People Love Legal Authority: Reviews


Need Help? Call 1-800-283-3860.
Already a Member? Sign In
"The most common means of obtaining a job was a letter or other "self-initiated contact" with the employer..."
- NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LAW PLACEMENT
Advice

Resume Help

 

  EMAIL TO FRIEND

  PDF VERSION

  PRINTABLE VERSION

Functionally Formatted Resumes Are Very Effective for Some Legal Career Shifts


By Emily Sanderson

The following is a case study of a mid-level career Legal Authority client regarding the most effective format to use for her resume. Her name has been changed.

Janice Castella is presently a contract administrator for a healthcare unit in a Fortune 500 company. During her seven-year tenure, she pursued a law degree at night, and she credits her schooling for her promotion two years ago.

Although she finds fulfillment in her present position, Janice desires to earn more income. Janice signed up with Legal Authority to benefit from our targeted mailing and resume crafting service.

Janice's targeted mailing has included law firms and companies with in-house counsel within her East Coast community. We prepared a functional resume for her with two cover letters, one targeted to law firms and one for corporate counsel positions.

I recently spoke with Janice. The following is a list of questions she had, along with my answers.

Q. What is your opinion of the effectiveness of the functional format for my present job search?

A. When approaching law firms, legal candidates should be careful to emphasize what companies or firms they have worked for as well as where they went to law school. This is the main information that hiring firms are looking for. That information alone will tell them a lot about a candidate. Candidates who have worked for mostly law firms would do best to stick with a detailed, chronologically formatted resume.

A functional format, however, is appropriate for a candidate like you since you have worked in a corporate environment and have the benefit of working for a significant Fortune 500 company, which you will want to emphasize in your cover letter. A functional format provides an excellent way to summarize your relevant work experience for the position that you are seeking.

Functional formats do raise flags to potential employers at both law firms and companies hiring in-house counsel, and they will look for holes in your work history or other problems. However, since you have a consistent and strong work history, which is well displayed on your resume, you shouldn't have a problem.

Q. In law school I worked with estate planning and family law. Do you think I would be more likely to get a position in these areas or in healthcare?

A. I think you would do best to emphasize your healthcare experience, particularly because of your master's-level education in this profession as well as your work experience. If you desire to pursue a practice in estate planning or family law at a law firm, you will probably need to find a large firm that serves both healthcare law and estate planning clients. In your job interview you can market yourself to them as a potentially dynamic strength to their healthcare practice and then negotiate in the early hiring stages that you would like to spend part of your time gaining exposure to these other areas by interacting with the related practices within the firm.

Q. Should I do a separate resume for in-house from the one I prepare for firms? Particularly in listing the projects I have worked with, I have been told that firms would like to see the entity that funded the project, whereas in-house counsel employers would be more interested in seeing the name of the specific project.

A. If possible, prepare one resume that includes both sets of information. Within your experience section we can develop a set of sub-bullets that list the name of the project first and then the name of the government agency that funded the work, separated by commas. Both sets of information would be of interest to both firms and in-house counsel employers. By placing the information in an easily accessible, consistent format, the information is easy to review.

Q. Am I more likely to get a position as an in-house counsel or with a firm?

A. If you think you have something to offer in each type of office, then it can't hurt to send your resume out there. You never know what kind of response you will get, although you can do your best to prepare documents that will be acceptable to the audience you are submitting them to.

The corporate work that you have been doing in your present employment, although not categorized as such, certainly carries a lot of similarities to an in-house position since you work with compliance and risk management. By getting a position at a firm at this point in your career, you would probably experience a pay reduction for the first year or two, and you would most likely be competing with recent law school graduates for a position. However, if you are willing to deal with the long hours for a confined period of time, the work will give you more options later in your career.

Conclusion

Janice has done some additional research regarding the format of her resume as well as some networking. The general counsel of her brother's company has offered to review her contacts to see who he knows. By including an additional method in her job search, Janice has increased her success rate, and I am confident that she is on the road to success.




Facebook comments:



Related Articles

Tell me a story!

Several years ago, lawyer and legal consultant Brian Howard was asked to address a group of Washington attorneys on a very sensitive subject: the quality of life in law firms. Howard spoke for about h...

Insights into Finding a Job

The following resources may prove very helpful in providing you with some much-needed insight into your job search....

Life at a Law Firm-The Ups and Downs and the Ins and Outs of Both Large and Small Firms

Even before law school begins, many students dream of working at a law firm. Most law firms offer relatively high salaries, interesting work, prestige, and the opportunity to flex legal muscles in a c...

Practice Areas: Finding One That Fits

Just as you are unlikely to remain forever with the first firm you join, you may decide that the practice area you chose right out of law school no longer suits you. Changing practice areas can be a d...

Going Directly To The Source - Targeted Mailing

MASS MAILING DOESN'T HAVE TO BE ineffective. In fact, it can be highly effective if done right. The key to making it so is to understand the difference between just any mass mailing and a carefully pl...

The Practice of Law: To Stay or Go

Should I stay or should I go? I found myself asking this very question at a very early stage in my legal career. If you are reading this, I assume you are also pondering whether or not you should stay...

''An Attorney Without a Job is Not the Typical Legal Authority Client: But This is One Success Story You are Likely to Remember''

Legal Authority's clients are typically in-house attorneys seeking jobs in large corporations and law firm attorneys moving into other law firms. In fact, the majority of attorneys we assist are curre...

Private Practice or In-House? Choosing the Right Path for You

As your parents may have told you when encouraging you to go to law school, having a law degree means you can do much more than simply work at a law firm. Of course, working at a firm can be terrific ...

Beyond Borders-International Legal Employment

International legal employment is extraordinarily diverse, ranging from jobs with multinational corporations to law firms to Peace Corps-related activities. Foreign legal experiences extend from livin...

Law School for Mature Students

Do any of the following scenarios sound familiar? You have been working for years in a high-level career that is not taking you where you want to go...or you have been slaving away working on your Ph....



"Show us you are alive! We want to hear your thoughts. Please comment on this article (below)!"

Article ID:  70080  www.legalauthority.com

Article Title:  Functionally Formatted Resumes Are Very Effective for Some Legal Career Shifts

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add Comment


  • Share this story:


  • BlinkList
  • blogmarks
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Sphinn
  • MySpace
  • NewsVine
  • Simpy
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • Print this article!
  • Faves
  • Furl
  • Netvouz
  • Slashdot
  • Spurl
  • Yahoo! Buzz





Sign up for a "Free, No Obligation Resume Critique" and "Free Market Evaluation". Let us tell you how much potential you have!
 
WE ARE VERY DISCRETE IN ALL CALLS.
Reviews
What Our Clients Are Saying
THANKS so much! You guys did a great job and I can't wait to send my cover letter and resume out. Thanks again!
- L.K., Jackson Beach,

Dear Legal Authority Crew - Wanted to let you know that out of the 200 letters, I have gotten four interviews so far. I'm optimistic that more will come. Can't believe it, though, because most attorne...
- Lorraine

Hi. I have gotten 12 interests so far from 700 letters for my in house search. Keep up the good work.
- H.A.

 MORE
Options
Your Options
Getting an In-House Position
Myth Versus Reality for Law Firm Jobs
Myth Versus Reality for In-House Jobs
Myth versus Reality: Law School Professor Jobs
Myth Versus Reality: Federal Clerkships, State &...
Myth versus Reality: Prosecutor Jobs
Pro Bono Legal Work and Your Legal Career
Give Yourself the Most Options
Major Practice Areas Analyzed
Starting a Career as a Real Estate Lawyer
Featured Advice
Featured Advice
New York Versus London Firms
Law School for Mature Students
The First Born Phenomenon
The Story Doesn't End There
Economics and ''Mean'' Law Firms
How to Acquire the Best Legal Jobs
The Art Of Networking - A Guide To A Networking...
How To Use Job Boards And Advertisements To Jump...
Finding Your Niche - The Smart Way To Market Yourself
Be an Effective Negotiator - How to Get the...
The In-House Position Maze
J.D./MBA Programs and Your Legal Career
Why Legal Authority Works in Bad Economies
Children and Working in a Law Firm as an Attorney
Major Practice Areas Analyzed
From the Legal Authority Blog
The Practice of Law: To Stay or Go
+ Click here to read more
The Story Doesn’t End There
+ Click here to read more
Will an LL.M. help my legal career
+ Click here to read more
5 Biggest Attorney Job Search Mistakes
Attorneys and law students are one of the most ill-informed groups of people there are when it comes to conducting a job search. MORE
Legal Authority Outplacement Program
Give your attorneys the most opportunities.
Making economic or strategic adjustments in personnel can be a tough decision for any firm... MORE
Law Student Wins with Legal Authority
How a highly successful Manhattan law firm associate auctioned himself off to the highest bidder... MORE
For Employers
Legal Authority's Comprehensive Employee Outplacement Program.
Give your attorneys the most opportunities. MORE
Our Database and Technology
Legal Authority's Comprehensive Database and Advanced
Search Engine.
 MORE
National Advertisement
Legal Authority and National Media
Take a sneak peek at the marketing strategies of Legal Authority. MORE
Get the best legal jobs through Legal Authority.
Click here to understand the simple process and utilize our services to the maximum.
Download Now
Get on Track
Get on Track
Legal Authority Core Values
How Do You Work With Employer Data at Legal...
Why Legal Authority Works: Myth versus Reality
What Legal Authority Does
Legal Authority and Law Students
What Is Legal Authority?
Using Legal Authority for Law Student Jobs
Legal Authority Works!
Legal Authority Is a Great Way for Law Students...
What Legal Authority Does For You
Choose Legal Authority
Choose Legal Authority for Your Job Search
Legal Authority Outplacement Program
Legal Authority Is the Smartest Way for Law Students to Find Jobs. Period.
If You Can Register on Legal Authority You Can Get a Legal Job
Why Legal Authority Will Transform You and Your Career
Do Not Let Your School Control the Recruiting Process
Who Can Legal Authority Help
Legal Authority Is Not for Everyone
An Advocate for Attorneys and Law Students to Get Jobs
What Legal Authority Does Works
Why I Started Legal Authority
Some Things You Probably Did Not Know about Legal Authority
Legal Authority Can Get You Your Next Law Firm Job
On-Campus Interviewing or Legal Authority
How Legal Authority Started: You Need to Have Desire to Achieve Your Goals
Legal Authority Works for Law Students
Legal Authority assists more attorneys and law students, at more law schools, get jobs than any other source.
Request More Info
Learn more about Legal Authority
First Name:*
Email Address:*
Phone Number:*
FOUNDER HARRISON BARNES' BLOG

SIGN UP  |   HOME  |   ABOUT US  |   FAQ  |   CONTACT US  |   HISTORY  |   REVIEWS  |   TELL A FRIEND  |   LEGAL SPECIALTY AREAS  |   PRESS ROOM
LEGAL AUTHORITY JOB SEARCH TIPS  |   SITE MAP  |   SEE WHY LEGAL AUTHORITY IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO FIND A LEGAL JOB  |   TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP  |   PRIVACY POLICY
DAILY JOB SEARCH ADVICE  |   DAILY JOB SEARCH VIDEO  |   FOXES AND HEDGEHOGS  |   OUR SITES
© 2024 LEGAL AUTHORITY INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.