b'19 Legal CVs\nGuidelines\nClear headings with different text size help the reader find the information they want. Fancy\nstyles and fonts are better suited to CVs for creative jobs\nA two page CV is normally expected. Early in your degree when you have limited experience,\nyou might want to use a single-sided CV for speculative applications\nPutting your name in a footnote can help avoiding the pages getting separated when the\nemployer prints it out. If printing yourself, use good quality white or cream paper\nLaw firms will expect your applications to be error free. Spell-check helps but don\xe2\x80\x99t rely on it\nand pay attention to punctuation and appropriate use of capital letters. It\xe2\x80\x99s hard to pick up your\nown errors, so try asking a friend to proof read for you\nRecruiters like to find dates easily. One way is to put dates at the left margin, followed by the\nname of the employer or place of study and job title or qualification obtained. Try to do this\nacross a single line\nStyle guides can ensure consistency of headings and accurate alignment of text but avoid\nstandardised CV templates which reduce the individuality of your document\nThink what recruiters most want to know about you. Give most space and prominence to the\nqualifications and experience that are most relevant. You can find out what some of the\nleading legal recruiters are looking for at http://targetjobs.co.uk/career-sectors/lawsolicitors/applications-and-interviews/skills-graduate-recruiters-at-law-firms-lo.\nLawCareers.net has similar information at\nwww.lawcareers.net/Information/Features/Detail.aspx?r=1269\nTry to show that you can make a positive difference by concentrating on significant outcomes\nfrom work experience and interests rather than listing everything you\xe2\x80\x99ve done\nTry to describe your skills in a way that is appropriate for a particular application. For example,\nall lawyers need strong communication skills but the people you meet as a City lawyer are\ndifferent from the clients in high street practice, so select relevant examples from your own\ncommunication experience\nIt is vital you check everything you have written as even the tiniest of errors will probably mean\nyour application is rejected. You\xe2\x80\x99d kick yourself if all the hours spent on your CV content are\nwasted.\nA structure that suits most applications\nTitle. Putting \xe2\x80\x98Curriculum Vitae\xe2\x80\x99 is old-fashioned, so use your first and last names as the title. If\nyour first name could also be a last name, try putting your last name in bold or a larger font.\nPersonal details. You don\xe2\x80\x99t need to use the heading \xe2\x80\x98Personal details\xe2\x80\x99 but you normally include\naddress (and contact address if different); phone number(s) and email address(es) \xe2\x80\x93 but make\nsure they are up to date. Nationality is optional but it is good to show that you have permission to\nwork in the UK if you are not an EEA or British national. If your gender is not obvious from your\nname, you might wish to include it so that recruiters know how to address correspondence to you\nor put in your title (Mr/Ms etc) to make it clear. Make sure this section looks professional by\navoiding email addresses that say too much about your personal life! The Kent careers website\ngives examples of some addresses which might give recruiters the wrong impression!\nwww.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv.htm\nPersonal profile/career objective. A personal profile can work well if you have something very\nspecific that you want to highlight but recruiters don\xe2\x80\x99t like profiles such as \xe2\x80\x98highly motivated,\nambitious law student with excellent communication and team working skills\xe2\x80\x99 that look like\n\n\x0ceveryone else\xe2\x80\x99s and provide no evidence of the skills you claim to have. The sort that might work\nis \xe2\x80\x98Multilingual LLM student with a 1st at undergraduate level and six months\xe2\x80\x99 international legal\nexperience\xe2\x80\xa6..\xe2\x80\x99 in a single sentence this emphasises five things that could interest employers ie\nlanguages, study at Master\xe2\x80\x99s level, excellent academic results, significant work experience and an\ninternational perspective. A career objective might be similar but also mention what you are\nlooking for eg \xe2\x80\x98seeking experience in banking law.\xe2\x80\x99 It is hard to write the kind of profile which will\nreally make you stand out.\nEducation. This could also be entitled \xe2\x80\x98Education and qualifications\xe2\x80\x99 or \xe2\x80\x98Education and awards.\xe2\x80\x99\nIt\xe2\x80\x99s usual to list qualifications in reverse chronological order, stating degree modules and grades\nas well as A level and GCSE grades. Mention your dissertation either for the relevance of the\ncontent to the firm or for the research, analytical and organisational skills it developed. Use\ncolumns and list A levels or GCSEs in as few lines as possible to save space. You don\xe2\x80\x99t need to\nname every GCSE subject but recruiters will be interested in number of A*, A and B grades and\nyou could mention grades (if good) for core subjects such as English, maths and modern\nlanguages. Include any major academic prizes you won in school, college or university. Include\nacademic qualifications only; other qualifications such as IT skills certificates could go into a skills\nsection if relevant.\nLegal experience. List in reverse chronological order and include voluntary work. You can\ninclude attendance at open days and activities like the TARGETchances events as well as work\nexperience. Emphasise your most significant achievements, knowledge gained and skills learned\nrather than listing every single thing you have done and give the most space to significant\nresponsibilities. Use bullet points, be concise and avoid repetition if you have done the same work\non several occasions.\nOther work experience. You may have non-legal experience that is particularly relevant to your\nlegal applications. Examples include commercial experience for commercial law or\nwelfare/advisory work for legal aid or public sector practice. If so, you could make this a separate\nsection. Avoid detailed descriptions of everything you did in casual jobs, but give a brief overview,\ninformation on any unusual achievements, such as rapid promotion or extra responsibility, and\ndescribe transferable skills. While bar work might not seem very relevant, successfully handling\nawkward customers will probably have developed your ability to defuse most difficult situations.\nSkills. Most of your skills will be evident in your descriptions of work experience and\nextracurricular activities, but you might have a short section detailing skills such as IT competence,\nlanguages and driving licence. Different firms will be interested in different languages; those doing\nmultinational business normally like European languages and those relating to other countries in\nwhich they operate, whereas an immigration practice will welcome languages that are relevant to\ntheir clients.\nInterests and achievements. Use a heading that emphasises your particular strengths such as\npositions of responsibility or voluntary work. Think what your activities say about you \xe2\x80\x93 bigger\nfirms of solicitors like sports, other team activities and evidence of outstanding achievement. Aim\nto show yourself as a rounded and interesting person who can manage your time well enough to\ncombine getting a good degree with extra curricular activities. But if you have had to work long\nhours in a part-time job during your degree and this has limited your time for hobbies, don\xe2\x80\x99t be\nafraid to mention this under work experience \xe2\x80\x93 you could just indicate the number of hours you\nwork in an average week\nCV examples\nLook at the CV examples and sample covering letters but don\xe2\x80\x99t be tempted to simply copy either\nstyle or content. Your CV is likely to be the first contact you have with a firm, so take the time to\nproduce the best document possible. Note that larger firms have their own application forms and\nwill not normally accept CVs.\n\n\x0cNasreen Khan\n27 Hillingdon Rise, Uxbridge UB8 2XY\nNaskhan3@brunelmail.co.uk\nFirst year LLB student with legal, administrative and customer service experience, seeking legal\nwork shadow or work experience\n\nEducation\n2011 \xe2\x80\x93 2015 LLB (Hons) Law\nBrunel University, London\n2011 - 2012\nModules: English Legal Institutions and Methods, Contract Law, Public Law\nand Criminal Law\n2009 \xe2\x80\x93 2011\n\nA levels\nHeathland College, Uxbridge\nA2 Sociology (A), A2 History (C), A2 Law (B), AS Economics (B)\n\n2008 \xe2\x80\x93 2009\n\nGCSEs\nParkside School, Uxbridge\n11 subjects: 2 A*, 4A, 3B and 2 C including English Language A*, Maths B\nand Spanish A*\n\nLegal Experience\nJune \xe2\x80\x93 July 2011\n\nAttended County, Magistrates and Crown Court hearings to develop\nknowledge of criminal and civil proceedings\n\nMay 2010\n\nJunior legal assistant\nPrentice, Hall and Parker, Ealing\nLearned office procedures and business communications through\noperating front desk and administrative tasks\nAttended client meetings on family, employment and property matters and\ndiscussed cases with the solicitors\n\nEmployment\nJune \xe2\x80\x93 Aug 2011 Part-time admin assistant ART Group, Slough\nDealt with telephone queries for this mail order business ensuring that\norders were met on time\nCreated and updated a new customer and supplier database which\nrequired close attention to detail\nDeveloped excellent oral communication skills from solving customers\xe2\x80\x99\nproblems and negotiating with suppliers\nPre 2011\n\nRetail experience and voluntary care work with adults with learning difficulties\nhelped me communicate with people from all walks of life\n\nSkills\nConfident user of MS Office including Excel and Access\nFluent in Urdu and Punjabi; taking Spanish lessons\nFull clean UK driving licence\n\n\x0c(Miss) Daljit Sagoo\nTel:\nEmail:\nAddress:\n\n0208 000 0000\nMobile:\nds9@brumail.co.uk\n20 Brunel Way, Uxbridge UB8 3PH\n\n07901 000000\n\nEDUCATION & AWARDS\n2008-2012\n2009\n2009\n\n2001-2008\n2008\n2006\n\nBrunel University, Uxbridge\nLLB (Hons) Law \xe2\x80\x93 achieved high 2:1 in level 2\nContract Law (B) English Legal Institutions and Methods (B)\nCriminal Law (B) and Public Law (A)\nCompany Law (A), Competition Law (A) Law of the European\nUnion (B) Tort Law (B) Employment Law (A)\n\nSouthlands High School, Wandsworth\nA levels: Business Studies (A) English Literature (B) Computing (B)\nAwarded Greenhow Prize for Business\nGCSEs: 7 at grade A/A* incl. English, Maths and French, 3 at grade B\n\nLEGAL EXPERIENCE\nJul 11\nAttended open days at Herbert Smith and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer\nJan-Jul 11 ABC Law, Harrow Six month placement in a mixed practice firm mainly in the\nPersonal Injury Department\n\xef\x82\xa7 In the last few months I was given case management responsibility for smaller\nclaims and worked with minimum supervision\n\xef\x82\xa7 Daily liaison with clients, medical staff and insurers developed strong negotiation\nskills to determine liability and compensation\n\xef\x82\xa7 Responsible for legal research on cases and drafting accurate documentation\n\xef\x82\xa7 Fast paced and demanding environment developed my time management and\nclient care skills to a high level\n\xef\x82\xa7 Talked to other solicitors in my own time to develop knowledge of commercial\nproperty, commercial litigation and employment law\nJul 09-Feb 10 Unisys Ltd, Uxbridge\nSix month placement in Legal Department\n\xef\x82\xa7 Gained significant knowledge of contract law by working on multi-national and\nmulti-million pound contracts\n\xef\x82\xa7 Reviewed existing and drafted new contracts developing close attention to detail,\npersonal responsibility and technical as well as legal knowledge\n\xef\x82\xa7 Liaised with sales and commercial staff and contributed to team meetings to\nagree sound contractual terms\n\xef\x82\xa7 Liaised with legal teams in suppliers, client companies and local and central\ngovernment in the UK and overseas\nAug 08\nWandsworth Council\nSpent a month with the legal team at Wandsworth Council, gaining insights into legal\nareas including contracts, employment and environment\n\n\x0cCOMMERCIAL EXPERIENCE\nJuly 2010\n\nPricewaterhouseCoopers, Uxbridge\n3 week vacation scheme in assurance and taxation departments\n\xef\x82\xa7 Gained understanding of balance sheets and basic accounting procedures\n\xef\x82\xa7 Undertook research into the assets and profitability of client companies and their\nsuppliers, including due diligence\n\xef\x82\xa7 Experienced a takeover bid for a UK manufacturing company by an international\nrival and the tax savings achievable through an offshore operation\nSept 0\xe2\x80\x93date Mujara Holdings Ltd, London\nOngoing experience in family business employing 20 staff and with an international\noperation and customer base\n\xef\x82\xa7 Built knowledge of import and export procedures and tariffs\n\xef\x82\xa7 Developed strong internal and external relationships to build sales and\ncontributed to ideas for new product lines and markets\n\xef\x82\xa7 Gained good commercial sense and assisted in preparation of accounts for audit\n2008\nAbacus Mortgage Corporation \xe2\x80\x93 summer job in telesales\n\xef\x82\xa7 Gained extensive knowledge of financial products and ability to communicate\ntheir benefits succinctly to a wide range of potential clients.\n\xef\x82\xa7 Consistently met or exceeded targets.\n2007\nYoung Enterprise \xe2\x80\x93 finance manager of a profitable company making\npersonalised mouse mats\nRELEVANT SKILLS\nIT:\nDriving:\n\nFully conversant with all aspects of Microsoft Office\nFull clean driving licence\n\nADDITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE\n2009\n\nHarry\xe2\x80\x99s Place, Uxbridge. Evening shifts in a hectic town centre bar \xe2\x80\x93\ndeveloped good organisational and diplomacy skills\nAgency jobs in offices and shops through which I\xe2\x80\x99ve learned to fit quickly into\nnew teams and work with a broad spectrum of people. Have also become\nfamiliar with standard office systems\n\n2006-2008\n\nINTERESTS & ACHIEVEMENTS\n\xef\x82\xa7\n\xef\x82\xa7\n\xef\x82\xa7\n\xef\x82\xa7\n\nElected member of the departmental staff \xe2\x80\x93 student committee. Involves\nrepresenting student views on academic matters and negotiating changes to the\ncourse\nActive member of Law Society and compete successfully in moots\nI enjoy competitive sport and play in Brunel badminton & volleyball teams\nHave travelled extensively in the USA, Asia and Middle East building cultural\nawareness and a wide network of contacts\n\nREFERENCES\nDr Susan Morgan, Personal Tutor, School of Law \xe2\x80\x93 susan.morgan@brunel.ac.uk\nMr Nasreem Ahmed, Partner, ABC Law \xe2\x80\x93 nasreem.ahmed@abclaw.co.uk'