Getty
Images)
I
just
spent
the
past
few
days
at
the
2026
NALSC
Annual
Conference
in
New
Orleans
alongside
more
than
275
legal
search
consultants
and
Am
Law
100
and
200
firm
sponsors,
the
professionals
at
the
center
of
how
lawyers
are
evaluated,
presented,
and
placed
at
law
firms
and
in-house.
Not
only
was
I
an
invited
speaker
(presenting
on
“Top
Mistakes
to
Avoid
in
Legal
Resumes
and
Best
Practices
for
Presenting
Candidates”),
but
I
also
had
candid
conversations
about
what
legal
recruiters
want
to
see,
what’s
changing
in
how
firms
and
companies
hire,
and
a
key
takeaway
every
lawyer
needs
to
embrace:
always
being
recruiter-ready.
As
one
recruiter
bluntly
said,
“I
can
tell
an
AI-generated
resume
from
a
mile
away
and
it’s
not
getting
the
interview.”
Another
said,
“I’m
looking
for
something
that
shows
me
the
candidate
knows
their
story
but
doesn’t
need
five
pages
to
convey
it.”
Here’s
what
legal
recruiters
wish
every
lawyer
knew
about
their
resume,
including
what
happens
once
recruiters
receive
your
resume.
1.
Recruiters
Are
Scanning
Your
Resume
In
Less
Than
10
Seconds
An
initial
read
of
your
resume
must
quickly
grab
the
recruiter’s
attention
based
on
structure,
content,
and
formatting,
or
they
will
immediately
pass
on
you.
Large,
bulky
paragraphs
do
not
work.
Readability
takes
precedence.
The
digital
age
reader
doesn’t
have
time
to
go
on
a
fishing
expedition
to
locate
information,
and
they
don’t
want
to
sift
through
pages
of
information
to
find
out
about
several
of
your
most
prominent
M&A
transactions
or
corporate
governance
experience.
Recruiters
are
quickly
skimming
to
know
your
key
practice
areas,
career
level,
the
job
titles
you’ve
held,
notable
companies
and
law
firms
you’ve
worked
for,
and
your
key
achievements.
A
10-line
paragraph
filled
with
hyperbole
doesn’t
sell
them
on
your
value.
That
professional
summary
is
akin
to
the
back
of
the
book
jacket,
and
it
must
be
a
quick
synopsis
of
your
trajectory.
Recruiters
want
and
expect
that
quick
overview,
not
the
obituary.
The
resume
is
not
the
Cheesecake
Factory
menu.
Your
reader
is
not
scrolling
through
14
pages
looking
for
the
one
item
they
came
for.
Resource:
“6
Practical
Ways
To
Make
Your
Resume
More
Skimmable
For
Recruiters”
2.
AI-Generated
Resumes
Get
You
Cancelled
Immediately
As
I
recently
wrote
in
one
of
my
ATL
articles,
you
shouldn’t
use
AI
to
write
your
legal
resume
or
LinkedIn
profile.
The
copy-and-paste
method
does
not
work,
just
as
the
“spray-and-pray”
method
doesn’t
work
in
applying
for
roles.
Recruiters
are
tossing
your
AI-generated
resume
aside
and
not
even
calling
you
in
for
an
interview.
Lawyers
are
held
to
a
higher
standard
and
expectation.
It’s
one
thing
to
use
AI
as
a
framework
to
dig
deeper
or
to
analyze
a
job
posting’s
requirements.
However,
an
AI-generated
resume
is
often
fraught
with
generalities,
low-level
boilerplate
language,
and
unnecessary
fluff.
Your
resume
must
clearly
match
how
you
see
and
convey
yourself.
It’s
not
robotic.
It
has
to
be
human-centric
and
relevant
to
your
lived
experience
and
unique
value.
Recruiters
also
notice
what’s
missing
or
purposefully
left
out.
These
common
omissions
include
hiding
dates
or
cutting
out
the
first
8
to
10
years
of
your
career
experience
because
you
saw
a
LinkedIn
influencer
mention
that
in
a
20-year
career,
you
should
only
include
the
recent
10
years.
One
has
to
go
no
further
than
asking
when
you
were
admitted
to
practice
law
or
when
you
graduated
law
school
and
quickly
note
there’s
missing
career
history.
Resource:
“How
To
Write
A
Compelling
Legal
Resume
That
Lands
Interviews”
3.
Your
LinkedIn
Profile
Isn’t
Optional,
And
It
Must
Ssync
Up
With
Your
Resume
Before
they
call
you,
recruiters
are
checking
your
LinkedIn
profile
for
alignment
of
job
titles
and
dates
with
what’s
in
the
resume.
It’s
a
glaring
red
flag
when
the
two
don’t
align.
Recruiters
agree
that
your
LinkedIn
profile
should
not
be
a
dump
of
your
resume.
They
are
not
sifting
through
paragraphs
and
paragraphs
of
detail
in
your
experience
section.
LinkedIn
acts
as
a
billboard
to
attract
the
1.2
billion
users
currently
on
the
platform.
Remember,
LinkedIn
casts
a
wider
net
than
your
resume,
which
is
only
a
two-page
snapshot
being
seen
by
a
hand-curated
audience.
One
common
complaint
echoed
by
recruiters
throughout
the
conference
was
the
lack
of
response
from
candidates
during
outreach
and
the
inability
to
reach
candidates
due
to
outdated
email
addresses
or
phone
numbers.
If
you
haven’t
logged
into
LinkedIn
in
months
(or
years),
log
in
now,
update
your
profile
with
your
current
personal
email
address
and
make
sure
that
recruiters
are
able
to
access
you.
Conversely,
if
you’re
looking
to
connect
with
more
legal
recruiters,
the
NALSC
member
directory
is
a
searchable
database
of
300-plus
member
firms
and
individuals
across
the
United
States,
Canada,
and
international
locations.
The
directory
allows
you
to
search
by
geography,
market
sector,
and
other
parameters
to
find
the
right
recruiter
for
your
practice
area
and
career
goals.
4.
Recruiters
Are
Building
Your
Story
To
Present
You
To
A
Client,
And
You
Need
To
Help
Them
Tell
It
Everyone
has
a
career
story,
but
the
person
who
gets
the
call
for
the
interview
is
the
one
who’s
able
to
convey
that
story.
You
need
to
tell
that
arc
of
your
career,
how
you’ve
progressed,
and
what
makes
you
unique.
Remember,
the
recruiter
needs
to
construct
a
narrative
that
they
can
pitch
to
the
hiring
partner
or
executive.
There’s
a
big
difference
between
listing
duties,
responsibilities,
and
job
functions,
versus
showing
the
trajectory
and
growth
you’ve
demonstrated
over
your
tenure
at
a
law
firm
or
company.
Recruiters
can
easily
assess
if
you’ve
just
dumped
your
job
description
into
a
laundry
list
of
20
bullet
points.
They
want
to
know
you
can
convey
who
you
are,
what
you
do,
what
you’re
an
expert
in,
and
what
value
you
can
deliver
for
the
client
company
or
firm.
5.
Your
Resume
Should
Be
Recruiter-Ready
Before
The
Recruiter
Calls
(Not
After)
Recruiters
are
not
in
the
business
of
spending
hours
updating
your
resume.
The
lawyers
who
move
through
a
search
are
the
ones
ready
to
go
to
market.
They
know
their
story
and
they
present
it
well.
If
a
recruiter
receives
a
five-to-seven-page
disjointed
resume
that’s
a
continuation
from
your
law
school
template,
they
are
going
to
suggest
hiring
a
legal
resume
writer.
Recruiters
have
strong
opinions
about
resume
formatting
and
length.
Legal
resumes
are
expected
to
be
formal,
not
a
PR
brochure.
Ditch
the
Etsy
templates
with
columns,
graphs,
and
weird
color
gradients.
The
standard
is
two
pages,
three
for
the
extras
(deal
sheet
of
major
transactions,
representative
litigation,
speaking,
media,
and
publications).
Your
choices
affect
readability
and
perception
by
recruiters
as
well
as
hiring
partners
and
executives.
The
consensus:
don’t
waste
the
recruiter’s
time
if
you’re
not
packaged.
In
the
fast-paced
legal
job
market,
you
must
have
your
legal
resume
and
LinkedIn
profile
updated
and
ready.
Resources:
“Quick
Ways
To
Refresh,
Optimize,
And
Modernize
Your
Legal
Resume”
and
“Quick
Ways
To
Refresh
And
Optimize
Your
LinkedIn
Profile”
Before
you
begin
updating
your
legal
resume,
consider
these
three
things:
-
Think
about
your
career
(challenges,
actions,
results)
from
the
perspective
of
your
leadership
(legal
and
business)
and
key
focus
areas
(litigation
wins,
deal
valuations,
business
impacts,
strategic
initiatives). -
Reflect
on
past
performance
evaluations
as
they
always
contain
valuable
insight
into
the
work
you’ve
done,
how
others
have
evaluated
your
work
style,
and
what
your
best
assets
look
like
to
the
outside. -
Consider
areas
you
want
to
learn
about
or
expand
on.
Is
there
a
new
practice
area
you
want
to
transition
into,
an
emerging
area
of
interest,
or
a
gap
in
your
skills
that
you
are
willing
to
grow?
Remember,
the
lawyers
who
treat
their
resume
as
a
strategic
marketing
document
(not
an
administrative
chore
they
merely
dust
off
when
the
layoff
or
restructuring
happens)
are
the
ones
who
move
faster,
get
more
calls,
and
have
more
choices
in
the
job
market.
It’s
not
luck.
It’s
a
well-planned
strategy.
Whether
you’re
a
lawyer
evaluating
your
market
readiness
or
exploring
that
hidden
job
market,
or
a
recruiter
navigating
what
you’re
seeing
on
the
front
lines,
I’d
love
to
hear
your
perspective.
The
conversation
is
one
worth
continuing.
Wendi
Weiner
is
an attorney,
career
expert,
and
founder
of The
Writing
Guru,
an
award-winning
executive
resume
writing
services
company.
Wendi creates
powerful
career
and
personal
brands
for
attorneys,
executives,
and
C-suite/Board
leaders
for
their
job
search
and
digital
footprint. She
also
writes
for
major
publications
about
alternative
careers
for
lawyers, personal
branding,
LinkedIn
storytelling,
career
strategy,
and
the
job
search
process. You
can
reach
her
by
email
at [email protected],
connect
with
her
on LinkedIn,
and
follow
her
on
Twitter @thewritingguru.