b'Use your name as the\nmain heading using a\nlarge font size, such as\n16 pt.\n\nHarvey Reginald Specter\n100 Hill Parade Rose Bay NSW 2030 Australia\ne: harvey@specterross.com.au | t: (02) 8000 9000 | m: 0412 345 678\nlinkedin.com/in/lwyrd\n\nThe main text should not be smaller than\n11 pt. This example is in Arial 12 pt. Use a\nsans serif font. Remember your reader: be\nprofessional and consistent. Stay away\nfrom novelty fonts.\n\nEDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS\nBachelor of Laws (LLB) / Bachelor of Global Studies (2011 \xe2\x80\x93 Present)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Criminal Law (85%); Legal Procedure (78%);\nContracts (70%); Administrative Law (80%)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Law Internship at Legal Aid NSW (2012)\nBellington High School, West Bingfield (2005 \xe2\x80\x93 2010)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Prime Minister\xe2\x80\x99s All-Rounders List\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Topped NSW in Year 12 Mathematics and Legal Studies\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Captain of Public Speaking\n\nLincoln Law Prize for the highest mark (85%) in Criminal Law\nHardman & Co Prize for Excellence in Advanced Contracts\n\nSCHOLARSHIPS\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\nInclude a link to your LinkedIn\nprofile page. Your profile page\nshould contain additional\ninformation not covered here.\nAccording to Business\nInsider, 86% of recruiters\nadmit to reviewing\ncandidates\xe2\x80\x99 online profiles so\nwhy not include it anyway?\n\nThere\xe2\x80\x99s no point in including a generic\nobjective about a \xe2\x80\x9cprofessional looking\nfor opportunities that will allow me to\nleverage my skills.\xe2\x80\x9d It\xe2\x80\x99s not helpful and\nis distracting.\n\nACADEMIC AWARDS\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\nChoose one phone number for\nyour resume where you control\nthe voicemail message and who\npicks up the phone. The same\nrule applies to an email\naddress.\n\nDarvard University Merit Scholarship (2013)\nBellington Outstanding Achievement Scholarship (2011)\n\nEMPLOYMENT HISTORY\nLegal Work Experience\nHardman & Co \xe2\x80\x93 Paralegal (June 2013 \xe2\x80\x93 Present)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Responsible for legal research to Commercial Litigation team\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Reorganised and streamlined legal research database\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Conducted legal analysis to support numerous test cases\n\nGraduate recruiters from both\nLinklaters and Freshfields\nBruckhaus Deringer agree that at\nthis stage in your career it is a\ngood idea to put your education\nand academic results first. Use\npercentages to make your\ngrades stand out, but order them\ncarefully. If you end your list with\nyour lowest grade, the reader\nmay remember the 70% rather\nthan the 80%.\nUse subheads and bullet points to\nmake your CV easier to read. No more\nthan two or three bullet points to explain\nwhat you got out of each experience\nand how you made an impact. Use\nstrong, active verbs. \xe2\x80\x98Make sure it\xe2\x80\x99s not\ntoo prose heavy,\xe2\x80\x99 suggests Anup\nVithlani at Trowers & Hamlin. Note the\nreverse chronological order.\n\nNSW Supreme Court \xe2\x80\x93 Judge\xe2\x80\x99s Associate (April 2012 \xe2\x80\x93 April 2013)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Associate to Justice Jirby of NSW Supreme Court\nDon\xe2\x80\x99t be downhearted by a lack of legal\nexperience on your CV. Recruiters are keen to\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Researched precedents for significant family law cases\nCrime Commission \xe2\x80\x93 Legal Intern (March 2012 \xe2\x80\x93 April 2012)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Prepared white paper on Internet piracy in Australia\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Supported the reform of community forums\nCommercial Work Experience\nCommerce Council \xe2\x80\x93 Financial Analyst (June 2010 \xe2\x80\x93 May 2011)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Generated approximately $30,000 in annual accounts\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Conducted financial analysis to support senior leadership\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Increased data mining 65% by improving efficiencies\n\nhear about the skills you have picked up\nelsewhere. \xe2\x80\x98Law firms like variety,\xe2\x80\x99 explains\nJessica Booker, graduate recruitment\nmanager at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.\n\nThis section is your opportunity to illustrate\nyour motivation for a career in law, with a\nparticular type of firm. But don\xe2\x80\x99t go overboard\nabout the skills you developed on your\nplacement; you\xe2\x80\x99re also likely to have\ndeveloped soft skills in extra-curricular\nactivities, part-time work and in positions of\nresponsibility.\nUse confident language to describe your parttime or holiday experience of retail or bar jobs.\nMake sure you mention any promotions.\n\nAnnotated Sample CV for Australian Law Students, Graduates and Young Lawyers\nBeyond Law \xc2\xa9 2014. For more resources: www.beyondlaw.com.au\n\n\x0cBe consistent with the way you present\ninformation. Here, the job\ntitles/position/placement are all italicised\nand dates are all on the right-hand side.\n\nVOLUNTARY AND PRO-BONO EXPERIENCE\nPresident of Darvard Law Students\xe2\x80\x99 Society (May 2012 \xe2\x80\x93 May 2013)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Chair monthly committee meetings, liaise with the Students\xe2\x80\x99\nUnion and organise social events for 200 society members\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Raised $10,000 of sponsorship for new initiative: the Client\nInterviewing Competition\nFounder of Darvard Legal Clinic for Students (May 2012)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Established a legal aid weekly drop-in clinic for students\nexperiencing problems with rental lease or employment rights\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Persuaded two local law firms to supply three qualified\nsolicitors on voluntary basis\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Established a roster of law students to support the\nsolicitors\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Wrote marketing material to increase clinic users from 10\nstudents to 30 students in first month\n\nCO-CURRICULAR EXPERIENCE\nCaptain of Intervarsity Water Polo (June 2010 \xe2\x80\x93 May 2011)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Organised fixtures, practices and teambuilding events for\n20 squad members\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Took team from 14th to 4th rank at national university\nleague level and won silver in National Championships\nEditor-in-Chief of Obiter Magazine (June 2010 \xe2\x80\x93 May 2011)\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Managed editorial duties for law society magazine\n\xe2\x80\xa2 Pitched new monthly features to law school\n\nLANGUAGE SKILLS\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\nNative or bilingual proficiency in French\nProfessional working proficiency in German\n\nINTERESTS\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\nEcological Sustainability\nIntellectual Property\n\nCLUBS AND SOCIETIES\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\xe2\x80\xa2\n\nNSW Law Review\nAustralasian Law Students Association\nVice-Chancellor\xe2\x80\x99s Alumni Leadership Program\n\nREFEREES\nWalter Hartwell White\nLaw Lecturer\nDarvard University\nheisenberg@darvard.edu.au\n(02) 7000 8000\n\nDon\xe2\x80\x99t say \xe2\x80\x9creferences upon request.\xe2\x80\x9d\nEvery recruiter knows you\xe2\x80\x99re going to\nprovide references if they request it so\nthere\xe2\x80\x99s no reason for you to include this\nline. Again, remember that space on\nyour resume is crucial so don\xe2\x80\x99t waste it\non a meaningless line,\n\nSeparating your experience into\ndifferent categories, such as legal,\ncommercial and voluntary, makes it\neasier for the reader. Jessica warns\nagainst using subheads such as\n\xe2\x80\x98Relevant work experience\xe2\x80\x99; it suggests\nthat you think the rest of your CV is\nirrelevant.\nQuantify your major accomplishments and\ncontributions for each role. This can\ninclude the money you saved or brought in\nfor your employer, deals closed, and\nprojects delivered on time or under\nbudget. Do not use any more than three to\nfive bullet points.\nMany companies use some kind of\nscreening process to identify the right\ncandidates. You should include the\nkeywords mentioned in the job posting\nthroughout your resume. Identify the\ncommon keywords, terminology, and key\nphrases that routinely pop up in the job\ndescriptions of your target role and\nincorporate them into your resume\n(assuming you have those skills)\nDon\xe2\x80\x99t list achievements in dense blocks of\ntext. Recruiters receive so many resumes\nto scan through at a time, so make it as\neasy as possible for them to understand\nwhy you\xe2\x80\x99re perfect for the job. Dense\nblocks of text are too difficult to read.\nAsk as many friends and family to\nproofread your application as necessary;\nthere\xe2\x80\x99s no room for typos in an application\nto a law firm \xe2\x80\x93 you\xe2\x80\x99re trying to convince\npeople of your attention to detail. Using\nthe verb \xe2\x80\x98advise\xe2\x80\x99 rather than the noun\n\xe2\x80\x98advice\xe2\x80\x99 could jeopardise your chances of\nan interview. All lawyers need excellent\ndrafting skills and attention to detail.\n\nInclude any personal impact you had in a role\nor position and quantify your impact where\npossible. If you proposed a new idea, explain\nbriefly what it was and whether it was\nimplemented. As Harvey pointed out, \xe2\x80\x98took\nteam from 14th to 4th rank at national\nuniversity league level\xe2\x80\x99 shows the personal\nimpact this person has had on the team\nTry not to lose momentum towards the\nend of the CV. This section helps the\nrecruiter build up a picture of what\nmakes you tick. You could pull out\nvarious tasks here but think about what\nlawyers do: they pitch for new work and\nhave to meet regular deadlines, under\npressure.\nWhite space draws the reader\xe2\x80\x99s eyes to\nimportant points. Recruiters do not spend a lot\nof time scanning resumes, so avoid dense\nblocks of text. The key is to format the\ninformation in a way that makes it easy to\nscan and recognise your job goals and\nrelevant qualifications. Don\xe2\x80\x99t use headers or\nfooters. It may look neat and concise to\ndisplay your contact information in the header,\nbut for \xe2\x80\x9cthe same reason with embedded\ntables and charts, it often gets scrambled in\nan applicant tracking system\n\nAnnotated Sample CV for Australian Law Students, Graduates and Young Lawyers\nBeyond Law \xc2\xa9 2014. For more resources: www.beyondlaw.com.au'