How To Make Your Resume And Introductory Letter Count In The Non-Legal Job Market

Legal training is comprehensive and intensive so it applies to a wide variety of career disciplines. You are preparing for some exciting and lucrative careers, careers that do not fall under the rubric of practicing law. This is your design. Businesses need people with certain backgrounds in various strategic positions. At least one-quarter of the law school graduates do not practice law; hardly any would leave their lucrative business careers to do so.

Begin thinking like a business person. Describe your skills, background, and experience in business terms. Adopt the buyers' background. If you force the business community to translate its needs to your legal training, they will not view it as worth their time. They will move on to other candidates.


Many of the job hunting strategies that you grew up with fail in today's rapidly changing economy. They worked years ago, but they do not now; too much has changed. The growing dynamic companies want specifically skilled, mature, motivated people that are ready to go to work and make them money. Gone are the big bureaucratic and benevolent companies with one-year training programs looking for people with certain grades or number of years of experience at a job. Today, you must add value immediately.

You Are Selling You:

The employer is buying. Always think in terms of how you can add value to the employer. It is that simple. It even sounds a little crass. However, this is the context. Sell your background and skills to a target employer in business terms. How do you do this? Well, any time you want to sell something, anything, you must: introduce the product, whatever it is, to the buyer, describe the product concisely and sell the product in a clever and interesting way by presenting facts about the product that interest the buyer. Just understand that this time the product is you.

Dust Off That Resume? Not Just Yet:

So what is your first inclination? Most people respond by writing a resume, usually the one-page type. I am sure you are familiar with the type of resume" I am talking about. They are very general so that they can be mass mailed. Not to mention that they usually read like an obituary notice. These mass mail out resumes do not meet any of the selling criteria because they: o are short without being concise, o are dull and do not interest the buyer, are trite and banal rather than interesting and informative and generalize about only what interests the seller, rather than state particulars that interest the buyer.
The last point is the most glaring shortcoming. In order to sell yourself, you must show what you can and will do for the employer.

Focus on What You Will Do:

A resume's major shortcoming is it mainly addresses what the seller wants, rather than what the seller will give. There are thousands of books written on "now to write resumes. They elevate writing and mailing out resumes to a science. Job seekers continue to use them as their main tool although employers, and the job hunters themselves, know they do not work very well. Large companies receive close to one million resumes each year and now use resume scanning software to handle the flurry of resumes. Resumes were more effective when it was a sellers' market. However, downsizing has turned this around. Yet, few are reluctant to change their approach.

Am I suggesting you should not draft a resume? Quite the contrary. Your resume is still important to your job search. You should take great care to write an effective one. However, I do not want it to be your primary selling tool. The introduction letter should be. Here is why.

Introduction Letters as Superior Selling Tools:

Contact your triple point target with an introduction letter accompanied by a resume. Let the introduction letter be your first contact with the potential employer. The letter is your first impression. Make it a good one because you will not get a second chance. Showcase and translate your legal training into skills needed to perform the high-profile position. Make the points you need to make and eliminate those canned objectives readers skim over. No one really cares what you did five summers ago, what your hobbies are, or the names of your children. Do not make the reader strain to figure out what it is that you will actually do.

Thoughtfully written introduction letters focus on the following three points: the important relevant things that you have done, o the relevant skills you have, and, most importantly, what you will do for the employer in terms of adding value.

Contact Your Triple Point Target:

Contact your triple point target with an introduction letter accompanied by a resume. The introduction letter sells. It is your thirty-second advertisement. These letters must be energetic, enthusiastic, and, of course, realistic. Set out your special skills to the employer: the ability to communicate, self -directed, a leader and a team player, persuasive, critical thinking, and legal knowledge relevant to business.

The introduction letter must show that a person in control of his or her destiny wrote it, the kind of employee the employer wants in his organization. Remember, up to this point, nothing is more important than the letter. A targeted, well-written introduction letter greatly increases your chances of getting to the interview phase.

How to Go About It:

You've already researched about ten to fifteen companies. They are part of your triple points. You should keep current information about them handy. Now you are ready to start making contact. Here is the process, in a nutshell:

• Focus your research to determine how you can add value to the company.
• Craft an introduction letter showcasing your legal training skills in terms of the business sector. Point out what you can and will do for that person.
• Enclose a resume that complements the introduction letter.
• Follow up, by telephone, to that person on a prearranged date.

Let's look at the first bullet above. Too many people do not realize how many ways research helps them find a job. It is much more than just compiling a list of business names and addresses or reading articles about a company before an interview. Research can assist you in every step of your job hunt. If you have done it right, you will be able to write a more targeted introduction letter and resume because you know the dynamics and needs of the company, as well as what the high-profile career generally requires. You waste time if you highlight strengths and experiences that are of no interest to the company. Research uncovers key information for you to bring up during the interview. Employers want people familiar with the business. You have got the advantage here because research was a way of life in law school. Just apply yourself a little differently now.

Define your career selection in terms of your legal training and experience. You have gotten all the information you need. Find out to whom you should send the letter and resume. Always address the introduction letter to a person. Preferably, the person who does the hiring. Dear Sir/Madam or To Whom It May Concern greetings are so unprofessional I will not even talk about them. Do you read those kinds of letters? Why would you expect others to? Many times the research article will contain the name of the contact person. Other times, you will have to call the target company and find out whom to contact. Some job applicants do not like to do this. It embarrasses them. If it makes you feel better, imagine you are a potential customer and you want to get hold of someone in the company. Call with that mind-set or attitude and it will be a lot easier. Once you have gotten a contact name, you are ready to craft the introduction letter.

Form and Function:

Good form is just common sense. Think about the form of a letter that would impress you. Let me suggest the following to give you a professional looking introduction letter:
 

• Always utilize high quality bond paper and envelopes. Make it look like you are the person of value that you are.
• As stated earlier, always send the letter to a person.
• Use the active voice and write in the first person. You are communicating to another person.
• Use business-like language, but not to the point of being impersonal.
• Avoid jargon and any annoying industry buzzwords. Be yourself by finding your own voice.

Employers want real employees, not clones. That is why mass produced generic resumes do not work. Watch your language and grammar.

Remember, the reader will use the whole letter to evaluate you. Spend time on your letters. Rewrite and edit numerous times. When you think it is perfect, have someone else read it. Maybe it is not so perfect. Because letters are personal, they invite reading. People read letters, but they scan resumes.

Begin by specifically stating the purpose of the introduction letter. That is why you want to know about the person to whom you are writing and as much as you can about the job you are seeking. The opening must get their attention.

Follow the purpose with your qualifications. Relate two to three aspects of your work experience and legal training to the job. Build your letter around these main points. Tailor each letter to the job by adding specifics. However, the meat of the letter that sets out your qualifications and accomplishments should remain unchanged from letter to letter.

Think like a businessperson when writing. First, show the buyer that a need exists. Then, you fill that need. Obviously, this is more challenging to do when you are changing careers or you have little experience, as is the case with many new graduates. This means you will have to draw parallels with the experience you have. Your experience may be limited to just your law school experience. Concentrate on skills and experiences that sell you best. Work with what you have. The career path is a continuum; you do not have to start at the highest point. That would be nice to do, but that is not a reasonable expectation.

The beauty of the introduction letter is that it focuses on what is important to the employer. Superfluous facts, irrelevant summer jobs, and vague career objectives distract the reader. This focus should carry through to the resume.

How To Conclude Your Letter:

Wind up your letter as positively as you opened it. Restate in one or two sentences what you will do for the company. Close the letter stating you will follow up by telephone on a certain date to make an appointment. You take the initiative by stating a definite time that you will call. You want a job. You are making it clear that you can contribute and both of you will benefit.
 

• See 6 Things Attorneys and Law Students Need to Remove from Their Resumes ASAP If They Want to Get Jobs with the Most Prestigious Law Firms for more information.