On Wednesday, November 2, 2016, APABA-MD members participated as panel speakers at the APALSA Resume Workshop at the University of Baltimore Law School. The panel included seven attorneys from various practice areas in both the government and private sectors to include the federal government, the State's Attorney's Office, corporate counsel at Mariner Finance, McGuire Woods, and Miles & Stockbridge, P.C. The panelists offered tips on resume writing and cover letters to second and third year law students. Each panelist shared his/her personal experiences in reviewing resumes and some tips for making resumes stand out. The panelists reviewed each law student's resume and provided suggestions for improvement. The law students and attorneys had an opportunity to network with one another after the panel presentation concluded.
Law Student Shares His Thoughts On Resume Workshop
BY CHRISTIAN KIM
Christian Kim is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Baltimore School of Law '17. He is a UB APALSA Recruitment Representative and the UB Student Bar Association Chief of Staff.
"By the time she finished editing my resume, it looked like a football coach drew his playbook on it."
University of Baltimore’s APALSA hosted a resume workshop on November 2nd with panelists from APABA-MD as well as UB APALSA alumnae. As a 3L, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have another set of eyes to look over my resume. The panelists gave helpful tips on how to improve the likelihood of a prospective employer to take a second glance at our resumes. They also discussed the major differences between a resume for the public sector and a resume for the private sector. Since all the students were unaware of these differences, many of the attendees had questions to ask on how to cater our resumes for each sector.
After the panel discussion, the students and panelists were paired up to receive feedback on our resumes. Since I’m interested in the government sector, I was paired with Courtney Colonese who works as an Assistant State’s Attorney for the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office. By the time she finished editing my resume, it looked like a football coach drew his playbook on it. As part of the interviewing committee at her job, Courtney was able to provide me with “keywords” that allowed me to highlight my experience as a law clerk, legal researcher, and judicial intern. She even followed up with me post-event to look over my resume after I applied her suggested edits. I thoroughly enjoyed this event since it was a fantastic opportunity to network with a diverse group of legal professionals. It was also a great way to receive first-hand information on how to present our qualifications, including work experience, educational background and extracurricular activities, while maintaining a presentable format.