Paralegal Resume Example

Learning from this professionally written paralegal resume sample can help you land more interviews. Failing to follow the tips below may result in your resume being trashed.

Paralegals and legal assistants held about 277,000 jobs in 2012 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau also estimates that paralegal employment opportunities will increase by 17% between 2012 and 2022, which is greater than the projected national job growth average.

As law firms look to cut costs and increase efficiency, paralegals are more affordable hiring alternatives to attorneys, and they are able to perform a wider range of duties.

Employers typically look for candidates with either an associate’s degree in paralegal studies, or a bachelors in another field supplemented with a certificate in paralegal studies. Most go into their first job with some kind of internship experience in a legal firm — completed during their studies.

Here we have a competitive resume of a recent graduate seeking his first paralegal position. Read on as we highlight its strengths, and offer tips on writing that winning resume that will land you the interview. 

1. Common Skills for a Paralegal

Consider the skills section as space for you to list other soft or technical skills that you haven’t stressed elsewhere on your resume.

In this case, proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, experience with company-wide scheduling software, along with a high typing speed suggests hard skills which indicate that our candidate is equipped with the tools to perform well in an office setting.

2. Writing Out Your Career Objective

The career objective section should clearly convey your interest and qualifications for the position that you’re seeking. Use this space to highlight specific experiences and personal traits that help you stand out as a desirable candidate. We’ll walk through the career objective in our sample resume.

Here’s the first line:

Recent graduate in paralegal studies with experience conducting interviews and legal research.

The candidate is a recent college grad with very little working experience, but he brings out his most involved and practical experiences from his time interning at a law firm. Then, in the second sentence, the applicant rounds up his major qualifications, and expresses his interest in bringing them into a paralegal position:

Seeking to bring work experiences and academic training into an entry-level paralegal position at a mid-sized law firm.

Last, the applicant wraps up their career objective with striking personal characteristics that are also desirable in a paralegal.

An organized, dedicated worker looking to work closely with attorneys.

The career objective functions as a preview and a summary of the body of the resume.

3. Writing Out Your Professional Experience

Be very strategic about what you put on the body of your resume. When you write out your past work experiences, a tight description is much better than a long, exhaustive list. For one, a thoughtful list reflects mastery over your job. It also lets you highlight your most impressive skillsets and capabilities to the reader.

Our applicant used very descriptive language to detail his job experiences, using keywords that are specific to law practices: “legal documents”, “litigation database”, and “attorney reviews”. But more importantly, the applicant placed great emphasis on words such as “interviewed”, “researched”, and “arranged”  which denote action, even in the menial tasks. These verbs most vividly communicate job capabilities. Writing in achievement-oriented language makes your resume much stronger.

Another strategy (to give your resume more strength and credibility) is to quantify your experiences. In other words, provide hard numbers for your achievements, wherever possible. For instance, our applicant wrote that he has “assisted three senior paralegals” and attended “two annual in-house training seminars”.

The reason for doing this? Including relevant accomplishments gives recruiters a real reference point for the scope of your work, and serves to paint a more solid picture of your experiences. Don’t sweat if you have gaps in your work history, they are easily worked around.

4. Action Verbs for a Paralegal Resume

Looking for more verbs? Check out our action verbs list to find everything you’d ever need (and more).

Note that the above tips are for the resume displayed. Every applicant is unique and has a different situation and thus will write a different style of resume.

5. Additional Career Resources

1. ParalegalToday.com – “Provides thought-provoking and practical material to its readers, such as: career and technical information to help readers excel in the workplace, coverage of national news, trends and professional happenings that affect paralegals, as well as colorful and informative pieces on unique areas and people in the profession.”
2. Center for Advanced Legal Studies – “Provide students with the skills and practical and ethical knowledge necessary to excel as paralegals and meet the needs of the legal, governmental, and corporate communities.”