CAREER SERVICES HANDBOOK€¦ · Kristin Davis, Esq. Judicial Clerkship Advisor and Public Interest Law Coordinator Office: 3221J Phone: (608) 262-6444 Email: [email protected]

CAREER SERVICES

HANDBOOK

2008-2009

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Table of Contents

1 Overview of Career Services 1.1 Introduction

1.2 Career Services Professional Staff

1.3 Programs for First-Year Students

1.4 Job Bank

1.5 Government Honors and Internship Handbook

1.6 Resource Materials

1.7 Requests for Reciprocity

1.8 Phone and Fax

1.9 Judicial Clerkships

1.10 Job Fairs and Off-Campus Interview Programs

1.11 Fall On-Campus Interviewing (OCI)

1.12 Public Interest Law

2 Grades, GPAs and Class Standing 2.1 Introduction

2.2 Explanation of the Grading System

2.3 GPA Computation

2.4 Class Rank

2.5 Providing Information to Employers

2.6 Obtaining a Transcript 2.7 Course History Report

3 What to Do & When to Do It 3.1 Things to Do Throughout Your First Year

3.2 First-Year Calendar

3.3 Second-Year Calendar

3.4 Third-Year Calendar 4 Résumés

5 Sample Résumés for 1Ls

6 Other Sample Résumés

7 Cover Letters

8 Sample Cover Letters

9 Thank-You Letters

10 Sample Thank-You Letters

11 Writing Samples

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1 Overview of Career Services

1.1 Introduction

The UW Law School Career Services Office staff looks forward to meeting you and assisting you with your career planning. We are very excited to be able to share the next few years with you and give you the skills you will need to find a great and satisfying job. The Career Services Office is located in Room 3221 on the third floor of the Law School. Office hours are 8:30 to 5:00 Monday through Friday. The telephone number at the front desk is (608) 262-7856. The mailing address is 975 Bascom Mall, Room 3221, Madison, WI 53706. To locate our website go to www.law.wisc.edu and click on “Career Services.” Most of the information contained in this handbook is also located on the Career Services website.

1.2 Career Services Professional Staff

Jane Heymann, Esq.

Assistant Dean for Career Services & Director

Office: 3221H

Phone: (608) 262-6413

Email: [email protected]

Jane Heymann is a 1977 graduate of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where she was Articles Editor of the Washington University Law Quarterly and was elected to Order of the Coif. From 1977 to 1987, she was an associate and then a partner at Bryan Cave in St. Louis, where she practiced corporate and securities law and was a member of the firm's Recruiting Committee.

Jane joined the Law School as an Assistant Clinical Professor in 1992. She has taught Business Organizations II, Business Planning, and an Advanced Legal Writing seminar on contract drafting. In January 1997, she became Assistant Director of the Law School's Career Services Office, and in June 1998, she was named to her current position, directing the entire career services operation.

As the Director of Career Services, Jane oversees the on-campus interview program, plans programs to inform students about legal career paths, helps students and alumni with job-search strategies, administers off-campus job fairs, and counsels students about career paths.

Kristin Davis, Esq.

Judicial Clerkship Advisor and Public Interest Law Coordinator

Office: 3221J

Phone: (608) 262-6444


Kristin joined the Career Services Office in August of 2002 and provides career counseling to the students of the Law School who are interested in pursuing post-graduate judicial clerkships and students interested in summer and permanent jobs in

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public interest law. Kristin received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in German from the University of Iowa. She graduated Order of the Coif from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis in 1993. Following graduation, she clerked for Justice Linda K. Neuman of the Iowa Supreme Court and then practiced securities law and general litigation at Smith, Lodge & Schneider in Chicago from 1994 to 1998. From 1999 until May of 2002, Kristin was an Assistant Director of Career Services at Harvard Law School, where she was responsible for general career counseling as well as advising students and graduates on judicial clerkships, fellowships and teaching.

Kristin’s office hours vary from semester to semester. Her current hours are posted in the Career Services Office.

Nilesh Patel, Esq.

J.D. Advisor

Office: 3221K

Phone: (608) 262-8554


Nilesh joined the Career Services Office in December 2005 and provides career counseling to students and alumni. Nilesh graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1995 with a B.A. in Political Economy and from the University of Wisconsin Law School with a J.D. in 2002. Following graduation, he joined the offices of Hazelbaker and Russell, LLP, focusing on municipal law, labor and employment and litigation from January 2003 to July 2004. In July 2004 he started his own practice, Mahadev Law Group, focusing on labor and employment law issues. At the same time, he joined the Elder Law Center, where he assisted retirees and their spouses in locating and obtaining employer-sponsored retirement benefits.

Ingrid Borwick, Esq.

J.D. Advisor


Ingrid joined the Career Services Office in August of 2002. Ingrid and her family moved to Vermont in 2007 but she continues to work part-time for the Career Services Office on a telecommuting basis, primarily reviewing students’ résumés and cover letters. Ingrid graduated from Boston College with a degree in mathematics in 1987 and graduated cum laude from Albany Law School of Union University in 1992. Following graduation, Ingrid joined Frontier Insurance Group, Inc., a publicly-traded property and casualty insurance company headquartered in New York. As a member of Frontier’s in-house legal department, she litigated in the area of medical and dental malpractice, general liability and insurance law. Additionally, Ingrid served as Director of Corporate Services where she was responsible for a wide range of employee services and the operation of Frontier’s facilities in 40 locations throughout the United States.

Kate McMahan

Administrative Assistant

Office: 3221

Phone: (608) 262-7856


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Kate joined the Career Services office in February of 2004 and shares the job as front-desk contact with Deborah Solien. Kate works in Career Services on Thursdays, Fridays and alternate Wednesdays. Before coming to the Career Services Office, Kate and her husband, Tom, owned and managed a small business in the outdoor industry for 32 years. As manufacturers’ reps, they represented such outdoor lines as The North Face, Mountain Hardwear and Asolo Boots.

Deborah Solien

Administrative Assistant

Office: 3221

Phone: (608) 262-7856


Deborah joined the Career Services Office in March of 2006 and shares the job of front-desk contact with Kate McMahan. Deborah works in Career Services on Mondays, Tuesdays and alternate Wednesdays. Deborah’s multi-faceted career history, before starting at Career Services, includes stints as a nanny, children’s librarian, school bus driver and mom/household manager.

1.3 Programs for First-Year Students The National Association of Law Placement (NALP), an organization whose members consist of law schools and many legal employers throughout the country, limits law schools from offering the full range of career services to first-year students until around November 1. The purpose of this restriction is to help first-year students focus on their classes, without the distraction of career issues. In late October or early November, we introduce first-year students to the operations of the office and give information and advice to 1Ls about when and how to begin a search for a summer job. Under the NALP Principles and Standards, first-year law students can work with the Career Services staff to prepare resumes and cover letters, but should not initiate contact with prospective employers until December 1. That is the date on which first-year students hoping to be summer clerks at sizeable law firms should mail their cover letter and resumes. Many public agencies, public interest organizations and smaller law firms also begin accepting applications from 1Ls after December 1st. This handbook outlines some of the career resources available to law students and is designed to assist students in their search for summer employment and ultimately permanent employment. However, before getting into the description of resources, here is a list of the types of things that our students typically do during the summer between their first and second year of law school:

1) Find a paid legal job with a law firm, government agency or public interest organization

2) Find a full-time volunteer legal job while trying to get funding from sources such as the Law School’s Summer Public Service Fellowship program, Equal Justice America, Chicago’s Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI), etc.

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3) Participate in one of the Law School’s clinical programs (e.g. The Frank J. Remington Center, The Judicial Intern Clinical Program, the Great Lakes Indian Law Center, etc.)

4) Take summer law classes 5) Find a non-legal paying job and do legal work on a part-time, volunteer basis 6) If eligible, find a job through the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Diversity Clerkship

Program 7) Obtain a job as a research assistant for a law school professor

Additionally, this handbook outlines some of the steps students may want to take in their first year in preparation for summer employment following their second year. For example, there are dates and registration deadlines, especially in the spring and summer, which first-year students need to be aware of if they plan to participate in Job Fairs, Off-Campus Interview Programs and On-Campus Interviewing (OCI). Please read this handbook in its entirety to make sure you are aware of the resources that are available to you. And remember, the career services staff is one of your biggest resources, and they are always available to help you develop a job search strategy.

1.4 Job Bank

The Career Services Office maintains a password-protected, searchable Job Bank located at https://law-wisc-csm.symplicity.com/students. It contains all current job openings that employers have submitted to us. The Job Bank contains listings of part-time jobs, full-time jobs, summer jobs, and occasionally, volunteer opportunities. Both our students and alums have access to the Symplicity Job Bank. We will email you a

password in the fall semester of your first year of law school. If for some reason you lose or forget your password, use the “Forgot My Password” tab on the Symplicity home page requesting that your password be emailed to you, or send a message to one of the Career Services staff asking for a new password to be emailed to you. When you receive your Symplicity password, please log on and fill out the information about yourself that is called for in the “Profile” section. Then go to the “Documents” and upload your résumé (after someone in the Career Services Office has reviewed and approved it). To do so, simply click on the “Add New” button, give the résumé a name (e.g., “1L résumé”), select “Résumé” in the “Document Type” line, and click the “Browse” button until the document name appears in the “File” window. Then click “Submit.” Here is how you access the Job Bank:

1) Go to https://law-wisc-csm.symplicity.com/students. 2) Enter your email address and password.

3) Click on the word “Jobs” and then select “CSM Jobs.”

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4) To see all jobs that 1Ls may apply for, click on the “Advanced Search” tab and choose “1L” in the “Class Level” search field.

5) When the list appears, click on the heading “Posted,” to see the jobs in reverse

chronological order by posting date. Then click on the job title, and you’ll be taken to a screen with all the information about the position: how to apply, what materials to submit, the application deadline, a description of the position, the employer’s website, etc.

Frequently, we have additional information, application forms, etc., relating to some of the positions listed in the Job Bank. Students who would like to review or photocopy such additional information should drop by the Career Services Office and ask for the supporting documentation.

1.5 Government Honors & Internship Handbook

This website contains valuable information about summer internships and entry-level jobs at federal agencies. The handbook can be located by going to http://www.law.arizona.edu/career/honorshandbook.cfm or by using the link contained on the Career Service website. The law school pays a license fee to entitle its students to use this service, and therefore it is necessary to use a username and password to gain access to the information contained in the Handbook. The username and password change each year – to obtain the current ones, contact the Career Services Office.

1.6 Individual Counseling The professional staff members of the Career Services Office are available for scheduled appointments to help students with résumés, cover letters, interview skills, job search strategies, mock interviews, locating University of Wisconsin alumni in the cities where students want to work, and a wide range of other services. Résumé and cover letter tips and sample résumés and cover letters are available in the back of this handbook and on our website for students to refer to when drafting their own résumés and cover letters. You may contact the Career Services staff directly, at their respective e-mail addresses, to schedule an appointment.

1.7 Finding University of Wisconsin Law School alumni One of the best ways to locate University of Wisconsin Law School alums in the cities or the practice areas that interest you is to do a search of the Martindale-Hubbell legal directory via Lexis-Nexis. To conduct such a search, go to the Lexis-Nexis for Law Schools home page, choose “Research System,” and then select “Martindale-Hubbell Listings, All” as your source (it should be listed under the “Legal” tab, as part of the “Reference” folder). When you are taken to the “Enter Search Terms” page, do a “Restrict by Segment” search. Select the “Law School” segment, type in “Wisconsin,” then hit the “Add” button. Next, select the “practice-areas” segment, type in a practice area you are interested in, and hit “Add” again. Finally, if you want to limit your search to alums who

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list that specialty as one of their practice areas AND who work in a particular city, select the “City” segment, type in the name of the city that interests you, and click on “Add” again. When you’ve selected all the relevant segments, hit the red “Search” button and your search results will appear. Because Martindale-Hubbell contains primarily lists of lawyers in private practice, the Career Service Office maintains its own list of University of Wisconsin Law School alumni who work in government agencies and non-profit organizations. Students are welcome to drop by the Career Services Office to pick up a copy of that list, which is updated periodically.

Another useful resource is wisbar.org, the web site of the State Bar of Wisconsin. This site has a database that contains the contact information for all members of the Wisconsin bar. Because of the diploma privilege, many Law School alumni maintain their Wisconsin bar membership even if they are working out of state (this is particularly true for alumni working for the federal government). To search for Law School alumni in a particular city, click on “Lawyer Directory” in the top right-hand corner of the wisbar.org home page, type in the name of the city, and then type in “University of Wisconsin” from the pull-down menu under “Law School.” Your search will result in a list of all alumni who have maintained their Wisconsin bar membership and are working in the city of your choice. You can also do searches based on “Organization” (e.g., for alumni working for the U.S. Department of Energy), “State,” or “Country.”

1.8 Resource Materials

The Career Services Office maintains a lending library of excellent books and other publications to help you find the job you want. Library resources cover tips on writing résumés and cover letters, alternative career paths, interviewing techniques, and many other subjects. We also have a number of directories, which list attorneys, firms, corporate counsel and similar information. (Of course, more and more of this information is also becoming available on-line, including on Martindale-Hubbell at www.martindale.com).

1.9 Vault On-Line Library

The Career Services Office subscribes to the VAULT On-line Career Library, which gives our students and alums 24/7 on-line access, through a password, to Vault’s many helpful guidebooks, including The Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms; the Vault Guide to Law Resumes; the Vault Guide to Labor and Employment Law Careers; The Vault Guide to Top Government and Non-Profit Legal Employers; the Vault Guide to Careers on Capitol Hill; the Vault Guide to Litigation Careers; the Vault Guide to Corporate Law Careers; the Vault Guide to Law Firm Pro Bono Programs; the Vault Guide to Schmoozing; and others. We have printed out and placed in our lending library copies of all of the Vault Guides, but the site also permits students to download any of the Guides and to print copies of them for themselves. Students are encouraged to explore the entire site, which includes in-depth profiles of a number of law firms; regional firm rankings; and a “Career Advice” section. The Career Advice section contains a series of articles such as “A Day in the Life of a Plaintiff’s

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Lawyer,” “A Day in the Life of a Summer Associate at the U.S. Department of Justice,” etc., designed to give you a sense of what working in various practice areas and different practice environments would be like. To gain access to the Vault Online Career Library, go to http://www.vault.com/cb/careerlib/careerlib_main.jsp?parrefer=682, and follow these instructions:

1. Click on the link “Get Your Password Now!” 2. Enter your university email address in the empty field and click on

“Submit” 3. A temporary password will be sent immediately to your University

email address. 4. The temporary password will last for only 24 hours and if you find

that the password you are entering has expired, simply repeat steps 1. and 2.

1.10 Requests for Reciprocity

A UW Law student or graduate may request reciprocity which may allow him or her to utilize the Career Services resources of another law school. In some cases, the reciprocal school may restrict the use of their resources, or deny reciprocity altogether, so it is best to investigate the other schools’ reciprocity policy before applying. To find out the reciprocity policy of a particular school, visit NALP’s website at www.nalp.org, click on “Resource Center,” then on “Toolkit for Career Services,” then on “Reciprocity Policies.” There you will find a list that includes the complete text of the reciprocity policy of many law schools. You will see that most law schools have a “black out” period in the early fall (typically mid-August until late October), when they are unable to grant reciprocity because of the demands of their fall on-campus interview programs.

A grant of reciprocity typically entitles a student only to look at the granting school’s

job postings during an in-person visit to that law school. Rarely will a student be able

to obtain a password that will give him or her unlimited access to view the granting

school’s on-line job postings without visiting the school, although that occasionally

happens. Students should make their requests to the Career Services Office at least 10 days prior to the visit. Finally, it is up to the requested school to inform you of the status of your request. To request reciprocity, fill out and submit the request for reciprocity form located on the Career Services website at http://www.law.wisc.edu/career/reciproc.htm.

1.11 Phone and Fax

The Career Services Office has a fax machine that students can use free of charge in connection with their job searches. A telephone for limited free local and long-distance outgoing calls also is available for students to use for phone calls that are directly related to the job search process. Unfortunately, due to capacity issues, the fax machine is not available for transmitting documents that are more than ten pages long. If you need to reserve the telephone room for a phone interview, please drop by the Career Services Office to do so a few days ahead of time.

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1.12 Judicial Clerkships

To assist and encourage students in their applications for post-graduate judicial clerkships, the Career Services Office has an extensive web site (www.law.wisc.edu/career/JudicialClerkships.htm) devoted entirely to describing the role of a judicial clerk, what you can be doing now to make yourself a competitive candidate for a clerkship, and what the application process entails. We also hold informational sessions each spring to inform our students about the clerkship application process. If you think you might be interested in clerking, please make an appointment with Kristin Davis ([email protected]) in Career Services to discuss the process in more detail.

1.13 Job Fairs and Off-Campus Interview Programs

The Law School participates in a number of off-campus interview programs and job fairs each year, including:

• Cook County Minority Student Job Fair (in Chicago in late summer)

• Loyola Patent Law Interview Program (at Loyola Law School in Chicago in early August)

• West Coast Off-Campus Recruitment Program (mid-August)

• New York Off-Campus Recruitment Program (mid-August)

• Washington, D.C. Off-Campus Recruitment Program (in mid-August)

• Minnesota Minority Job Fair (in September)

• Equal Justice Works Public Interest Law Career Fair (in October, in D.C. area)

• Midwest Public Interest Career Fair (in Chicago in February)

• Rocky Mountain Diversity Legal Career Fair

• Bay Area Diversity Career Fair

• DuPont Primary Law Firm Minority Job Fairs

• New Hampshire Job Fair

• Indianapolis Bar Association Diversity Job Fair

• St. Louis Diversity Job Fair

• Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair

• IMPACT Career Fair for Law Students with Disabilities Information on these job fairs, and the deadlines for registering for them, is contained in the Career Services section of the Law School’s website under the heading “Off–Campus Recruiting Programs and Job Fairs.” We notify students about job fairs and off-campus interview programs through announcements in the Law School Newsletter, announcements on the Symplicity homepage, and via email. Be sure to pay attention to these announcements, because the

registration deadlines for job fairs often occur many months before the job fairs

themselves and are usually very strictly enforced.

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1.14 Fall On-Campus Interviewing (OCI)

Each fall, in August, September and October, 100 or more employers send interviewers to the Law School to conduct screening interviews of our students. The majority are medium-sized or large law firms from large cities. However, a number of government agencies, corporate legal departments, and smaller law firms also participate in OCI each year. Some employers come here to interview only second-year students for summer internships. Other employers interview only third-year students, for permanent jobs, while others interview both 2Ls and 3Ls. We utilize an internet-based software program known as “Symplicity” to administer OCI. Each law student receives a password for the Symplicity system in the fall of his or her first year of law school. In the spring semester, the Career Services Office conducts orientation sessions for first-year and second-year law students to explain how OCI works, and to help students determine whether they should participate. Detailed information about participating employers is on the Career Services section of the Law School website under the heading “List of Employers Participating in Fall On-Campus Interviewing Program.” Fall on-campus interviews take a great deal of time and energy from students (particularly if you do a number of “call-back” interviews at employer offices) and the Career Services Office. They are an excellent opportunity and a good experience for many students, but not useful for everyone. It is important to remember that OCI is only one of the ways to find a job and only one of the resources that we provide. The Job Bank, alumni contacts, networking, job fairs and spring interviews are just some of the other ways in which students find employment.

If you decide to participate in OCI, keep in mind that many of the deadlines for

bidding and submitting resumes occur in early AUGUST. In order to participate, you

will need to check your e-mail often and keep track of the deadlines, ALL SUMMER

LONG. It is critical that you check your “wisc.edu” email account regularly over the

summer.

1.15 Public Interest Law

This section lists some of the ways that the University of Wisconsin Law School helps interested students find jobs in public interest law.

1.15.1 Public Interest Law Coordinator

Kristin Davis is the Public Interest Law Coordinator, who advises students interested in summer and permanent job opportunities in public interest law. Kristin’s email address is [email protected].

1.15.2 Public Interest Job Fairs

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Each spring, the Law School hosts a public interest job fair. A few of the organizations that have participated in the past are the Wisconsin chapter of the ACLU, ABC For Health, the AIDS Resource Center, Legal Action of Wisconsin , the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Midwest Environmental Advocates, the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups and Centro Legal Por Derechos Humanos. In February 2008, 23 employers participated in the fair. In addition, each year a number of our students participate in the Equal Justice Works Public Interest Law Career Fair that is held in the D.C. area every fall, and in the Midwest Public Interest Job Fair held in Chicago each February.

1.15.3 Public Interest Summer Grants

The University of Wisconsin Law School and the UW-Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) sponsor Summer Public Service Fellowships (SPSFs). The SPSF program provides stipends to University of Wisconsin Law students who take unpaid or extremely low-paid summer public service jobs. Fellowships are funded either in conjunction with the federal work-study program, or in a one-time grant funded fully by PILF. Grants for the summer of 2009 will be approximately $2,500, depending on the number of applicants and the amount of available funds. For students whose fellowships are funded through the federal work-study program, if the employer is unable to pay the “employer match,” the Law School or PILF will contribute 50% of the student’s summer fellowship, and federal work-study funds will provide the other half. Students who are not eligible to receive work-study money may nevertheless be considered for a summer fellowship funded entirely by PILF.

The application deadline is usually in late March.

1.15.4 Public Interest Seminars/Skill Building

Throughout the school year, the Career Services Office sponsors a number of seminars and workshops directed specifically at students interested in public interest law. These include tips on interviewing for public interest law positions, writing résumés and cover letters, and how and when to apply for post-graduate fellowships.

1.15.5 Public Interest Post-Graduate Fellowships

The Public Interest Law Coordinator in the Career Services Office maintains information about fellowships that are available each year, such as the Skadden Fellowships, Equal Justice Works Fellowships, Georgetown’s public policy fellowships, and many others. Application deadlines for the most sought-after post-graduate fellowships typically occur in October, so students should begin the application process (finding a sponsoring organization, creating a project proposal, etc.) no later than the summer after the second year of law school.

1.15.6 Helpful Websites for Public Interest Law

Students with a particular interest in public interest law should familiarize themselves with a number of extremely useful websites, including PSLawNet (http://www.pslawnet.org) and the website of Equal Justice Works (http://www.equaljusticeworks.org).

2 Grades, GPAs and Class Standing

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2.1 Introduction This section covers the rules about what University of Wisconsin Law School students can and should say about grades, GPAs and class standing. It also provides information about how to calculate your GPA correctly.

2.2 Explanation of Grading System

Students receive letter grades for most law school courses. The grading scale ranges from A+ to F. For purposes of calculating student grade point averages, letter grades are converted to numerical equivalents according to the following conversion table:

Letter Grade G.P.A Letter Grade G.P.A A+ 4.3 C 2.0 A 4.0 C- 1.7 A- 3.7 D+ 1.3 B+ 3.3 D 1.0 B 3.0 D- 0.7 B- 2.7 F 0.0 C+ 2.3

Grades of S or U

In the following courses, the instructor may elect to give a grade of S (Satisfactory) or U (Unsatisfactory) in lieu of letter grades: Trial Advocacy; Appellate Advocacy; Lawyering Skills; Advanced Legal Writing; and seminars in which the enrollment is less than 20 students and the principal basis for the grade is a paper or class presentation. Grades of S or U must be given in lieu of letter grades for Law Journal, Moot Court, Directed Reading and Directed Research. Clinical courses are graded on the basis of S, S+, S- and U. S+ can be awarded to not more than 15% of the students in each clinical program. Grades of S, S+, S- and U are not taken into account in computing a student’s GPA.

2.3 Computing Your GPA

To calculate your GPA, disregard any courses in which you received a grade of S or U. Those courses do not factor into your cumulative grade point average. Next, multiply the numerical equivalent of the letter grade you received in all other courses you have completed, times the number of credits that you earned in the course. (For example, if you received a B in Property, which is a 4 credit course, you would multiply 3.0 times 4, and the result is 12.0 GPA “points”). After you have multiplied the number of credits times the numerical equivalent for the grade you received in each course, then add all your GPA “points” together and divide it by the total number of credits represented by your letter-graded courses. The resulting quotient is your GPA. It should be rounded to the second decimal place, using conventional rounding methods; e.g. a 3.2489 becomes a 3.25; whereas a 3.24489 becomes a 3.24.

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For example, a student who received an A in Torts, a B in Civil Procedure, a C in Substantive Criminal Law, a B+ in Fall Legal Research and Writing, a B+ in Contracts, a B in Property, an A- in Spring Legal Research and Writing, an A- in Criminal Procedure, a B in Contracts II, a B- in Constitutional Law I, and an S for participation in the summer Remington Center clinical program after his first year of law school would have a GPA of 3.13, calculated as follows: A in Torts: 4.0 times 4 credits equals 16 GPA points B in Civ Pro: 3.0 times 4 credits equals 12 GPA points C in Crim Law: 2.0 times 4 credits equals 8 GPA points B+ in Contracts: 3.3 times 4 credits equals 13.2 GPA points B+ in LRW: 3.3 times 1 credit equals 3.3 GPA points B in Property: 3.0 times 4 credits equals 12 GPA points A- in Crim Pro: 3.7 time 3 credits equals 11.1 GPA points B in Contracts II: 3.0 times 3 credits equals 9 GPA points B- in Con Law: 2.7 times 3 credits equals 8.1 GPA points A- in LRW: 3.7 times 2 credits equals 7.4 GPA points

Remington Center Clinical - 7 credits of S - Not included in GPA calculation

These courses represent 100.1 total GPA points, which, divided by 32 letter graded credits, equals 3.128125, which should be rounded to 3.13.

2.4 Class Standing

The Law School does not make available students’ class rank (except to the ten rising 3Ls with the highest GPAs, to assist them in seeking highly competitive judicial clerkships and fellowships). Instead, we provide tables relating grade averages to approximate position in the class. Because the distribution of student grade averages has proven to be very consistent from year to year, the tables are cumulative summaries of the average grades for the previous three academic years. The tables are re-calculated each semester after all grade information for the most recent semester is available.

2.5 Providing Information to Employers

You are not required to include information about your GPA or class standing on your résumé. If you elect not to include grade information, be aware that you will be presumed to have less than “top grades.” If, however, you decide to include it, be sure it is correct. Employers routinely call the Law School Registrar’s Office asking for confirmation that a law student’s GPA or class standing as represented on the student’s résumé is accurate. The Registrar is not free to release information about your GPA or class standing to a third party, but will either “confirm” or “not confirm” any information the student has provided to the employer. It is critical, therefore, that you not make mistakes in calculating your GPA, since an employer might assume that your mistake was a deliberate misrepresentation. If you want to be certain that your GPA is correct, you may call the

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Law School Registrar, Mary Beth Shiels Lubing, at 262-0050, or you can send an email to [email protected] to verify your computations.

2.6 Obtaining a Transcript

Official transcripts are available from the Office of the Registrar of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is located at 21 N. Park Street, Room 7223. Information about transcripts is on the University’s website at http://ordertranscript.wisc.edu. There is an $8.00 charge per official transcript. You can also print out a copy of your law school grades through the “My UW” system, and then create a Word document containing those grades and use it as an unofficial “transcript.” Be sure to put your name on the document and make sure the grades on it are accurate.

2.7 Course History Report

Law students who were undergraduates at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will discover that official transcripts produced by the UW-Madison Registrar’s Office will include their undergraduate grades as well as their law school grades. These students sometimes would prefer not to have potential employers, and others who request a copy of their law school transcript, viewing the grades that they received in college. These students (and ONLY these students) have the option of requesting a Law School-produced “course history report” from the Law School Registrar (Mary Beth Shiels Lubing). The course history report contains the law student’s law school courses and the grades he/she received, but does not contain the record of his/her undergraduate years. Requests for course history reports must be submitted in writing, on the form used by the Law School Registrar for this purpose, to the Registrar in Room 5107, at least two weeks in advance of the date on which the student needs the report.

3 What to Do & When to Do It

3.1 Things to Do Throughout Your First Year

a) Read the announcements on the law school “Current Students” homepage.

The first page of the “Current Students” law school home page, www.law.wisc.edu/current/, provides valuable information that will educate first-years, including announcements of career-related events in and outside of school, descriptions of new job resources and, sometimes, announcements of job postings.

b) Make sure you read all emails from Career Services.

Every week during the academic year, the Career Services Office publishes an electronic newsletter that is emailed to students on Sunday evenings. The newsletter contains important information about career-related events, job opportunities, approaching deadlines, etc. Our goal is to include all important announcements in the weekly newsletter in order to avoid having to send numerous individual email messages. Since we send

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individual emails only rarely, it is important to read the weekly newsletter regularly. Also look at the Symplicity home page for announcements about programs. c) Attend programs. Any program that provides information about a specific type of practice will help you grow one step closer to determining what practice area is for you. Most career panels and other informational receptions are fair game for first-year students.

d) Talk to people.

The best way to find out what it is like to work in a particular setting (without stepping inside) is to speak with the people who do it every day. It is never too early for first-year students to begin talking to practicing attorneys about what they do on the job each day. It is a great way to learn about work environments, what practitioners like and dislike about their jobs, and what attorneys would do differently if they were first-years again.

e) Get to know professors.

The earlier first-years start acquainting themselves with their professors outside the classroom, the better. Professors are invaluable sources of career information – professors know practitioners in jobs that may be of interest to you, and many have experience in practice themselves. It is also possible that you may need a reference or a letter of recommendation from a law professor someday soon; if professors don’t get to know students on a personal level, they may not feel comfortable serving as a reference.

f) Learn the basics: legal research and writing

The top complaint legal employers have about their summer interns is poor research and writing skills. Now is the time to develop your research and writing skills so that you will be fully prepared for your summer responsibilities.

g) Get involved. Student organizations are another wonderful resource to boost your career knowledge because they host programs that focus on specific practice areas and environments, and often provide opportunities to meet practicing lawyers. Also, co-curricular and extracurricular activities will boost your marketability.

h) Start preparing a résumé.

Start creating or updating your résumé. The Career Services Office began editing résumés in early October. Look at the sample résumés online (hard copies are also available on the wall outside the Career Services Office) and revise your résumé to adopt a similar format.

i) Get to know yourself.

Now is the time to think about your prior jobs and experiences (legal or non-legal) and what you liked or disliked about those positions. Mull over the type of environment that might be right for you. Of course, you do not need to decide exactly what practice area or environment interests you during this year, but knowing yourself will help you develop ideas as you begin to explore options.

j) Networking and Making Personal Contacts.

Start networking. Personal contact is the single most effective way to get a job, whether it’s a summer job or a permanent job. Take advantage of the people you already know to

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meet more people. Partake in activities in order to make new contacts. Networking involves talking to everyone you know to find out which employers are hiring and how to get interviews with those employers.

3.2 FIRST-YEAR CALENDAR Note: This calendar does not contain an exhaustive list of all important career services dates and

events. Instead, it is intended to give you a general sense of important deadlines and programs

for planning purposes. In addition to noting the information in this calendar, please be sure also

to check the weekly Law School Newsletter, review announcements on the Symplicity home page,

and read all Career Services e-mail messages.

SEPTEMBER In order to allow first-year students to acclimate themselves to

and the law school environment and their studies, minimal contact with

OCTOBER Career Services until around November 1

NOVEMBER Career Services orientations for 1Ls

Meet individually with Career Services staff for résumé and cover letter review and general career counseling

DECEMBER Send résumés and cover letters to law firms, government agencies

and public interest organizations for summer jobs Meet individually with Career Services staff for résumé and cover

letter review and general career counseling

JANUARY Register for Midwest Public Interest Law Career Conference (held in February in Chicago)

Contact legal employers about summer jobs; check Job Bank,

PSLawNet, and other job listings regularly Submit application for ABA Minority Judicial Clerkship Program

(for summer internships with judges in several cities, including Chicago)

FEBRUARY Register for Wisconsin Public Interest Law Job Fair (held in late

February at the Law School) Register for Loyola Patent Law Interview Program (held in August

in Chicago) Contact legal employers about summer jobs; check Job Bank,

PSLawNet and other job listings regularly Register for Illinois State Bar Exam to receive discounted

registration fee. (This fee is non-refundable, so do not register

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unless you are fairly certain you will take the Illinois bar exam after you graduate. Deadline is March 1.)

Submit application for State of Wisconsin TOPJobs Summer Intern

Program & City of Madison AASPIRE Summer Intern Program

MARCH Submit SPSF application to request funding for a summer job working for public interest organization or government agency

Submit application for Equal Justice America summer fellowship (for jobs providing civil legal services to low-income populations)

Contact legal employers about summer jobs; check Job Bank,

PSLawNet and other job listings regularly

APRIL Attend orientation program regarding fall on-campus interviewing and summer Off-Campus Recruitment Programs

Register for Off-Campus Recruitment Programs (held in August in

New York, D.C., and Los Angeles)

Register for Dupont Minority Job Fairs (held in early August in Houston, Los Angeles, and Wilmington, Delaware)

MAY Register for Cook County Bar Association Minority Student Job Fair (held in August in Chicago)

Participate in write-on competition for Wisconsin Law Review,

Wisconsin International Law Journal, etc.

JUNE Register for Minnesota Minority Recruitment Conference (held in

September in Minneapolis) Seek out substantive writing assignments from summer legal

employer (to be used as writing sample in fall)

JULY Update résumé and submit it to Career Services staff for review

Complete résumé upload and on-line bidding for Off-Campus

Recruitment Programs (deadline in 2008 was mid-July)

AUGUST Research employers, enter bids, and submit résumés for fall On- Campus Interviewing Program (OCI) (Phases 1 & 2) Select a writing sample and make multiple copies

Order an Official Transcript from UW-Madison Registrar’s Office (http://ordertranscript.wisc.edu)

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Send résumé and cover letter to large firm employers not participating in OCI, and to other employers participating in resume collection. Sign up to participate in mock interviews to prepare for the fall recruiting season.

3.3 SECOND-YEAR CALENDAR Note: This calendar does not contain an exhaustive list of all important career services dates and



to check the weekly Law School Newsletter, review announcements on the Symplicity home page,

and read all Career Services e-mail messages

AUGUST/

SEPTEMBER Sign up for mock interviews in the Career Services Office

Research employers, enter bids, and submit résumés for fall On- Campus Interviewing Program (OCI) (Phases 3 & 4) Interview with firms participating in OCI Submit on-line application for U.S. Department of Justice Attorney

General’s Summer Law Intern Program (deadline in 2008 is 9/02/08)

Send résumés to employers participating in the Equal Justice

Works Public Interest Career Fair and Conference (held in October in D.C.)

Send applications to federal government agencies’ summer

internship programs (consult “Government Honors & Internship Handbook” for deadlines of individual agencies)

OCTOBER Interview with firms participating in OCI

NOVEMBER Register for spring semester courses Submit applications for Remington Center’s summer Prosecution

and Defender Projects

JANUARY Register for Midwest Public Interest Law Career Conference (held in February in Chicago)

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Contact legal employers of all sorts about legal jobs; check Job Bank, PSLawNet and other job listings regularly

FEBRUARY Register for Wisconsin Public Interest Law Job Fair (held at the Law School in late February)

Register for Loyola Patent Law Interview Program (held in

Chicago in August) Continue to contact legal employers of all sorts about legal jobs;

check Job Bank, PSLawNet and other job listings regularly

MARCH Submit SPSF application to request funding for a summer job at a public interest organization or government agency

Continue to contact legal employers of all sorts about legal jobs; check Job Bank, PSLawNet and other job listings regularly

APRIL Register for DuPont Minority Job Fairs (held in August in Houston, Los Angeles, and Wilmington, Delaware)

Register for Off-Campus Recruitment Programs (held in August in

New York, D.C., and Los Angeles) Attend programs about post-graduate judicial clerkships

MAY Register for Cook County Bar Association Minority Student Job Fair (held in August in Chicago)

Register for BLSA Midwest Minority Recruitment Conference

(held in early September in Cleveland) Consider whom to ask for post-graduate judicial clerkship letters

of recommendation and research the judges to whom you will apply

JUNE Begin developing project proposal and/or finding a sponsor public interest organization for post-graduate public interest fellowships (Skadden, Equal Justice Works, Georgetown, etc.)

Register for Minnesota Minority Recruitment Conference (held in September in Minneapolis)

JULY Update résumé and submit it to Career Services for review

AUGUST Research employers, enter bids, submit résumés for fall On-Campus Interviewing Program (Phases 1 & 2)

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If needed, order copies of Official Transcript from UW-Madison Registrar’s Office (http://odertranscript.wisc.edu)

Select a writing sample and make multiple copies

Assemble applications for judicial clerkships (cover letter, résumé, transcript, writing sample); contact recommenders to make sure they know when you will be sending your applications

Send résumés and cover letters to large firm employers not participating in fall OCI, and employers who are participating in resume collection. Sign up to participate in mock interviews to prepare for the fall recruiting season. Assemble a list of government honors programs, their application requirements and applications deadlines.

3.4 THIRD-YEAR CALENDAR Note: This calendar does not contain an exhaustive list of all important career services dates and



to check the weekly Law School Newsletter, review the announcements on the Symplicity home

page, and read all Career Services e-mail messages

SEPTEMBER Apply on-line to U.S. Department of Justice Attorney General’s Honor Program (deadline in 2008 is 9/02/08)

Send applications for post-graduate judicial clerkships

Send résumés to employers participating in the Equal Justice

Works Public Interest Career Fair and Conference (held in D.C. in late October)

Submit Equal Justice Works Fellowship application materials Submit Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program

applications

Register to take the MPRE in November (if you have already taken the Professional Responsibilities course and do not plan to work in Wisconsin, and cannot or do not want to take the MPRE in Madison in March) [MPRE is not required for admission to the State Bar of Wisconsin]

Begin preparing materials to take advantage of the Wisconsin

Diploma Privilege (Character and Fitness Certification application information is put in 3L hang files in mid-October, and the forms

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take a VERY long time to complete). Save $100 by filing by December 15.

OCTOBER Submit Skadden Fellowship application materials Submit Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program

applications Submit Fried Frank NAACP/MALDEF Fellowship applications Register to take the MPRE in November (if you have already taken

the Professional Responsibilities course and do not plan to work in Wisconsin, and cannot or do not want to take the MPRE in Madison in March) [MPRE is not required for admission to the State Bar of Wisconsin]

Register for a bar review course

Research state bar examination registration requirements and deadlines for the jurisdiction(s) you may be working in; some deadlines are as early as February 1 Make hotel and restaurant reservations for graduation weekend Continue to contact legal employers of all sorts about legal jobs; check Job Bank, PSLawNet and other job listings regularly

NOVEMBER Attend graduation information session (with representatives from Bar/Bri, PMBR, the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners, the State Bar Young Lawyers Division and the Wisconsin Law Alumni Association. Also includes information on the MPRE and planning for graduation events.)


JANUARY Gather information called for by bar exam applications (every address you have lived at for the last ten years; each employer you have worked for during the last ten years, character references, etc.)

Register for March MPRE (unless you will not be taking a bar

exam) (offered in Madison in March, August and November) Register for Midwest Public Interest Career Conference (held in

Chicago in February) Continue to contact legal employers of all sorts about legal jobs;

check Job Bank, PSLawNet and other job listings regularly

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FEBRUARY, MARCH,

APRIL Complete and submit bar exam application


Complete and submit Loan Repayment Assistance Grant application (if you might take a job with a government or public interest employer that pays less than $43,000/year)

Complete and submit Graduate Employment Survey Form (go to Symplicity home page and click on “Graduate Employment Survey” under the heading “quick links”) or at http://www.law.wisc.edu/career/gradsurvey.htm.

MAY Attend graduation ceremonies

Be sure to keep in touch with Career Services staff with any employment-related questions

4 Résumés

Introduction A résumé is a marketing tool – an advertisement of your qualifications. It is a summary of your education and experience, rather than an exhaustive personal statement. Your résumé is the only impression a prospective employer has of you and is often the first example of your writing ability. Therefore, it is important that you take the time to create a document that leaves a positive and lasting impression. The content of your résumé should be restricted to information that demonstrates why you would be an asset to a particular employer. Every word in your résumé should be relevant. The most frequent criticism of résumés is that they say too much and appear unfocused and vague. You must decide how to effectively present your experiences and accomplishments, keeping in mind that most employers spend an average of 30-45 seconds reading each résumé. Also, you may want to have more than one version of your résumé. Certain aspects of your experience may be relevant for one employer and not as relevant for another. Once you write your résumé, edit it vigorously, eliminating all details that are not essential to the message you want to convey. The Office of Career Services encourages you to submit your résumé for review at any time. Following are some suggestions to help you prepare your résumé.

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Résumé Content

Format • Though the substance of your résumé is more important than the format, the

visual aesthetics of your résumé are surprisingly important.

• Readability is the primary objective. Information should be clear, concise and presented in a consistent style and format throughout.

• Select a format that brings your most significant qualifications to the immediate attention of the prospective employer. For some examples of format, please review the sample résumés available in the back of this handbook. Templates contained in Word can be difficult to use and edit, so it’s best to create your own format.

Heading The heading includes:

• Your Name - Decide how you wish to be known professionally. It appears at the top of the résumé and serves as the title. Your name should be typed in larger point than the rest of the résumé but not too large since some employers have been critical of that. Note: the word “Résumé” should not be the “title” of your résumé.

• Your Address(es), Telephone Number(s), and E-Mail – Provide your current address, telephone number and your email address. Use a professional-sounding email address. If your permanent address is outside the Madison area, you may want to include it, particularly if you are seeking employment in that region of the country. Make sure your answering machine message is professional and brief.

Job Objective This section is almost never appropriate on a legal résumé. It is more effective to tailor your résumé to a particular position and discuss your specific career goals in your cover letter and during an interview.

Education For law students and recent graduates, the name of the law school, academic performance, and achievements in law school are usually the most important elements of a résumé.

• Outline your education in reverse chronological order: (1) legal education, (2) graduate education, if any, and (3) undergraduate education.

• Begin with the name of your law school (University of Wisconsin Law School), the degree expected, the month and year you anticipate graduating, and the city and state. Indicate your anticipated law degree as: "Candidate for J.D. or “J.D. anticipated."

• Following your degree, list any distinctions you received, such as cum laude. Latin phrases should always appear in lower case letters and be italicized.

• Secondary education should be excluded unless you are applying for jobs where your school or hometown establishes important geographic ties.

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Transfer Students Transfer students may include information about their first-year studies as part of the UW Law School entry. For example, you could write “Completed first year of studies at New York University Law School, 2007-2008”. Alternatively, you may list your previous law school as a separate entry. This method is more effective if you want to highlight significant positions, activities or honors you achieved during your first year of law school.

Honors and Activities Under each school you have attended, detail your academic achievements and organizational memberships in that school. You may use separate subheadings such as “Honors,” “Awards,” or “Activities.”

• List significant law school activities, including journal participation, clinical programs, memberships, committees and teams.

• Differentiate staff membership from membership on an editorial board.

• Highlight your leadership roles in organizations (i.e. President, Founder).

• Indicate if you have a distinguished record in competitions (i.e. finalist, quarter finalist, best brief).

• If you had quite a number of collegiate activities, consider listing those that are significant to you or the employer.

• List major honors received, including scholarships, elected offices and awards.

• If any of the honors or activities you include are not self-explanatory by title, include a brief description.

• If relevant, include “Worked 20 hours per week to finance education” or “…to defray cost of education.” This will tell potential employers a great deal about you and your commitment to education.

GPA. • It will be necessary for you to calculate your own GPA or ask the Registrar’s

office to calculate it for you. To calculate your GPA, disregard any courses in which you received a grade of S or U. Those courses do NOT factor into your cumulative grade point average. Next, multiply the numerical equivalent of the letter grade you received in each other course you have completed, times the number of credits that you earned in the course. (For example, if you received a B in Property, which is a 4 credit course, you would multiply 3.0 times 4, and the result is 12.0 GPA “points”). After you have multiplied the number of credits times the numerical equivalent for the grade you received in each course, then add all your GPA “points” together and divide it by the total number of credits represented by your letter-graded courses. The resulting quotient is your GPA. It should be rounded to the second decimal place, using conventional rounding methods; e.g, a 3.2489 becomes a 3.25; whereas a 3.24489 becomes a 3.24.

• Although the Career Services staff encourages employers to consider many indicators of competence, recruiters often focus on GPAs when selecting students to interview. This is more likely to be the case with large, well-known law firms and organizations than with smaller ones. It is, therefore, important to present yourself in the most favorable light.

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• First-year grades may not yet have been computed when you are applying for jobs for next summer, so employers will look at your undergraduate GPA as an indication of your academic achievement.

• As a general rule, if your GPA places you in the top 50% of your class, include it. Otherwise, omit it, but be prepared to discuss it in an interview.

• A statistical chart of approximate percentile ranks based on students’ grade point averages is available on the Law School’s website at www.law.wisc.edu/career/gradesystem.htm.

• If you received an outstanding grade in Legal Research and Writing you may want to mention that specifically on your résumé.

• If there is a significant improvement from one semester to the next, you may want to list your semester GPAs separately.

• For a detailed discussion on the Law School’s grading system and computing GPAs, read section 2 of the Career Services Handbook or the “Grading System and Class Standing” section of the Career Services Website.

LSAT Scores LSAT scores should not be included on your résumé. Remember, LSAT scores were relevant in evaluating your potential as a law student. They are not a predictor of your success as a lawyer.

Experience/Employment

• The heading “Experience” or “Employment” can be used, but “experience” offers the advantage of encompassing paid, volunteer, intern and clinical positions. List jobs in reverse chronological order.

• This section can be divided into “Legal Experience,” “Related Experience,” “Professional Experience,” “Work Experience,” or “Other Experience” categories. This is particularly useful for students with extensive work experience prior to law school.

• For each position, list the name of the organization, job title, city and state and dates of employment. Note that it is easier to read “Summer 2006” than “6/06-8/06” or “June 2006-August 2006.”

• When describing your employment experience, include more details for jobs that involved legal responsibility. Other employment can be summarized briefly to avoid leaving large gaps in your employment history.

• If your experiences are not directly applicable to the position for which you are applying, then describe transferable skills that you have acquired in different subject areas that demonstrate similarities with the employer’s work.

• Common legal skills that almost all organizations look for include research, writing, client interviewing, and evidence of analytical, organizational, interpersonal and leadership skills.

• Use short phrases, not sentences, to describe employment. Begin each entry with a law-related action verb, such as “Coordinated,” “Developed,” ”Drafted,” “Oversaw,” “Researched.” You can always refer to the list of action verbs in this handbook or on the website at: http://www.law.wisc.edu/career/ResumeContent.htm.

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• Review how an employer describes its work, and then convey that you understand the field by using similar language to describe your own job responsibilities and activities.

• Use present tense verbs for current job(s), past tense verbs for past jobs. Omit articles “a,” “an” and “the” whenever possible. Omit personal pronouns.

• List the most substantial responsibilities and achievements first. Be brief but specific, including numbers, dollar amounts and percentages whenever possible. For example, “Supervised staff of 15,” “Managed $45,000 budget,” or “Increased sales by 15 percent.”

Personal Certifications If you have earned any other professional certifications, such as a CPA or real estate license, you may include this information, along with the date and state in which you were certified.

Foreign Language If you are skilled in a foreign language, this should be noted on your résumé. You may be asked to demonstrate your skills during an interview, so be sure to accurately convey your level of proficiency. You can use these descriptions: “fluent,” “proficient,” “conversant,” “working knowledge of…”

Military Service Having served in the military is impressive to many employers and should be listed as employment.

Publications Including publications on a résumé indicates previous research and writing experience.

Skills Do not list personality attributes such as “able to work with minimal supervision.” Only list computer skills if they are extraordinary. Most lawyers and law students have word processing and Westlaw/Lexis skills, so listing them is unnecessary.

Personal Such information as health, weight, age, marital status and number of children should not be on your résumé. It is not relevant and it is illegal for an employer to ask questions related to this information during an interview.

Outside Interests and Activities • This category is optional, but can show that you are a well-rounded individual. It

often provides good topics for conversation during an interview.

• Only include accomplishments or unique interests and hobbies that highlight a strength, significant accomplishment or passion.

• Avoid general terms such as “enjoy reading, movies and sports.” Instead, be specific about the type of literature you have researched, the fact that you studied classical piano for 15 years, and the time you ran the Chicago marathon.

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• You need not have achieved outward recognition of your interests and activities in order to list them. Thus, “crime novels, swing dancing and the Chicago Cubs” is an appropriate list of interests if, in fact, you can discuss them knowledgeably and with enthusiasm.

Length • Limit your résumé to one page if possible. Research suggests that employers

spend only 30-45 seconds reviewing a résumé before determining if a candidate should be interviewed.

• Two pages are acceptable only if you have many relevant experiences, but be sure every entry is salient.

• Print your name and “page 2” on the top of the second sheet, and staple the two sheets together.

Graphics • Experiment with different layouts. Keep tabs and margins consistent and limit the

number of different fonts and sizes you use.

• Judicious use of white space, capitalization, indenting, bold and italics can serve to make your résumé more interesting, aesthetically appealing, and easier to read.

Paper/Reproduction • Your résumé should be word-processed on a computer and produced on a laser

printer. If you do not have access to a laser printer into which you can feed your own paper, use a laser printer to produce a copy on regular paper and then photocopy it onto quality bond paper.

• You may use any shade of white, off-white and gray. Do not try to distinguish yourself by using pastels or other non-traditional colors. Darker colors are more difficult to read and can produce photocopies which are shaded or streaked.

• Aim for a crisp, professional look.

Proofreading • Your résumé must be free of errors. Do not rely on spell check. Misspelled

words and grammatical errors make a very poor impression and are usually fatal to a legal job application.

• Before you finalize your copy, ask for suggestions and comments from friends or family. And remember, there is always someone in the Career Services Office who can review your résumé.

Résumé Falsification Be scrupulously honest. Employers are becoming more and more sensitive to the problem of misrepresentation on résumés. Increasingly, they are asking applicants for transcripts and checking references to verify the accuracy of the résumé. Falsifying your résumé could cost you your job, your professional reputation and admission to the bar.

Blogs and Other On-line Personal Information More and more students are posting personal information about themselves on blogs or other web sites, including myspace.com and facebook.com. You should be aware that

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many employers are in the habit of running “google” searches on job candidates which could ultimately turn up these sites. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to be very circumspect about what you post on your blog or other personal site; this type of information can result in employer wariness about you as a candidate or potential employee.

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Action Verbs for Résumés and Correspondence

Accelerated Accomplished Acquired Achieved Adapted Administered Advised Allocated Analyzed Anticipated Applied Approved Arranged Articulated Assembled Assessed Assigned Authored Balanced Briefed Budgeted Built Catalogued Chaired Championed Clarified Collaborated Compared Compiled Completed Composed Conceived Conceptualized Conducted Consolidated Constructed Contributed Controlled Convened Coordinated Corresponded Created Critiqued Cultivated Defined Delegated

Delivered Designed Developed Demonstrated Derived Determined Devised Directed Distributed Drafted Edited Educated Effected Eliminated Encouraged Established Evaluated Examined Executed Expanded Expedited Facilitated Financed Focused Formed Formulated Found Generated Governed Guided Identified Illustrated Implemented Increased Informed Influenced Initiated Instituted Integrated Interpreted Interviewed Introduced Invented Investigated Improved Leveraged

Informed Judged Launched Led Lectured Maintained Managed Marketed Mastered Mediated Modeled Modified Molded Monitored Motivated Negotiated Observed Obtained Operated Orchestrated Ordered Organized Outlined Oversaw Participated Performed Persuaded Planned Prepared Presented Programmed Proposed Proved Provided Produced Published Recommended Recorded Recruited Reduced Reinforced Reorganized Represented Researched Resolved Responded

Restored Restructured Revamped Revised Reviewed Rewrote Saved Scheduled Selected Served Shaped Simplified Solicited Solved Specified Spoke Strategized Structured Streamlined Studied Supervised Supported Targeted Taught Tested Translated Trained Tutored Updated Utilized Validated Verified Wrote