Your law school resume can be one of the most important parts of your application -- and you probably already know it shouldn’t follow the same format as a general resume for employment.
Below you'll find a general template for you to follow when writing your law school resume, but remember, before you start writing, you should always ask yourself some basic information-gathering questions so you’re all set up to just fill in these categories.
Also, feel free to play around with the titles of categories as well as the order; if something doesn’t make sense to include in your resume, or if you feel something else should be highlighted in a different way, don’t be afraid to make your law school resume fit your qualifications -- after all, it is yours and should put your achievements in the best possible light.
For example, if you speak ten languages, you should think about having a whole section simple called “Languages” to make that stand out. If you’ve consistently held leadership roles in organizations, you may choose to create a category entitled “Leadership.”
Main Categories of Law School Resume
- Education
List the college institution, location (city and state), degree or certificate earned including area of study, and the year you earned it. If you didn’t earn a degree or certificate, list the dates of attendance. You should also include study abroad experiences here.
You may also list your GPA and GPA in your major (especially if higher than your overall GPA); you can also include your class rank, but only if it will look impressive (anything lower than top 30% probably doesn’t need to be included).
- Honors & Awards
List any honors and awards you have achieved. Don’t list high school or high school achievements unless they’re extraordinary, like you were in the Olympics -- and if you were in the Olympics, you might consider having a whole other section just on your athletic career as you probably have received other related awards as well.
- Employment, Work Experience, or Experience
List your position, the name of the employer, location (city and state), and the dates you were employed there. If it was a part-time position during school, list the number of hours you worked per week, but not if it was only two or three. Also list your job duties under each one, making sure to note any recognition or special achievements (for example, increased sales by 30% in your first year as section manager, etc.).
- Skills, Achievements & Other Activities
In this section, you can list foreign languages, membership in other organizations, and basically anything else you’d like to highlight in your experiences that hasn’t yet made it onto your law school resume. This is one of the sections you may consider renaming according to your personal experiences.
Ready to write your law school resume? Before you start, check out a sample law school resume (link coming) for inspiration and also be sure to study the Law School Resume Style Guide.