Law Schools

Résumés II: Electric Boogaloo

Some very important résumés lessons for members of Generation Z.

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(Image via Getty)

Devoted readers of this column, of which I hope there are more than a few, should be familiar with my call for law students across the country to embrace the professional development offerings created by their school’s Career Services Office.  I am pleased to report that at Vanderbilt, the professional development is not limited to the student body.  As part of an initiative developed by the law school’s Staff Advisory Board, on which I was pleased to serve a two-year stint, a year-long professional development series was launched last fall for Vanderbilt Law staff and faculty.  These hour-long lunchtime presentations have brought experts from across the university to provide members of the law school family with timely information on a range of subjects such as Title IX, stress resilience, and conflict management.  Last week, it was my pleasure to give the final talk of the academic year.

While I often harbor delusions that my expertise runs across an array of subjects, it is unlikely that lessons in pizza consumption or garage organization qualifies as “professional development.”  Instead, I spoke to the assembled members of the Vanderbilt Law School staff about that all-important subject, résumés.

As I noted in my one-year anniversary column last month, the first topic I ever delved into for Above the Law was résumés.  I also wrote that the discussion of résumés was one “from which I should have gotten several months’ worth of pieces.”  Sequels are all the rage right now, from Avengers: Endgame at the box office — I have another seven months until it becomes available on Disney+, the streaming service to which literally every American, or at least those with kids will subscribe, so if the internet could just be cool with spoilers until then, I would appreciate it — to the Iran War, the bigger and almost certainly more disastrous sequel to the Iraq War, brought to the American public by the same people, who somehow are not currently in prison.  While I probably will not get several months’ worth of columns out of this revisiting of résumés, it will be the topic for this one.

Much of my talk to the Vanderbilt Law staff centered around the structure of a résumé.  Not surprisingly, my PowerPoint began at the top of a résumé, the header, which should consist of your name, mailing address, and contact information.  With regards to your name, say, to completely make up an example, your birth name is Robert, but everyone calls you Beto.  Feel free to go with Beto.  You can include Robert as well, but there is no requirement that the name on your résumé exactly mirror what appears on your birth certificate.

Some students, especially those who have come straight from undergrad and are members of Generation Z, might be befuddled by the idea of including a mailing address.  Are there people who still use the U.S. mail, they might ask in a befuddled manner?  The answer is yes.  This is especially true of multibillion-dollar entities run by septuagenarians.  While you should always list the mailing address where you live on your résumé, to ensure you receive any mailed items, e.g., an exam period pick-me-up or a rejection letter, you are not limited to that single address.  If your permanent address, i.e., the address where your parents live, is in a market where you would like to start your legal career, go ahead and include it.  Showing strong ties to a geographic market will only give candidates an advantage in a legal job search.

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For contact information, list both a phone number and an email address.  The idea that someone might actually use a phone number for calling, rather than texting, might sound even more far-fetched than receiving a letter in the mail, but again, we are talking about law firms not officeless startups.  Once you have listed your phone number, make sure you not only have a voicemail greeting on your phone — for younger readers who have no idea how to set this feature up, try to find someone nearby who vividly remembers the Clinton administration; they should be old enough to help — but also that the greeting is one that is appropriate for employers to hear.  This means keeping the “woooos” to a minimum.

Similarly, your email address should have at least the veneer of professionalism.  This is not to say that if you are currently employed, but are seeking a new position, that you need to use your employer’s email address.  In fact, you want to avoid using your work email unless you are positive your employer is fine with you not only looking for work, but also leaving the organization.  But a veneer of professionalism stands in stark contrast to your personal email address that you had since college, if not earlier.  While this should be obvious, no, do not list sexmachine49@aol.com on your résumé.  Why?  Well, a few reasons.  First, AOL?  Really? While retro Generation X/1990s is all the rage right now, at no point will American Online be cool.  If you are going the retro route, might as well go all the way and track down a Prodigy server.  Also, if I am a legal employer, I want the best, not the 49th best.  Finally, and most importantly, DO NOT REFER TO YOURSELF AS SEXMACHINE IN A PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT.

Not surprisingly, my résumé presentation to Vanderbilt Law staffers touched on more than just résumé headers.  I will dive into the other portions of a résumé in future columns.  You know what is better than a sequel?  A trilogy.

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Nicholas Alexiou is the Director of LL.M. and Alumni Advising as well as the Associate Director of Career Services at Vanderbilt University Law School. He will, hopefully, respond to your emails at abovethelawcso@gmail.com.

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