If you’re looking for guidance on what to include in your résumé or LinkedIn profile for your new job as a paralegal without any experience, then this post is for you. Here are some of the most commonly asked questions surrounding this topic and some helpful answers that may surprise you.
Should I Include My Internships?
One of the most common things I hear from people when they’re trying to decide what to put in their résumé or LinkedIn profile is, “Should I include my internships?” It’s a valid question. After all, you’ve never worked in marketing or law before, so it’s not like you can directly apply what you learned at Harvard or NYU.
In most cases, you shouldn’t include your internship unless it helped you significantly in building your new skill set. However, if you did a really good job and had lots of positive feedback, then by all means, include it on your résumé. Alternatively, you can include it as a valuable piece of experience on your LinkedIn profile. Just make sure you don’t overdo it and make it common knowledge that you have zero legal experience.
Should I Include Courses I Taught?
Similar to including internships, you should also include any courses you taught as a professor or professional developer in your résumé or LinkedIn profile. Even if you didn’t get a degree in teaching, you may still be qualified to teach legal training to paralegals. If you’re worried about being overqualified, then stick to courses that you knew well and that will be beneficial to your clients or employers. For example, if you’re applying for a job as a legal assistant, but you also have a teaching credential, then you may want to choose to include your teaching experience instead of your legal experience in your résumé.
Being qualified to teach legal training to paralegals does not mean that you know how to practice law specifically. It just means that you know how to teach the theoretical aspects of law in a way that is beneficial to lawyers. For example, you may know how to teach contract law or business law.
Should I Include My Awards?
Awards can be an incredible way to show your accomplishments and skills. If you win a national award for your community work, for example, then that would be something to put on your résumé. Just make sure that the award is significant and relevant to your target audience. If you’re applying for a job at a large law firm, then you are probably better off not including awards.
Even graduate school awards can be problematic. For example, if you receive an MBA with a leadership specialization from a reputable school, then that would be an incredible piece of data to include in your re-spective. However, if you actually want to practice law, then you may want to choose a different school.
What About References?
References are important because they provide you with credibility. Just make sure that you don’t include too many references or ones from untrustworthy sources. You should include at least three references, one of which should be from a professor or an attorney you’ve worked with. If you don’t have any professors or attorneys that you’ve worked with, then you may want to choose not to include any references at all. In terms of how many years the attorney or professor’s experience should be, that is completely dependent on you. If you are applying for a job as an assistant, then three years should be plenty. However, if you’re looking for a more senior position, then five or more years of experience should be provided.
What Is the Most Important Thing To Include?
The title of this post will officially change your life. After reading this post, you will not want to include anything else on your résumé or LinkedIn profile. You will want to include only these six key points, in order:
- Your name
- Contact information
- Education
- Skills
- Languages
- References
If you want to be the best possible candidate for your dream job, then follow the advice in this post and you will surely soar to the top of the heap. Good luck!