Upgrading Your Resume for On-Campus Interviews (OCI)

Upgrading Your Resume for On-Campus Interviews (OCI) And Other Documents for an Application Packet Presented by: The Placement Office Elmer Ignacio, Esq., Director eignacio@law.fsu.edu Becky Marsey, Assistant Director rmarsey@law.fsu.edu

Why Do I Need to Upgrade My Resume? • Your resume tells employers what you have learned and the type of experiences you have gained • Today’s job market is very competitive • You will be competing with classmates and students from other schools that are credentialed and have varying backgrounds and levels of experience • The better your resume, the better your chances of succeeding in the employment search, not just during OCI

Why are resumes so important? • Your resume is your first impression with that employer • Most legal recruiters will spend less than 30 seconds reviewing your resume • You want to make sure that you are portraying yourself in a manner that is positive, organized, concise, and persuasive • Your resume should be your absolute best work product

Characteristics of a good resume • Concise and brief • One page • Arranged so that the high points can be absorbed in literally 20 seconds • Does not contain “first person” pronouns (i.e. “I”) • Free of grammatical, typographical, and spelling errors • All information provided is correct, including dates and titles

Resume Suggestions • Stick to standard Margins: .7 to 1 inch • Use standard font sizes: 10 to 12 point • List only one phone number • Be consistent with formatting • Do not overuse bold and italics • Include any and ALL legal / law related experience • List most recent education and work experiences first and work backward

Basic Format of the 2L / 3L Resume • The education section will be first • Under the appropriate educational institution highlight outstanding activities and academic achievements • The Experience / Employment section should follow • Using Experience instead of Employment allows you to include clinical work, internships, and / or volunteer work

Education Section • List your law degree as “Juris Doctor Candidate, May 200_” or “Juris Doctor, expected May 200_” • Do NOT estimate G.P.A. or Class Rank • Use 100-point scale for reporting G.P.A. • Include undergraduate academic achievements • Include any activities and organizations under the appropriate school • Transfer students should include the previous law school

Should I include my G.P.A. or other grade information? • If grades are an important hiring criterion to a particular employer and you do not have top grades, they will likely not select you for an interview with or without them being listed. • Generally, you want to include information that works to your advantage. • Some employers will assume the worst if no grade information is provided. • If your grades have shown consistent improvement, you may want to highlight that by breaking them down by academic year. • If you have significant work experience or other qualifications to set you apart from others, then an employer may very well select you for an interview without any grade information.

Listing G.P.A. • Use only your G.P.A. received from the Law School Registrar’s Office. • Do NOT calculate your own GPA. • Report your G.P.A. in the 100-point scale • Do NOT report G.P.A. using the 4.0-scale used by main campus • When obtaining transcripts for OCI purposes, use only the unofficial transcripts obtained from the Law School Registrar’s Office. Do NOT use transcripts obtained through Blackboard. • To obtain your official G.P.A. and an unofficial transcript, submit a records request

Class Rank and G.P.A. 2L Information You will only have “Class Rank” and “GPA”

Class Rank and G.P.A. 3L Information

Class Rank and G.P.A. 3L Information Listing Credentials on Resumes and Job Applications OPTION # 1 List only “Class Rank” & “GPA”

Class Rank and G.P.A. 3L Information Listing Credentials on Resumes and Job Applications OPTION # 2 • Include your “Upper-Level Rank” and “Upper-Level GPA.” • If you choose this option, you MUST also indicate your “Class Rank” and “GPA”

Class Rank and G.P.A. Transfer Student Information • Indicate your rank and GPA from your previous law school under that law school on your resume. • Any subsequent rank and GPA you receive from Florida State University College of Law should be indicated as your “Upper-Level Rank” and “Upper-Level GPA” under FSU Law on your resume

Experience Section • Include ALL legal experience • Include non-legal experience • List your most recent position / experience first

Tips for Including Non-Legal Jobs • When listing non-legal positions, highlight your transferable skills • Key transferable skills include: • Writing • Research • Leadership • Communication / Client Contact

Action Words • When writing your descriptions for internships, externships, volunteer positions, or previous employment, try to use action words • Vary your usage • Use a thesaurus • Do not: Research and write everything! • Analyze • Formulate • Develop • Prepare

A Sample of Action Verbs • Achieved • Analyzed • Authored • Chaired • Clarified • Communicated • Coordinated • Counseled • Demonstrated • Delegated • Developed • Established • Evaluated • Examined • Formulated • Implemented • Managed • Mediated • Negotiated • Operated • Organized • Performed • Planned • Presented • Prioritized • Provided • Reduced • Researched • Revised • Scheduled • Solved • Supervised • Trained • Translated • Verified • Wrote

Sample Resumes

Example of how to list previous law school if you are a transfer student. If you did well in your undergraduate degree, it may be to your advantage to showcase this. In this example, the student separated legal experience from previous work experience. This is not necessary, but may be advantageous if your legal experience gets lost among other work experience. Adding community involvement and / or interests can be advantageous by providing a source of additional topics of conversation. Hobbies should be interesting, and not weird.

Great grades in only certain classes. Listed these on the resume. This student was published prior to law school. Any publications are great to include on a resume.

Example of how to list GPA and Class Rank information. Book Award listed. Example of how to list two degrees. Student has foreign language skills. This is important to include. Be sure not to overstate your abilities. Typical levels listed include: Native, fluent, proficient, conversational. Be prepared to speak in the language if asked!

Unsure if you should include it? • Avoid activities that might portray you as a "party animal" or non-academic type. • If you were the social chairman for an organization, you might want to use a different term • That does not mean that you should always leave off things like membership in a fraternity or sorority. • Carefully consider what value including your activities might add. • If you had a leadership position within your fraternity or sorority, this might demonstrate leadership skills, commitment, etc. • Consider when and when not to include political allegiances or membership in politically sensitive organizations. • You have no idea of the personal likes and dislikes of the readers of your resume.

Writing Sample • The four types of legal writing: • Application Analysis. This includes memos, briefs, judicial opinions, and law school exams. • Critical Analysis. Includes seminar papers and law review articles and case notes. • Legal Drafting. Includes contracts, interrogatories, and pleadings. • Legal Correspondence. Includes letters to clients and other attorneys. • Most employers expect to see an application analysis, as this is what the attorney or law student is going to be asked to do in his or her job. • Items produced during your first-year legal writing courses are excellent examples of self-edited work.

Writing Sample cont. • Employers expect about 5-10 pages of your best work. • Legal employers would rather see legal analysis; something like a memo or brief is preferred over a research paper, and something on a legal topic is preferable to a non-legal paper. • If you use an excerpt, indicate it is an excerpt. • Make certain you use a cover sheet or other method to indicate that it is your writing sample. • Obtain approval before using materials from a previous employer! TIP: You do not need to submit a writing sample to an employer unless it has been requested. However, you should bring copies of your writing sample to all interviews.

Cover Letter • For OCI, you will only submit a cover letter if requested by the employer. • Keep the letter to one page. • During a regular job search, a personal, well-crafted cover letter should accompany each resume you send to an employer. Unless it is not requested. • A cover letter offers you an opportunity to make a positive first impression on the firm or organization. It should be error free! • Mention any pertinent information about yourself not available in your resume.

Cover Letter cont. • Always address the cover letter to a specific person—never send a letter “to whom it may concern.” • For OCI purposes, you may address the cover letter to the contact listed in Symplicity. • Do not use passive voice • Do not waste time with puffery about the firm's overall strength, prestige, or size. • The letter should establish logical reasons for sending your resume to a particular employer (your experience, geographical considerations, personal contact, etc.) and state your interest in and qualifications for the particular type of work.

Cover Letter: The Breakdown • First Paragraph • Introduce yourself. • Tell why you are writing, name the position for which you are applying, and tell how you heard of this opening. • Many OCI employers will want to know why you are interested in a particular location. The first paragraph can be a great place to demonstrate any ties or particular interest for a specific area. • Examples: • "Having been raised in Seattle, I intend to return to the Northwest to practice law after I graduate." • "I spent four years as an undergraduate at Georgetown, and I intend to practice law in Washington, D.C. ,following my graduation." • “Having visited Atlanta numerous times, I am attracted to both the professional and personal opportunities that your city offers.“

Cover Letter: The Breakdown • Second and Third Paragraphs • State your skills and establish your value. Answer: “What can you do for the employer?” • Supplement, not replicate, the information on your resume. • Establish traits which an employer expects from an employable law student: • Excellent legal writing and research skills. • Mention skills that you don’t have on your resume. (i.e. ability to work under deadline pressure; outgoing; ambitious). • Explain how your non-legal skills translate into the legal profession. • For example, if you have worked in retail, you might say that your "customer service experience has prepared you for the challenge of dealing with attorneys and clients with diverse backgrounds and goals.“ • Unique qualifications may come from work experience, an academic experience as an undergraduate, or in another graduate school or from an extracurricular activity.

Cover Letter: The Breakdown • Final Paragraph • Assert your method of follow up. • Have an appropriate closing to pave the way for the interview by giving your telephone number or by offering some similar suggestion for an immediate and favorable reply. • Let the employer know if you will be in that area or that you will call to arrange for an interview and that your resume is enclosed. • Thank the employer for their time.

References • Use the header and format from your resume • Have 3-4 listed • For OCI purposes, submit only when requested • References may include: professors, previous employers, current employers, contacts from volunteer positions that can speak to your work ethic and ability • As a courtesy, ask and notify anyone you list as a reference. • Have available at your interview

References: An Example Sample Reference List and Resume. Notice the student used the same header for both. Make sure to list complete contact information for each reference.

Commonly Asked Questions • Should I include information about my high school or activities I did in high school? • Generally you should remove high school experiences from your resume. • Should I include my LSAT scores on my resume? • No, you should not include LSAT scores. At this stage, your academic achievements will be most relevant to the employer. • Should I include an objective on my resume? • No, listing an object is a common space water. • Should I include my computer skills on my resume? • It is universally assumed that all law students have and will graduate with skills in word processing and on-line research. The exception is if you have advanced computer skills, that are directly relevant to the position you are seeking. For example, advanced research certificate in WestLaw or Lexis.

Commonly Asked Questions • Should I include the tag line: “References and writing sample available upon request”? • No, this statement takes up valuable resume space. • Should I include my permanent home address? • Often times if your permanent address can show ties to the area, it may be beneficial to include on the resume. • I was invited to a Journal, but did not join, should I place this on my resume? • It is of questionable benefit and can only lead to the question, why didn’t you join. • Can Pro Bono experience be placed on the resume? • It can be placed on your resume, particularly if you have no other legal experience. Just indicate it appropriately.

Questions? For individual questions regarding your resume, or to have your resume reviewed, please contact the Placement Office. Placement Office 850.644.4495 Elmer Ignacio, Esq., Director eignacio@law.fsu.edu Becky Marsey, Assistant Director rmarsey@law.fsu.edu

Upgrading Your Resume for On-Campus Interviews (OCI)