Clerkship resume question Forum

[Anonymous User]

I’m about to start submitting clerkship apps. This will be my third clerkship, and I practiced for a couple of years in between clerkships, so I’m a more experienced applicant I guess.

I’ve always tried to keep my resume to a page. I could still do that now, but it would mean omitting summer jobs in law school. Do most experienced clerkship applicants keep their resume to a page? Any reason to include summer positions from law school on there? I mean, I don’t think they’re pertinent. I would only include them if the judge would think it odd not to see them.

Thanks

[Barrred]

Remove them and keep it to a page. I don't need to know that you summered at Biglaw Firm X during law school if you already have your associate position at that firm on there. Same with random law school externships/internships. The only exception might be if you externed for the court to which you are applying.

[Redamon1]

Remove them and keep it to a page. I don't need to know that you summered at Biglaw Firm X during law school if you already have your associate position at that firm on there. Same with random law school externships/internships. The only exception might be if you externed for the court to which you are applying.

Seconded.

[Anonymous User]

Unless you have extensive publications or are 10 years out keep it to one page. With a decent amount of post law school experience I used a two page resume because a recruiter said I should and I got a bunch of skeptical comments.

My suggestion is find ways to combine lines or turn full lines into bullet points. If people know what things are don’t feel the need to include a description. So many words on most resumes are wasted space.

[Anonymous User]

I will strongly fourth this. When I was interviewing with my judge, at one point he said to me, "You know, you have more degrees/jobs than the average candidate, but I'm glad to see you kept your resume to one page anyway. I often see applicants with multi-page resumes and I think to myself, if I, as a judge, can keep my resume to one page, anyone applying to me for a job should be able to too."

I've never had a resume longer than a page since.

[mjb447]

Agreed. The primary point of a resume is not to be exhaustive but rather to highlight the important parts of your career that make you a good fit for the position. Most pre-law-school-graduation positions won't serve that purpose and can be omitted unless they serve some other important purpose (something offbeat might pique the judge's interest, for example).

Also, if you need more space, I've been advised that you can omit a description of a prior chambers clerkship entirely if there's nothing unusual about it (as almost everyone in law knows what a judicial law clerk does and you're not going to be able to provide much additional detail in a few lines anyway).

[Anonymous User]

Agreed. The primary point of a resume is not to be exhaustive but rather to highlight the important parts of your career that make you a good fit for the position. Most pre-law-school-graduation positions won't serve that purpose and can be omitted unless they serve some other important purpose (something offbeat might pique the judge's interest, for example).

Also, if you need more space, I've been advised that you can omit a description of a prior chambers clerkship entirely if there's nothing unusual about it (as almost everyone in law knows what a judicial law clerk does and you're not going to be able to provide much additional detail in a few lines anyway).

This entirely. We don’t need four(!) bullet points telling us what your job responsibilities were as a district court clerk. We know what you do in that job. Also if you went to law school later in life, that isn’t a reason to go onto a second page either: we get resumes with very detailed descriptions of 10-15 years of nonlegal employment between college and law school and this level of detail is almost always irrelevant to whether you’re a good clerkship candidate. Put it in a bullet point at the bottom (“Worked for 8 years in the insurance industry before beginning law school.”). The only resumes I’ve seen where a second page has been worthwhile is if the candidate has published several papers, in which case it’s helpful to give yourself enough space to list them all.