Specialists in Legal
GUIDE TO PREPARING YOUR CV
A well-structured, clear and professional looking CV that highlights your experience and key achievements is crucial to make a good first impression. While there is no set format for a legal CV the following guidelines and tips can be used to ensure you present yourself in the best way possible.
General Guidelines
• Try to keep the document to 2-4 pages
• Make your CV easy to read by using a standard font and use a plain background without borders or columns
• Keep the layout clear and consistent with headings, subheadings and bullet points
• Write in concise and plain English
• Check the document a number of times for spelling, grammar and punctuation
• Include your name and page number at the bottom of each page
• Photographs, graphics, the use of colour or other stylistic designs are not necessary
Structure
We recommend a standard structure for legal CVs: personal information, education and date of admission, legal experience, interests and references.
Personal Information
• Name
• Contact number
• Email address
• Address
• If relevant, visa status
• Language proficiency
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Do not include your age, marital or family status or salary details.
Education and Admission Date
• Month and year of admission including the jurisdiction
• Degree(s) and any other post graduate qualifications achieved; state the class of honours awarded if applicable and any academic prizes won, the institution attended and date completed
• For junior candidates consider including secondary school results
• Any other relevant academic achievements
• Other professional qualifications
Legal Experience
Employment periods should be listed in reverse chronological order, i.e. starting with the most recent employer.
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All employers post admission should be included, even if you were only employed for a very short time.
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State the employer, the dates of employment (month and year), your title and the group you worked in.
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If the employer is not well known, consider adding a brief description of the organisation or inserting a link to its website.
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For each employer, list the type of work you have done, including a clear, short description of the matters you have worked on, your role and responsibilities, the type of client you acted for and any key points you think relevant about the matter. Provide the most detail on your current position unless you have been in the position a very short time.
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If you can name the clients you have acted for do so but if this would not be appropriate simply describe them generically, e.g. major global airline, leading telecommunications provider, international bank and so on.
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If appropriate, group your experience under specific headings, e.g. general commercial litigation, insolvency litigation, property litigation or public M&A, private M&A, private equity. Make sure you give more focus to the areas you are interested in or which are relevant for the position you are applying for.
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Include any relevant business/client and practice development you have been involved in.
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For junior lawyers with limited legal experience, you can add details of previous positions especially if they are relevant for the position you are applying for but limit the amount of detail given.
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Do not include any information that is misleading or embellish any experience. It is highly likely this will become obvious in an interview, be discovered at references stage or any other due diligence undertaken.
Interests
Include very brief details of any interests you have. This can be a good ice breaker at interviews and provides a snapshot of who you are outside of work.
References
There is no need to name your referees in your CV. Details can be supplied later so it can be best simply to state that they can be provided upon request.
