Effective Resume

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Effective Resume Cover Letter Writing Techniques

• Matthew Pascocello, Esq., Assistant Director
• Office of Career Professional Development
• American University
• Washington College of Law

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Resume ObjectiveYour Goal To match your skills,
experience, and interests to the job description
as best as possible.

• Its like identifying the Question Presentedand
  the Answering it effectively.
• In doing this, youll serve the dual purpose of
  drafting a strong resume while controlling your
  search.

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I. Self Evaluation

• Inventory Your Career (and Life) Accomplishments,
  Highlights, Successes.
• Identify Legal (employment law) Law-Related
  (human resources) Areas of Expertise
• Identify Competencies and Transferable Soft
  Skills
• Dont Forget YouInventory your Interests,
  Passions Values
• Identify Employer Objections Actual/Perceived
  Shortcomings
• Try to Match this (Realistically) to

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II. Employer Evaluation

• Answer the Question WIIFM?!
• Uncover Employer HOT BUTTONS
• Know the Industry Trends (How?)
• Understand What They are Looking For and How they
  Get Interpret that Information
• What ARE they (legal employers) looking for?
• Where DO the get that information?

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III. Some Fundamentals

• Overall.a Marketing Document.Not a Full
  Disclosure Employment Application.
• 1-2 Pages MAX. Addendum or Deal Sheets can be
  included.
• Quality Bond Paper, with Matching Envelope and
  Cover Letter Stock. Otherwise via PDF.
• Not too much boldface, underlining or jazzy
  templates
• Font SizeNot Below 10pt
• Basically, needs to be aesthetically pleasing. Be
  careful of MS templates.

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UP TOP

• Local v. Current Address
• Normal email address
• Should you lead with a Career Objective?
• Summary of Qualifications

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EDUCATIONSection

• Does this go first?
• Answer depends.
• Certificate Program, CLE, audited Courses
• LL.M.
• Law School
• Graduate School
• Undergraduate School
• --Study Abroad

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EDUCATIONSection (continued)

• Under each academic institution, consider
• Honors
• Awards / Scholarships quantify
• Activities.
• GPA. Whether to include depends on audience
  receiving the resume.
• Relevant Courses
• Double Major
• Thesis

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EXPERIENCESection

• 1. Further qualify your professional experiences
  using additional headingseg, Legal Experience
  Non Legal Management Experience
• 2. Include both paid and un-paid
  positionsClinics, Internships, and Volunteer
  experiences can all be appropriate.
• 3. Heading Format Employers Name bold, City
  State
• Job Title italics, Dates (spelled-out
  flush right)
• 4. Description. Think Career Highlights and
  Accomplishments.

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EXPERIENCESection (continued)

• Accomplishments can include
• 1. Your Successes
• Cases you won or favorably settled
• Improvements you suggested and that were adopted
• Business you assisted in, or were directly
  responsible for, increasing or developing
• Work product you produced and which had positive
  impact
• Money you saved your firm or client

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EXPERIENCESection (continued)

• Accomplishments can include
• 2. Acquired Expertise
• Number of court appearances, appellate briefs
• Litigation management and oversight
• Legal research and writing prowess
• Specialty software expertise

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EXPERIENCESection (continued)

• Accomplishments can include
• 3. Specialty Areas of Law
• Mastery of certain federal regulations or an Act
• Substantive area of law.
• 4. Professional Awards
• From Federal Agency, Bar Associations,
  Professional Associations, Educational
  Institutions

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EXPERIENCESection (continued)

• Job Description Summary
• Be Results Oriented
• Format Either bullet points or narrative.
• Bottom Line DEMONSTRATE your Knowledge, Skills,
  Accomplishments.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION/OTHER

• Should Include
• Publications
• Language Skills
• Personal Interests Travel
• Special Skills, Licenses, and Affiliations (e.g.,
  CPA, Bars, CFP)
• Leadership Community Service

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Rubber Meets the Road (Resumes) Formats

• Reverse Chronologicalmost recent to least recent
  employment.
• Functionalcan be an effective method of focusing
  readers attention on select accomplishments and
  expertise as well as hiding gaps.
• Hybridnot used enough. Here, you can list your
  employment in reverse chronological order and
  further subcategorize your acquired skills
  expertise.

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Rubber Meets the Road (Resumes/Cover Letters)
Qualifications Summary

• Real Estate Attorney
• Highly experienced negotiator and drafter of more
  than 100 real estate transactional documents
  dealing with property acquisition, financing,
  management, and disposition.
• Litigator
• Successful litigator, and litigation manager, of
  more that 100 commercial cases involving large,
  complex real estate and related transactions, the
  vast majority of which were either settled
  favorably or resulted in favorable verdicts.

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Rubber Meets the Road (Resumes/Cover Letters)
Accomplishments

• Negotiated favorable multimillion dollar
  settlement of state environmental regulatory
  claims arising from alleged contamination from
  major oil terminal.
• Lead attorney for project team of engineers,
  architects, and planners for all development
  aspects of an 8,000-employee office park complex,
  resulting in special commendation.

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Rubber Meets the Road (Resumes/Cover Letters)
Target Marketing

• Know Write to Your Targets
• Job Announcement
• Organizational Structure
• Major Interests, Concerns, Client base
• Economic Trends
• Be sure to
• Incorporate buzz words and industry terms
• Tie in your relevant skills and accomplishments

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Effective Cover Letters

• Cover Letters are not mere wrapping paper for a
  resume
• Writing Samples (persuasiveness, responsiveness,
  passion, relevance)
• Demonstrate ability to Follow Directions
• Weed out Mass Mailers (lazy or desperate
  applicants)
• Show Efficiency (or not) in Writing Style (2pp)

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Effective Cover Letters

• Different Types
• The email with Attached Cover Letter
• The email as a Cover Letter
• Simple Transmittal Letter (when not required)
• Brief Outline Letter (when not sure)
• Targeted Mailer to Similar Employers
• For a Particular Job Announcement

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Effective Cover Letters

• Proper Format
• Appropriate Stationery
• Nice Header with complete contact information
• Business Letter Format Layout
• Proper Mailing Address Recipient Title
• Opening Salutation with a colon

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Effective Cover Letters

• AnatomyThree essential elements
• Opening ParagraphKiller. No Enclosed please
  find
• Body(next 2-3 paragraphs) ties your background
  experience, skills interest/motivations (just
  like Slide 1)
• Conclusionsummary and call to action

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Effective Cover Letters

• Opening Paragraph Responding to a Posting
• Dear Ms. Miller I am a recent cum laude graduate
  of American University Washington College of Law
  with a demonstrated academic and professional
  commitment to representing victims of domestic
  violence. My clinical experience successfully
  representing asylum seekers and management skills
  in the non-profit arena make me an ideal
  candidate for the Public Advocate position with
  the Family Violence Prevention Fund.

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Effective Cover Letters

• Opening Paragraphs Where Theres No Job Posted
• Mentioning a Mutual Acquaintance Dear Mr.
  Jones Ms. Harrison Smith, my former supervisor
  at Ketchum Howe, recommended I contact you
  concerning a position with your firm. Ms. Smith
  oversaw my work in the firms international
  trade department, where I managed all phases of
  the annual review process for several major
  clients, and thought that my background and
  skills might be a good fit with your firms trade
  department.

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Effective Cover Letters

• Opening Paragraphs Where Theres No Job Posted
  (continued)
• Start with a Recent Salient Issue Affecting the
  Employer I was very interested to read a
  recent article in the Legal Times about your
  representation of Small Corp. Upon further
  research, I learned that your firm specializes in
  bringing small companies public. As a corporate
  practitioner in New York, Ive represented
  several small and large high tech companies in
  the IPO stage and am seeking to put my skills to
  work in a firm such as yours.

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Effective Cover Letters

•  Opening Paragraphs Where Theres No Job Posted
  (continued)
• Begin With a Key Work or Academic Achievement
  While employed as an Associate with Dewey Billem
  Howe, I worked side-by side with two senior
  partners in the corporate division, assisting in
  all aspects of closing several multi-million
  dollar leverage lease financings of commercial
  jet aircraft. The complex and time-sensitive
  transactions were each completed in a timely
  manner to the complete satisfaction of a very
  demanding client...

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Effective Cover Letters

• Paragraph 2 Why Should the Reader Meet with
  You?
• Discuss specifics about yourself that will make
  the reader feel that it would be worth her while
  to actually meet with you.
• Dont Parrot Your Resume here
•  
• Dont List What Youre Good at Without Proof
•  
• Show your interest or ties with the City you are
  targeting
•  
• Dont make excuses for grades instead, show
  upward trend success in relevant coursework
  work experience that compensates competing
  demands for your time
•  

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Effective Cover Letters

• Paragraph 3 What Do You Want to Happen Next?
•  
• The call to action I would welcome the
  opportunity to meet with you at your earliest
  convenience. Please feel free to contact me at
  either my work or home phone to arrange an
  interview.
•  
• I will call you early next week to confirm that
  you received this letter and to see if you would
  like to schedule an appointment for us to meet
  personally.
•  
• What ever action you propose FOLLOW UP!

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Effective Resume Cover Letter Writing Techniques

• Thanks!
• Questions?