CV Advice
The importance of your CV cannot be overestimated. It is on the basis
of this that a potential employer will decide whether to interview you
or not, therefore it acts as the proverbial foot in the door. Your CV is
likely to be presented to your potential employer in a large pile
together with other CVs and if you fail to stand out from the rest you
are likely to have the door shut in your face. It is important to set out
the relevant information in a reader friendly and digestible format so
that it can be read quickly and clearly.
Content
The following should be set out clearly so that by glancing over a
CV an employer can extract the pertinent points he is looking for:
- Personal details (address, etc)
- Qualifications (including dates, grades and institution)
- Employment history
- Legal experience
- Additional information
If your grades are not what they might be the general rule is that
you must still include them since an employer will draw the worst
conclusion in their absence.
Length
A CV can be over two pages in length so long as the additional
information is relevant and not simply waffle. The longest section
is likely to be the details of your current employment (if you are
training, details of all the seats completed to date). If you have
pursued an alternative career before moving into law, or have had
a few other jobs it is worth giving brief details, but no more than
a line or two unless there is some connection to the type of work
you are presently seeking.
Experience
Over and above your exam results this is the most important part of
your CV and time and effort should be devoted to providing a sufficient
amount of detail to make your CV stand out. Simply providing a list
of the different types of transactions or types of claim (e.g. mergers
and acquisitions, joint ventures, sale of assets OR personal injury,
professional indemnity, debt recovery) is not enough. This is a starting
point but examples of specific cases/transactions should be given
together with details of your involvement in these matters. The names
of clients should not be given unless this information is in the public
domain and usually a generic description is best e.g. well known high
street retailer, property development company. Try to give several
examples, where possible, of different tasks you have carried out,
for example, documents you have drafted, negotiations you have
conducted. If you have had an unusual level of responsibility, perhaps
running a case on your own account, then this should be made clear.
Sometimes it is worth giving an indication of the approximate value
of a claim or transaction, as this can be an indicator of the quality of
the work you have been dealing with. In litigation if a case has been
reported it is also worth mentioning this. Here are two examples to
demonstrate the level of detail required:
-
Assisting a partner with a professional negligence claim against
welders who caused a fire in a warehouse. Interviewed witnesses
and drafted witness statements, attended locus in quo, drafted
all court pleadings and instructed counsel. Approximate value of
claim £300,000.
-
Acting for a major Italian clothing retailer in the acquisition of
a UK based company. Assisting in the negotiations and in the
drafting of all documentation.
Finally…
Making your CV clear and interesting is the key to success. Do not
be tempted to experiment extensively with unusual fonts, brightly
coloured paper or to include your photograph, but instead think
carefully about what makes you stand out from the crowd. Make
the most of your achievements, legal and otherwise as law firms
like well-rounded employees with external interests (even if there is
little time to pursue them at the end of the working day). In attempts
to impress however avoid self-serving statements (e.g. ‘I am a
determined and self motivated individual with excellent negotiation
skills’). It is for your potential employer to assess these matters and
such statements waste space whilst adding little if any value.
For further information please contact us for a copy of a
sample cv.