Writing your resume can seem like a daunting task for even the most articulate among us. Yet, it is the first impression you will make on a prospective employer. Your resume and brief cover letter will either net you an interview or grab you a pass. Therefore, it is essential that you write and present your resume with the utmost professionalism. That does not require that you spend a lot of money to have your resume "professionally" written. Rather, you can write a professional resume yourself following these simple steps.

Your resume is a summary of your professional life. It should be a brief, chronological history of your professional self, beginning with the last degree or certificate attained and last job, first. If it is early in your career or you are making a career change, list your "Education" first followed by any "Related Legal Experience" and then "Other Experience." If you graduated with honors of any kind, or a 3.2 GPA or better, include this information on the resume, as it will set you apart from other applicants. Unless your high school is notable, such as Stuyvesant or a prep school, or unless you graduated valedictorian, do not list your high school on your resume.

If you have three or more years of work experience, lead with your experience followed by your education.

Each job listed requires a description that should accurately reflect the dates of employment as well as the duties and responsibilities you performed on the job. Some people prefer to use a list or bulleted format in describing responsibilities; others prefer paragraph form. Either one is perfectly acceptable. Whichever format you decide upon, be consistent!

If you have computer skills, exceptional writing, research or public speaking abilities, or are multilingual, list these attributes under the heading of "Skills" or "Additional Skills" or "Languages." Your resume should highlight all your talents.

Remember that the resume is written in the third person. In other words, review your resume and edit out any and all "I's".

The description of your current job should be in the present tense. All other descriptions should be in the past tense. It is critical that your tenses match. Proofread your resume with this in mind. Most resumes should be one page long. Two page resumes are acceptable when a candidate has many years of experience or when including an addendum of transactions or publications, for example. Please note that it is only necessary to list the last 10 years of work experience when writing your resume. If you have a two page resume, be sure that your name is a part of the heading on the second page. In any event, don't reduce the font size to accommodate the resume on one page. Better to use two pages than to make it difficult for a busy recruiter to read your resume because the font is too small to read without eyestrain. Also, use a traditional font, such as Times New Roman or Ariel, which is easy on the eyes. If faxing your resume, remember that the quality of a faxed resume is already compromised so keep the resume format and font simple.

Even the most impressive credentials fall short if there is even one typographical error on the resume. Use spell check! But don't rely on spell check alone as "to" or "tow" will both pass spell check even though you meant to write "two." Proofread your resume! and then Proofread it again!

REMEMBER, typographical or grammatical errors on your resume will likely cost you an interview.

Resume Bloopers

In an effort to emphasize the importance of proofreading your resume and cover letter, I share with you a few resume faux pas...

• The most common mistake made on legal resumes is misspelling Lexis and Nexis (the legal software tool). It often reads Lexus and Nexus which is incorrect. Keep in mind that spell checking will identify Nexis as Nexus.
• One applicant writes of his experience as a manager. This is also a very common resume typo and we find a steady stream of qualified mangers looking for jobs. You may want to try and alter your application's spelling dictionary so that it will no longer recognize "manger". One gentleman lists under the heading of languages: Fluent in Russian, English and "Body language" (the quotation marks are his).
• Choose your fonts wisely. Small fonts can be hard to read. Bear in mind that hiring managers and recruiters have numerous resumes to read on a daily basis and they need to read them quickly. Generally, 10-point fonts are acceptable, but be mindful that depending on the style you choose, certain 10 point fonts can appear smaller than others which could make the resume difficult to read.
  
  Do not use unprofessional email addresses. Use an email address that is suited for an opportunity in a well established or corporate environment. Your name is, of course, a great choice and easily identifiable.

A resume is a traditional "art form." There is no place for humor, personal philosophy, or other subtleties in the context of the resume. Include just the facts in a clear, concise, well-organized layout. Keep the format simple.

It is perfectly acceptable to have more than one version of your resume as long as your experience is reflected accurately. The purpose of more than one version would simply emphasize one experience over another i.e., you have both litigation and corporate experience or corporate and real estate experience. Version "one" might lead with your litigation experience while version "two" would lead with your corporate experience and so on. You should track which resume you send so that you can be consistent.

If you still need help with writing your resume there are a number of resources available. Your local library should have stacks of "how to" books on resume writing; or there are several excellent software packages which provide formats and prompts; or a resume writing service will customize a resume from an outline that you provide for a fee; or an employment service will assist you in "polishing up" your resume, often free of charge, although they will not likely assist you in creating your resume from scratch.

Finally, in order to keep your resume current, update your resume every year to reflect new skills acquired, a new title or any other relevant information.