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 Today's lawyer resumes generally fall into one of two broad categories: the chronological resume and the functional resume. The chronological lawyer resume lists all work experience from the mos recent to the least recent in reverse chronological order. The functional lawyer resume, on the other hand, focuses on the candidate's skills and experience, rather than on their chronological work history.
While the chronological resume is the most popular form of resume used by lawyers, the functional lawyer resume can be a good alternative in certain circumstances. Lawyers who may want to consider a functional format include:
- Experienced lawyers who want to present a unified theme in their work experience, or who want to take the focus away from their age and experience as not to appear "overqualified" or too senior for a position.
- Lawyers who have practiced in different fields or practice areas from the type of position they are seeking (e.g. from law firm to in-house, or from litigation to corporate).
- Lawyers who left the practice or who have gaps on their resumes (e.g. such as women who took time off to raise children, or those who have had more than a 6-months gap between positions).
That said, unless you are in a situation where the functional lawyer resume makes the most sense (e.g. you are returning to the work for after a long hiatus), you should note that most legal employers and recruiters generally do not favor the functional resume. Most legal employers are accustomed to the chronological resume, and many online application programs do not accept functional resumes.
To be safe, you should try to create both a chronological and functional lawyer resume, present both resumes to colleagues and recruiters in your field, and see which one they feel best reflects your skills and experience. Again, before sending any resume, you need to know your audience and their expectations. You also should consider what resume format they will be most receptive to.
Here is a general template of a functional lawyer resume:
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Your having been recruited to work at a law firm is a sign that members of that firm have every faith in your capabilities. The most important thing is that you also share that faith in yourself. Too many minority and female attorneys count themselves out of the success that they deserve due to a lack of confidence in their own abilities. Make sure that you know your value and exude the confidence and comfort necessary for you to perform at your highest potential!
With that stated, let’s go on to some more specific steps you can take to ensure your success within the firm.
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 You’ve just finished interviewing for your dream job. There’s nothing more you can do besides wait for the phone to ring, right? Wrong. To really increase your chances of getting a job offer, you need to follow-up with an effective interview thank-you letter. If written correctly, an effective interview thank you letter can be used to separate you from your competition.
Remember, the main point of sending a thank-you letter after an interview is help you to stand out in the eyes of an employer. Most of your competition won’t take the time to send such letters. Here are some key tenets to follow when developing your post interview thank you letter:
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