Post by shuklarani41423 on Nov 9, 2024 10:45:31 GMT 5.5
Employers often complain that they cannot understand legal terms in their resumes, and job seekers are surprised why they receive few responses. In this article, we analyzed the main mistakes and prepared advice together with Maria Tarasova, a lawyer in the field of GR and a medalist of the Olympiad "I am a professional".
Many professional concepts
It is difficult for lawyers to avoid using terms when describing their experience and knowledge. But it is important to understand that in most cases the first person to look at a resume is a recruiter who specializes in finding candidates, not in jurisprudence. That is why it is better to write about your achievements in understandable language without using abbreviations and narrowly professional words.
For example, few people know what IP Law is. Instead of the abbreviation, it is worth giving the definition "intellectual property law".
Maria Tarasova: " If you are going to send your resume to a consulting on page seo service or legal company, then in this case you should not remove professional concepts. Such organizations hire recruiters who specialize in selecting lawyers and are well versed in terminology. Therefore, I recommend creating several versions of the resume depending on the type of employer, and then finalizing them for each vacancy ."
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Position without specialization
Usually, in the resume, in the "job title" column, they simply write "lawyer", and in the "work experience" section, they describe their knowledge and skills in detail. Here again, there is a risk that you will not be understood. We recommend giving the full name of the specialization, for example, corporate lawyer or lawyer (litigation and claims work), so you will simplify the search for the employer and will be able to stand out among hundreds of resumes. Even if your employment contract has a general title, there is nothing wrong with specifying the position.
Maria Tarasova: “ If you have experience working in a specific department, division or section, then I advise you to indicate the job title in your resume - for example, junior lawyer in tax practice or lawyer in the dispute resolution group . ”
Similar duties
Basically, lawyers perform the same work - legal expertise, claims activity and representing the company in court. However, specificity is the trump card that distinguishes one specialist from another.
"Representing the company in court" - tells the employer practically nothing. The question immediately arises: what disputes have you participated in? For example, a dispute over debt collection, bankruptcy proceedings, return of goods. It will also be useful to indicate the size of the company, the scope of activities, the number of employees and legal entities, as well as the department and management with which you worked. Provide as much information as possible about your area of responsibility.
Maria Tarasova: “ In this section, you can write the general title of the duties, but provide an explanation in brackets - for example, protecting interests in courts (list which courts you have experience in conducting cases in - only magistrates' courts or have you already dealt with appellate and cassation courts, the Supreme Court) .
Achievements without business benefit
“Developed standard contracts” is a result without details, from which it is unclear how this change affected the development of the company.
“Developed standard contracts that optimized processes and saved the legal department 4 days” - an achievement confirmed by business indicators.
In order to formulate your results correctly, you need to answer the question: what has changed in the company since my arrival, was it possible to automate the work and save resources. The main thing is to confirm the achievements with figures - time, material and human resources.
Maria Tarasova:
"If you have experience working in a consulting company, you can indicate what clients you worked with - for example, from the construction, medical, metallurgical industries. In this way, you will show that you understand the legislation of a certain area. It is also worth writing about the level of proficiency in foreign languages, knowledge of foreign legislation and practice. This will be an undeniable plus for you, even if the company operates in Russia and, at first glance, does not interact with foreign counterparties.
Another piece of advice: do not forget to indicate your level of education in the cover letter — this line already characterizes the person. If you are a young specialist and do not have much work experience, it would be a good idea to write about conferences, Olympiads and volunteer projects in which you participated and developed certain competencies. This will show that you are a proactive worker."
Many professional concepts
It is difficult for lawyers to avoid using terms when describing their experience and knowledge. But it is important to understand that in most cases the first person to look at a resume is a recruiter who specializes in finding candidates, not in jurisprudence. That is why it is better to write about your achievements in understandable language without using abbreviations and narrowly professional words.
For example, few people know what IP Law is. Instead of the abbreviation, it is worth giving the definition "intellectual property law".
Maria Tarasova: " If you are going to send your resume to a consulting on page seo service or legal company, then in this case you should not remove professional concepts. Such organizations hire recruiters who specialize in selecting lawyers and are well versed in terminology. Therefore, I recommend creating several versions of the resume depending on the type of employer, and then finalizing them for each vacancy ."
Take online courses for free
and discover new opportunities
Start studying
Position without specialization
Usually, in the resume, in the "job title" column, they simply write "lawyer", and in the "work experience" section, they describe their knowledge and skills in detail. Here again, there is a risk that you will not be understood. We recommend giving the full name of the specialization, for example, corporate lawyer or lawyer (litigation and claims work), so you will simplify the search for the employer and will be able to stand out among hundreds of resumes. Even if your employment contract has a general title, there is nothing wrong with specifying the position.
Maria Tarasova: “ If you have experience working in a specific department, division or section, then I advise you to indicate the job title in your resume - for example, junior lawyer in tax practice or lawyer in the dispute resolution group . ”
Similar duties
Basically, lawyers perform the same work - legal expertise, claims activity and representing the company in court. However, specificity is the trump card that distinguishes one specialist from another.
"Representing the company in court" - tells the employer practically nothing. The question immediately arises: what disputes have you participated in? For example, a dispute over debt collection, bankruptcy proceedings, return of goods. It will also be useful to indicate the size of the company, the scope of activities, the number of employees and legal entities, as well as the department and management with which you worked. Provide as much information as possible about your area of responsibility.
Maria Tarasova: “ In this section, you can write the general title of the duties, but provide an explanation in brackets - for example, protecting interests in courts (list which courts you have experience in conducting cases in - only magistrates' courts or have you already dealt with appellate and cassation courts, the Supreme Court) .
Achievements without business benefit
“Developed standard contracts” is a result without details, from which it is unclear how this change affected the development of the company.
“Developed standard contracts that optimized processes and saved the legal department 4 days” - an achievement confirmed by business indicators.
In order to formulate your results correctly, you need to answer the question: what has changed in the company since my arrival, was it possible to automate the work and save resources. The main thing is to confirm the achievements with figures - time, material and human resources.
Maria Tarasova:
"If you have experience working in a consulting company, you can indicate what clients you worked with - for example, from the construction, medical, metallurgical industries. In this way, you will show that you understand the legislation of a certain area. It is also worth writing about the level of proficiency in foreign languages, knowledge of foreign legislation and practice. This will be an undeniable plus for you, even if the company operates in Russia and, at first glance, does not interact with foreign counterparties.
Another piece of advice: do not forget to indicate your level of education in the cover letter — this line already characterizes the person. If you are a young specialist and do not have much work experience, it would be a good idea to write about conferences, Olympiads and volunteer projects in which you participated and developed certain competencies. This will show that you are a proactive worker."