One question that many law students have is how to prepare a CV that catches a recruiter’s attention. With so many things that can be included, such as internships, moot court competitions, research papers, publications, positions of responsibility, certifications, and extracurricular activities, it is often difficult to know what is actually important.
Many students are also unsure about how to present their experiences, what to include, what to leave out, and how to make their CV stand out among hundreds of applications.
From a recruiter’s point of view, what makes a good CV? What should law students include, what common mistakes should they avoid, and what advice would you give to someone preparing their CV for internship applications?
Here is some guidance for law students looking to make their CVs stand out to recruiters:
In the recent times there have been many changes in the recruiting processes. ATS (Application Tracking System) is a software tool being used by most of the corporates and tier 1 law firms too. What does this ATS do: the ATS filters the dump of resumes received against the opening and filters all of them through the match of key words with the Job Description they release on their Career portals or job search platforms. So, though a student is very well aware of domain knowledge relevant to the Job he/she is applying for but lacks relevant key words in the Resume which matches to the key words of the Job Description (JD) the ATS is not going to select the candidates resume for the reason that ATS are trained to filter the key word matching profiles alone. Thereby, though the candidate is credible enough for the job only for the reason that the resume is not aliging well with the ATS they would face rejections.
Currently, this practice is most common at Corporates and some Tier I law firms but this trend is evolving, and similar patterns will likely become more widespread in the future. Therefore, I advise keeping ancillary points in mind exculding capturing academic achievements, experiences, or skills, ensure that content aligns with the JD from one application to another which is very important in the current era.
In addition to the above, here are some basic guidelines to follow:
- Prioritize Relevance: Focus heavily on key internships, moot court experiences, and publications that align with the specific practice areas of the recruiters you are targeting.
- Clear Structure: Present experiences chronologically, starting with the most recent. Use clear headings for academic qualifications, internships, research papers, and positions of responsibility.
- Highlight Achievements: Instead of just listing duties, describe your specific contributions and the outcomes of your work during internships or competitions.
- Avoid Common Mistakes: Ensure the CV is free of grammatical errors and typos. Keep formatting consistent and avoid cluttering the document with irrelevant extracurricular activities.
- Most of all try to keep your CV’s short and sweet. Try to keep everything to a maximum of one or two pages.
