Category Archives: Resume

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December 29, 2011

Is it OK for my resume to be 2 pages long?

Resume Length

Photo from www.pictureofsuccess.com/blog/

This month I answered the questions I am most often asked regarding resumes.

Week #1: Resume Gaps

Week #2: Graduation Dates

Week #3: Resume Format

Week #4: Graduate School

This week I answer the question most often by lawyers at every stage of their career. What is appropriate resume length? Can it be 2 pages?

The Answer: Sometimes, with exceptions.

 You must have enough years of experience to warrant two pages.

You must have at least 1/2 page of relevant and substantive information on the second page.

In some industries, having a resume addendum is more appropriate than a second page. A Curriculum Vitae, a CV, is a document that is generally longer than 2 pages and is significantly more inclusive than a resume. A CV is used regularly in academia, medicine and publishing as well as most places outside the U.S. People in the U.S. incorrectly use the words interchangeably.

**HAPPY NEW YEAR**

I am here to help your job search resolutions come true.

 

Catagories: Do's and Don'ts Job Search Resume
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December 27, 2011

How should I make clear that I started but didn’t finish graduate school?

FAQ - Resume Advice

Photo by www.planetofsuccess.com/blog/

Carefully!

If you did not graduate from school, you did not complete the degree program and may not claim to have done so. You can not call yourself a Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant, or Social Worker without specific certifications and degrees. A potential client was curious why she wasn’t getting hired to do accounting work when she was an accountant. I asked if she had her CPA. No, she didn’t, BUT, she’d done “tons of bookkeeping work and worked with lots of accountants.” That did not make her an accountant. She truly believed that because she she had the same skills as an accountant that she could call herself one.

There are always exceptions. However, when a job requires a degree, saying you have the degree when you do not, regardless of how strongly you feel that you deserve it, could have received it, or took some classes towards it, is a lie. Your potential inability to understand the difference is what is preventing you from getting hired.

I have no doubt you could do the job as well as, if not better than, many people who have their diploma stuck on a piece of wood in their office. You should indicate that you’ve taken classes towards your degree, which clearly shows an interest in the subject matter. If you intend to complete your degree you should indicate your anticipated graduation date and be ready to explain why there is a gap in your education. This only applies to job seekers who started a a degree and didn’t finish or started years ago and are planning to complete their degree now.

NOTE: It is illegal to act like a lawyer or doctor without proper degrees, licenses, certifications, and experience.

There are many professional degrees, act like a professional and no one will fault you for not having one.

Catagories: Do's and Don'ts Job Search Resume
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December 20, 2011

What is the best format for my resume?

Best Resume Format

Photo by www.planetofsuccess.com/blog/

Chronological or Hybrid.

Reverse Chronological is the most well recognized – HR professionals and recruiters prefer this format and it is an option for almost all applicants.

Hybrid is Chronological + Skills-Based and enables you to highlight skills that might not be immediately obvious based on your experience. This is a good option for applicants changing careers or practice areas.

Always include where and when and who:

Where did you work? That includes the company name and location.

When did you work there?

Who were you when you were there; what was your title?

Know which answers are more valued in your industry. For example, if your title is more important than where you worked highlight that.

See Vault.com for more information on resume formats, including  paragraph v. bullet formats and infographic resumes.

Catagories: Do's and Don'ts Job Search Resume
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December 13, 2011

Should I include dates of graduation on my resume?

FAQ Dates of Graduation

Photo from www.planetofsuccess.com/blog/

It depends.

If you recently obtained a new degree include the date to show that it is current but then be consistent and include dates for each degree.

Ageism will happen. It is unavoidable. People will judge you based on your years of experience, what you look like, and even potentially your email address. It is illegal but almost impossible to prove.

There will come a point in your career when your experience will outweigh your education. When that point comes you can consider removing your graduation dates.

Catagories: Do's and Don'ts Job Search Resume
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December 6, 2011

How to handle gaps on your resume?

FAQ - Resume Gaps

Photo from www.planetofsuccess.com/blog/

Honestly.

Highlight your relevant skills and consider using subheadings to more specifically show your expertise. For example, my resume includes “Legal Recruiting Experience” and “Legal Experience” subheadings so that potential employers will see exactly what I wanted them to see and what was most relevant to them will be, literally, front and center on my resume.

Do not use a Functional Resume to “hide” gaps. This only invites the reader to find them.

If you anticipate having a gap on your resume soon, consider all of your options. Can you volunteer in your area of interest? Can you attend classes to keep up with the changes in your industry? Can you write a blog and comment on LinkedIn discussions to stay current and to keep your name in front of potential clients and hiring managers? Include relevant volunteer experience and CLE classes to show your dedication to your practice area or your interest in a new one.

Catagories: Do's and Don'ts Job Search Resume
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November 1, 2011

Everything You Need to Know to Find a Job, You Learned in Law School

Blacks Law Dictionary Are you a lawyer? You CAN find a job. You already know how. Your legal skills are the tools you need.

Lawyers are taught to Research, Think Critically, Ask Questions and Argue Both Sides of an issue.

Research:
Know yourself, your target industry and any specific firm or company to which you are applying.

Think Critically:
How will you best serve the needs of your potential employer while also ensuring your work-life goals are reached.

Ask Questions:
Ask thoughtful questions to make clear you are interested in learning more about a person and job opportunity. Ask yourself what you enjoyed about past positions and how you can find a new position doing similar work.

Argue Both Sides:
Are there reasons why you are not the ideal candidate? It is OK, be honest. Now sell yourself. What do you offer that enables you to overcome what you lack.

This post gives examples of what you may consider a negative about your candidacy that are in fact a positive for your potential employer.

October 4, 2011

Resume Language is More than Action Verbs

Job Search Communication

“Tea for two, and two for tea
Just me for you and you for me”
—Irving Caesar

Here, using the same words in a different order changed the meaning of the sentence. First, one order of tea for two people and second, two people are ordering tea.

“You like potato and I like potahto, You like tomato and I like tomahto Potato, potahto, Tomato, tomahto, Let’s call the whole thing off”
—Louis Armstrong

Here, it is suggested that if people disagree on how to pronounce something, it is worth breaking up. My husband is from Brooklyn, where ordering Italian food is like speaking another language….and I don’t mean Italian. We haven’t broken up yet.

Semantics, the study of linguistic development by classifying and examining changes in meaning and form, exists to show that words can mean everything. For example, The Butcher of Cadiz. Is it a profession? Is it an infamous title? That misunderstanding, from a scene in the movie Hitch, ended a date abruptly. The same words can have different interpretations depending upon who says them, the time and place in which they are spoken, and who hears them. For example, a friend was impressed that her boyfriend’s uncle was a conductor. “Wow, how interesting. Have you seen him conduct before?” she asked, already looking forward to attending a concert. “Umm, no. A conductor. Like on the 6 train.” “What? I thought you said he was a conductor.” “Yes, I did. He is a train conductor.” Same word, same time, different meanings, different people speaking and listening.

What words mean and the words people choose to say can lead to different outcomes based on different interpretations. This is especially true in the law and is just as important in resume writing.

There are lists of strong action verbs to include and lists of words to avoid. But those lists are not enough. You have to speak the same language as your audience. Every job has its own lingo. Know your target audience and speak to them. Use your words in the same way they do.

An interview is the last place you want to be left arguing over semantics.

September 30, 2011

The 3 Most Common Resume Mistakes

Resume Mistakes

Image from salary.com

Tara Kachaturoff of TeachMeLaw Radio and I spoke recently about the legal resume mistakes I see most often. Honestly, lawyers and laypeople make the same mistakes but the question was focused on legal resumes.

Read the bolded language in the interview transcript below to see what the three most common resume errors are that I see in my practice.

Tara: … share three mistakes that you most often see on the legal resumes that come across your desk, of people that you are working with, that you’re helping. What are some of those mistakes that you see?

Jessica: The mistakes I see most often are formatting errors. Someone who’s going to see your resume, the first thing they’re going to see is the format. They’re not even going to read it if there’s the formatting error. That’s one of the biggest problems and that can be anything from a missing comma to the dash or the hyphen in between the dates. It should all be the same. That’s the first thing I always look for.

Another problem is people having objectives. Your objective is to get the job. That’s obvious by the fact that you sent your resume. If you need to summarize your work, summarize it. Call it a summary. Call it whatever you like, but do not have an objective. It’s too easy to write, “My objective is to get a job at XYZ Firm,” and you send that to ABC Firm and then ABC calls XYZ and you’re not getting either jobs. That happens all the time.

Tara: Really?

Jessica: All the time.

Tara: That’s hard to believe.

Jessica: Yeah, it’s all the time. Check your contact information, because that may not have been updated since you’ve moved. Or you typed that quickly, because you already know that and you really want to focus on the body of your resume. Have somebody call you from the number on your resume. If they can’t get in touch with you, that’s going to be your biggest problem. Also, just listing job tasks and not what you’ve accomplished doesn’t do anything to differentiate you.

Tara: Right.

Jessica: If you’re in a large group of associates and you’re doing the group project. You’re going to do your part differently than everybody else, because you’re an individual person. That’s what you need to describe on your resume. Quantifying. You might not know every number and that’s OK. You can generalize annually, often, weekly. Try to get some numbers on your resume. They just make sense to people.

Thank you Casting Words for this transcript.

Catagories: Job Search Resume
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September 28, 2011

LAW STUDENTS: 3 Things to do NOW to Prepare You & Your Resume for a Job Search

3 Job Search Tips for Law Students
Tara Kachaturoff of TeachMeLaw Radio and I spoke recently about what law students can do now to get their resume ready for a job search post-graduation.

Read the bolded language in the interview transcript below to see what the three simple tips are and let me know if you have any follow-up questions.

Tara: The students that are in school right now, who are probably a little concerned about when they pop out of the system, and they have to get a job.

What are a couple of things or one or two things a law student can do right now to get their resume ready for a job search? What can they be doing while they’re in the classroom and studying?

…

Jessica: Things that they can do to help bolster their resume, definitely, take advantage of any clinical opportunity that their school offers.

Tara: Which is meaning like an internship, right?

Jessica: An internship or an externship; I don’t know what the statistics are at different law schools. Most of them offer clinical programs or the career center can put you in touch with law firms that are looking for law students.

Tara: And if not, you could just start dialing, get on line and find a law firm nearby so you could make your own internship. Be proactive.

[laughter] [Yes, there is fun in a job search]

Jessica: Yeah, everyone likes free help. And there are very many regulations and rules about what you can do and can’t do, most law firms do know that. At the City Bar we were talking about the fact that so many small firms really need the help, but they don’t have the time to train.

Approaching a small firm or maybe working with your career center to get you placed at a small firm would really be a good opportunity, because you’re definitely going to get thrown in right away and learn immediately. Because whether they have the time to really sit and train you or not, you’re going to have to learn very quickly.

Tara: Right.

Jessica: Also, I did countless informational interviews, making connections one a week, one a month. Online, Skype, over the phone making connections, and then pursuing them to gain more information. If you think you want to be a real estate lawyer, that’s great. Go talk to one. Go talk to a commercial real estate attorney at a big firm, at a small firm, all different types. I thought when I was deciding what to do, “Well, maybe I’ll practice real estate law.” I went to a real estate CLE class and wanted to kill myself.

[laughter]

Jessica: That’s not what I’m doing now. Just go to classes. Take CLE classes. They’re not free but there are options. Talk to the person sitting next to you. Are they happy? Do you want to be happy? Talking to people, finding out who they know. What industry publications they read.

All those things can really help you determine what you want to do which can then help you decide which elective classes you want to take, or even which clinics to pursue.

Tara: And what’s great, you could even do it taking an attorney to lunch every week, or to breakfast or buy them coffee once a week. You’d meet a lot of people in three years.

Thank you Casting Words for this transcript.

September 26, 2011

Attorney’s Counsel – Why and What Now?

Attorneys Counsel Logo Tara Kachaturoff of TeachMeLaw Radio and I spoke recently about Attorney’s Counsel. Since some of you do not yet know what I do and why, here is a portion of the interview transcript so that you all know where I gained my expertise and why I love what I do. If you have any questions, fire away (no pun intended)!

Tara: You have a really interesting business. And it’s more relevant than ever especially in the economy today.

Jessica:  I’m an attorney. I went to law school. I am now Principal of Attorney’s Counsel, which is a resume review, interview skills assessment and social media firm. We help lawyers, and occasionally other professionals, perfect the skills and documents to move their career forward.

…

I did practice for a number of years. I did Holocaust restitution and women’s health product liability before going back to legal recruiting, which I had pursued in law school. I did tons of legal placements for a number of years and then at the end of 2008, the industry dried up. I had been working very closely with the New York City Bar Association, first as a member of the Career Advancement and Management Committee.

Now I’m currently Chair of the Law Student Perspectives Committee. Knowing that I had that outlet, I was speaking in plenty of programs quite frequently I knew that people really needed job search help. Many lawyers still don’t know that they need the help. Also knowing and having been a member of the club that lawyers really want to talk to other lawyers, I started Attorney’s Counsel.

Now, my day-to-day is working with my clients. I’m also currently consulting with agencies that want to start their own temp division.

Tara: I really love your whole idea of your business and it’s in a niche. Obviously you have experience and you are an attorney. You help other people find positions or spruce up resumes or get a resume put up together in the first place.

Thank you Casting Words for this transcript.