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?
The answer to your question is to have a tailored CV. While it may not be possible to build that in the initial years of law school, however, after 4th year you should have one. In case a person is interested in Competition Law and applying for a job in the same, the recruiter will look out for previous internships in the practice area, and if you have moots or research papers/blogs to support your interest in the practice area, the chances of getting shortlisted increases. Once you have 2-3 internships in the area of your interest, you should properly describe work experience and assignments you worked on, and alter/minimize the description to 1-2 paras of internships in other practice areas since they do not hold much relevance now. For example: in a competition law oriented CV, experience in an IPR firm has little relevance. Also, most importantly, never make a CV exceeding 2 pages.
