Yesterday we posted about the importance of focusing on results in your resume. Here are a few more important elements to keep top of mind while you’re crafting your resume.
Don’t forget to…
Keep it relevant. Your resume should only include experiences from the start of college onward, and should showcase your abilities in critical thinking, problem solving, leadership, and/or teamwork.
Review the Guidance. Some law schools instruct you to “submit a resume,” while others such as Yale Law School, provide unique specifications for your “activities section” submission. Review the school’s admissions page to confirm any instructions including format and/or page limits. If the school does not provide formatting guidance, you should keep it simple. Opt for left-justified text in an easy-to-read font—we prefer Garamond—sized between 10 and 12.
Use proper grammar. Even the best writers can get worked up about creating resume text. Don’t overthink it. Make use of active verbs to showcase your contributions. Use proper punctuation and the appropriate tense (present for current activities, past for past activities). And do not lean on corporate jargon, rather you will want to ensure that you explain what you did and your results in a way that a classmate would understand.