Tips for a better legal CV

Having read hundreds of applications by curriculum vitae, both for legal and non-legal positions, I have seen a number of recurring errors and areas for improvements. If you follow all of the tips below you will be well on the way to writing a really effective legal CV.

As a barrister, the advice below is focussed on applications for mini-pupillage or pupillage, although the principles are applicable to all legal applications.

Layout

1.    Limit your CV to two sides of A4 in a standard font and a font size of 12. This makes it easy to read.

2.    Don’t squeeze the margins to fit more in. They should be at or very close to the MS Word default size of 2.54cm on all sides. 

3.    Don’t use fancy layouts with multiple columns of information or different colours. Law is a conservative profession and appreciates traditional formatting.

4.    Follow instructions! I often receive applications that exceed the page or word limits or that attach additional documents when the application says to apply by CV and cover letter only.

5.    A good barrister says what they want to say concisely and edits ruthlessly. If you can’t fit your CV on two sides of A4 without using narrow margins or a small font you’re too wordy or not editing enough.

General rules

6.    Write a new CV for every application. Every position has a different job description and every chambers has a different ethos. Your application needs to demonstrate how the skills and experience you have fit that particular role as precisely as possible. It is easy to spot a generic CV that isn’t tailored to the position.

7.    Address every criteria or skill given in the job description, even if you have only a brief example.

8.    Show don’t tell. Your job is to demonstrate how you have the relevant skills and experience through past experiences. A bad CV says “I am a real team-player and admired for my leadership skills”. A good CV says “I have been a team member in hockey teams, orchestras and voluntary work. These teams only succeeded when we all pulled together and followed our leader’s instruction. I had the privilege of being voted team captain by my league-winning hockey team”.

9.    What is the point of a personal statement? I very rarely see one used well. They usually state qualities the applicant claims to possess without any evidence in support. No applicant states their weaknesses so it is just an exercise in blowing one’s own trumpet. Omitting a personal statement also creates more space to demonstrate your brilliance through examples in the rest of your CV.

10. Try to put your strongest points near the start. Your strongest points are those that make you most suitable for the advertised role, not those of which you are most proud. This will mean you should order things differently for different applications, depending on the criteria. Don’t feel bound to put your academic results first and hobbies last. There may be situations where the opposite will allow you to emphasise particular strengths that the application is looking for.

11. Equally, putting weaknesses nearer the bottom can sometimes help a person to read your application with a more objective eye. If you have poor exam results but amazing work experience applicable to the role, put your work experience first, demonstrating why it is valuable and/or unique. Academic results can be listed later after the reader has already been impressed by earlier sections.

12. Tackle weaknesses head-on. If you have good mitigation for weak exam results state it briefly without making excuses. If you are changing careers, briefly explain why you are leaving your old career and why you are fully committed to the Bar. If you were unemployed for a period, briefly state when and why. We will spot weaknesses and issues so better you explain them than omit them or leave them unexplained.

Transferable skills

13. Don't underestimate how important it is to have had a regular job no matter how mundane. It demonstrates that you can get up every day, listen to your boss, liaise with customers or solve minor problems. These transferable skills matter and should be emphasised. Stacking shelves at Tesco, waiting tables at a pub or working as a cleaner can all develop valuable skills. University is nothing like the real world and showing you have proven transferable skills from the real world is valuable.

14. Sell yourself, making clear how these jobs give you skills useful as a barrister and go into detail. For example handling customers in a pub is transferable to handling legal clients. Volunteering at PSU or CAB gets you used to dealing with people in crisis, who are vulnerable or who have poor English. A part-time job alongside studies demonstrates the ability to work hard and balance the competing demands on your time which is applicable to the demands on your work/life balance at the Bar.

15. Your job is to make it easy for the reader to see how the experiences you have developed skills you can use at the Bar. Make it clear, don’t leave it for them to guess. Join the dots between the job, the experience and the skill developed. It is not my job to read that you have worked in a pub and conclude that you must have developed good skills at handling drunk and difficult customers. You need to tell me.

Legal Experience

16. For most legal positions mini-pupillages and short work placements are there purely to demonstrate that you’ve made the effort to explore different work environments and practice areas. Just give brief details for mini-pupillages and work placements, not every case you saw, who you were with and what you learned. Saying no more that when, where and practice areas will usually suffice.

17. Similarly, occasional volunteering in law clinics and other pro bono work should only contain brief details. Unless you’ve spent dozens of hours volunteering or run an entire case to court/tribunal, what you have demonstrated is some initiative and exposure to a different legal environment. Don’t oversell these limited experiences, they can be summarised briefly in a CV.

18. We expect all applicants to have done basic investigations into a legal career such as attending law fairs and talks put on by chambers/law firms/Inns of Court, joining a university legal society or going to court in your own time to watch a case. Putting this down as an achievement or key experience suggests you’re padding out your CV because there isn’t much else to say. Only include these activities if they were put on by or you spoke to people from the chambers to which you are applying.

19. Limiting short legal experiences to just a few lines in a CV creates space for the more compelling points people frequently underplay. If you have extensive legal experience then by all means go into detail but do so applying the skills you’ve gained to the position you’re applying for. Typical examples of legal experience that deserve more detail are several months PSU/CAB volunteering, 6+ months paralegal or legal clerking experience or 2+ months placements with Reprieve, etc.

Academic Results

20. Unless specifically requested, don’t list every degree module result. Just put your mark plus any modules you chose that are applicable to the position you apply for.

21. Don’t list every GCSE and A-level result unless requested. A summary such as “all passed at grade B and above” or “I achieved 5 passes at grade A and 4 at grade B” will suffice.

When you’re finished

22. Proof-read your CV at least twice with an hour’s break between readings. If you make a change, start the proof-read again. Once you are happy it is finished, ask someone else to proof-read it for any errors or anything that isn’t clear. I regularly get applications that have spelling mistakes or incomplete sentences and even ones that give the name of a different chambers because people have not proof-read properly.

Good luck with your applications!

JAMIE JOHNSTON

www.dhirubhai.net/in/jamiejohnstonbarrister/