or real estate license, you may include this information, along
with the date and state in which you were certified. 

FOREIGN
LANGUAGES

If you are skilled in a foreign language, this should be noted on your
résumé.  You may be asked to demonstrate your skills during
an interview, so be sure to accurately convey your level of proficiency. 
You can use these descriptions: "fluent," "proficient,"
"conversant," "working knowledge of…". 

MILITARY
SERVICE

Having served in the military is impressive to many employers and should
be listed as employment. 

PUBLICATIONS

Including publications on a résumé indicates previous
research and writing experience. 

SKILLS

Do not list personality attributes such as "able to work with minimal
supervision."  Only list computer skills if they are extraordinary. 
Most lawyers and law students have word processing and Westlaw/Lexis
skills, so listing them is unnecessary. 

PERSONAL
INFORMATION

Information such as health, weight, age, marital status and number of
children should not be on your résumé.  It is not relevant
and it is illegal for an employer to ask questions related to this information
during an interview. 

OUTSIDE INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES

This category is optional, but can show that
you are a well-rounded individual.  It often provides good topics
for conversation during an interview. 

Only include accomplishments or unique interests
and hobbies that highlight a strength, significant accomplishment
or passion. 

Avoid general terms such as "enjoy reading,
movies and sports."  Instead, be specific about the type of
literature you like, the fact that you studied classical piano for
15 years, and the time you ran the Chicago marathon. 

You need not have achieved outward recognition
of your interests and activities in order to list them.  Thus, "crime
novels, swing dancing and the Chicago Cubs" is an appropriate
list of interests if, in fact, you can discuss them knowledgeably
and with enthusiasm.