Revise Your Resume, Then Take Another Look At It. . . Again, and Again, and Again. …..

          We here in the southeastern part of the United States are currently in the midst of a blistering heat wave. As uncomfortable as it is, I take solace in the fact that it will eventually pass. In fact, so will the entire summer and any subsequent heat wave(s). It seems that every year, I am always surprised when the “back to school” commercials start airing and the new law school year is upon us here in our Career Services Office.

            It will soon be time again for law students to either begin, or continue, their law school journey. Returning 2Ls and 3Ls will be reflecting on their summer associate or internship experiences. Hopefully, they will be dropping by their respective career service offices to discuss how best to revise their resumes to incorporate their summer experiences.

            For the entering 1Ls, the resume mission is different. Their resumes need to be immediately revised and updated to reflect this new chapter in the student’s life: law school.  Eventually, the law student will craft a resume that will be ready to pass to the entire world with the bold cry: “hire me. . and here’s why!”  

DO NOT TAKE THE ART OF PROOFREADING FOR GRANTED

Wait! Not so fast!  There remains one important and somewhat tedious task to accomplish: proofreading the resume ad nauseam. Before continuing further, one disclaimer – do as I say, not as I do! For the better part of my life, I have overlooked the importance of this vital review process. I have always been quick to submit and/or mail a resume or document – always thinking that once I had reviewed it once, the document must be perfect. As anecdotal proof,  I remember once proofreading a document painstakingly through the course of three days. When I thought that it was perfect, I passed it on to my wife for the final review. The document, of course, was “perfect” so I knew that I would not be wasting too much of her time. However, in less than two minutes, she was asking me why I had not placed a period at the end of  the  second sentence in the document (second sentence, mind you). In fact, I had looked at that very line and actually saw a period that was not there. But the mistakes didn’t end there, she soon discovered many other painfully obvious mistakes in the document when she returned it. . . I sheepishly returned to work having learned the most important lesson there is to learn about proofreading: Do not trust your own eyes during a critical document review. Make sure that you pass it on for further review!  

            Proofreading is not limited to your classroom and work writing assignments. The very first career application skill that the law student must master is the art of revision to perfection of one’s own resume. A resume not done to perfection, will immediately torpedo any and all  job applications. A resume with even one spelling or grammatical error will immediately cause your resume to be crumpled and thrown into a pile labeled “unfit to practice” by the reviewer (too harsh? Not at all.)

           

           

Here are five tips for proofreading success that have worked for me (when I finally “got it”):

·         Proof your finished product by reading through it at least three times in succession;

·         Put it down, and get back to it later in the day for another two reviews;

·         Satisfied? . .. then give it to at least two other people to review for errors;

·         On its return, put it away for a few days, and then review it again at least two more times;

·         DON’T JUST RELY ON A “SPELL CHECK” FUNCTION – THAT’S SHEER LAZINESS!

            If the student does not have the time to go through this process, then he/she needs to eliminate another problem – timeliness in completing a project. Write and re-write the resume in such a timeframe where  submission deadlines will not be problematic.  

            In summary, law student, never think that your job is complete after you have done the “technical” part of updating, and adding powerful “legal action” words to your resume. Always put the same intense effort into proofreading it as well-- each and every time-- that it is updated.  If you don’t, all your efforts to land that great job will for  nought*

*. . . yes, I know that this last word is misspelled. Good for you!. . . You are on your way as a proof reading maniac!