CV Preparation Advice

Length:

It's not necessary to keep your CV to two pages. If the information is relevant it should be there, but keep it concise and easy to read. Avoid long paragraphs of narrative.

Content:

1) Personal details

Name, Contact details. (Date of Birth, Marital Status, Nationality, Driving Licence, Health etc are all optional).

2) Education

Chronology of your education - with names of institutions (dates optional). Grades / qualifications obtained (Do NOT include modules, electives, dissertations etc unless they are directly relevant to an application for an unusual or niche area of work).

3) Employment history

Employment history should always be presented with your most recent employment first. Employer, Location, Dates, Position held Beyond this, it is easiest to structure your information in the following way:-

Brief description of the firm (if it is not well known), this gives context to your experience. Eg number of Partners, areas of work, any specialisms. Include a brief description of your department (size / structure), nature of clients etc. Next focus on your specific role, describing the nature and variety of your caseload, giving examples of noteworthy matters. Do you run your own caseload? Do you support or manageothers? List any additional responsibilities eg Marketing, Training, Articles, Seminars etc. If you are a trainee list the seats that you have experience within, including a brief description of the department (size / structure), nature of clients etc. For each seat detail the work that you have been involved in - clearly demonstrating where you have worked as part of a team or where you have had some of your own files. Also detail additional responsibilities - getting involved in client entertainment, training, presentations etc.

4) Other employment

List all previous roles, only going into detail wherenecessary. There is no need to write a paragraph about each work experience. (Whilst this might have been useful in securing your training contract, and can demonstrate how committed you have been to qualifying as a lawyer, the exact experience has been more than surpassed by your training contract and any post-qualification experience.) There may be the need to explain paralegal experience more fully dependent upon the relevancy of this and your level of post-qualification experience.

5) Interests and Additional Information

IT skills, Language skills, Hobbies, Interests and Activities (KEEP THIS BRIEF). However, you can expand on interests commonly used, such as Travel and Reading. A short piece of narrative here can say a lot about you as a person.

6) References

These are optional and are typically not taken until an offer has been accepted.

If you would prefer to view the above information in a PDF document please Click here to download our CV preparation advice booklet.