Module 1 · Chapter 3

A CV for Someone Who Has Never Met a Lawyer

The first person to read a lawyer's CV has often never met a lawyer. Write for that reader: a plain title, the link at the top, numbers first and each employer in one line.

≈ 11 min read 8-question test

In this chapter

  • Who reads a CV first, and what they know about law firms
  • How to write the top of the page and the summary
  • How to give each job a number, and what to leave off

3.1A CV is written for one reader

A CV is not a record of your career. It is a document written for one reader about one job. Most juniors still have the CV that won their training contract. It was written to impress a lawyer, and nobody has opened it since.

The person who reads your next CV may never have met a lawyer. That person decides whether anyone else sees it.

Key point

Write the CV for the reader who will skim it, not the one who would admire it.

Also in this chapter

  1. Ask what the job needs before you write
  2. Who reads a CV first
  3. The top of the page: name, title, link
  4. Why the old profile says nothing
  5. A summary built from numbers
  6. One line for each employer, one number for each job
  7. What goes last, and what comes off
  8. Your job

Preview

The rest of this chapter opens with a free account. Every edition is free to read until 31 January. Open a free account by the end of that day and keep every edition published by then, for good. Open it from the edition home →