This is often a question asked by fairly elderly or semi-retired solicitors who approach our legal recruitment consultancy Ten Percent Legal Recruitment. They have probably worked in the same job for the last 30 years and know just about everything there is to know about the work they do. This is invariably conveyancing or family…
Every week we get lots of permanent vacancies and locum assignments from solicitors’ firms and in house legal departments. They’re often looking for a specific type of solicitor, with sufficient experience to do a specific job. Lets take a recent example. A firm in the South East of England are looking as follows: Permanent, Full…
When you write a CV of any kind, particularly in the area of work we are based in, which is for the legal profession, it is important not to exaggerate any detail on the CV, regardless of how irrelevant or insignificant it may seem at the time. Exaggerating can come back to haunt you at…
CV Review for a Paralegal – as usual personal data removed. Feedback at the bottom of the CV. Reviewee has consented to this review being published. On these reviews please ignore the layout – this is due to our cut and paste operation! ——————————————————————– CANDIDATE NAME Address: Email: Telephone (Mob): Telephone (Home): EDUCATION September 2018…
CV Review for a Newcastle University Law Graduate Name, address, mobile (with international prefix) and email address Linked In website link Nationality: British The first thing to point out is the reference to an international prefix for the mobile. Does this mean you are based overseas or looking overseas? In either event are you…
Top Quality Summary Sections/Personal Statements on CVs The summary at the top of a CV is one of the key areas of a CV that so often gets ignored by candidates or filled with meaningless waffle. A good number of CVs we see every day actually miss them off completely, which is an opportunity missed…
Using Logos and Images on CVs Recently we have seen a spate of CVs containing logos and images for employers worked for in the past. Fresh, Bright CVs The CVs look very fresh and bright, and the logos really make them stand out. Surely a win-win situation for everyone? You get your CV to stand…
Are CVs obsolete thanks to the Internet? We recently attended a recruitment agency trade fair where numerous salesmen attempted to flog us video CVs and online pre-interview software and a number of speakers told us that CVs were no longer necessary. In the digital world it is so easy to find out about someone –…
CV Writing – Tips for Getting Noticed Here are 10 top tips from us on how to get your CV noticed by employers: Make sure your CV is extremely detailed and contains all the work relevant to the application you are making. Information such as details of billing levels for the past 3 to 4…
No. Mitigating circumstances do not exist. Ever. Well, hardly ever. “Mitigating circumstances” is probably one of the most irritating phrases ever to come out of university careers advice centres. What a fantastic excuse for rubbish grades. We have just had a CV in from someone using the term when they got a 2.1 from a…
Very recently, a candidate got in touch about a vacancy, explaining quite apologetically that she was returning to work after a break and could she be considered for the post. As a recruiter, I have to be honest and say that whenever anybody tells me they are returning to work I almost involuntarily sigh because…
Improving chances of success when applying for a job – become a Borg Whilst working as recruitment consultants, we often get asked by candidates what they can do to improve their chances in relation to a specific job that they may be considering applying for. Very often there are a whole raft of things that…
Five common mistakes when writing a CV. Here are five very common errors that arise from CVs we receive every day of the week into Ten Percent Legal Recruitment. Some of them are glaringly obvious, others are not so straightforward. 1) Not putting any contact details on the CV This is very common and a…
Here follows a CV review. We offer free CV reviews provided you are happy for us to publish our feedback on the website and your CV in full. CV REVIEW IS AT THE FOOT OF THIS CV – NO FURTHER COMMENTS ON THE CONTENT OTHER THAN THE PARAGRAPH AT THE BOTTOM. Candidate 010141129 Name Address…
Here follows a CV review. We offer free CV reviews provided you are happy for us to publish our feedback on the website and your CV in full. Candidate 03062139 Address: Telephone (Mob): Telephone (Home): Email: Date of Birth: Marital Status: Single Sex: Male Nationality: British Driving Licence: Full driving licence EDUCATION 2014 – 2016 …
Here follows a CV review. We offer free CV reviews provided you are happy for us to publish our feedback on the website and your CV in full. Candidate 22022159 Name Address Home: Mobile: British DOB Personal Profile A hard-working, honest and punctual individual who always maintains a very high level of commitment and works…
Here follows a CV review. We offer free CV reviews provided you are happy for us to publish our feedback on the website and your CV in full. Candidate 14021231 Address Tel: Email: Professional Profile Trainee Solicitor qualifying in June 2015 with experience in private client, personal injury, commercial, conveyancing and civil litigation. Looking for…
Here follows a CV review. We offer free CV reviews provided you are happy for us to publish our feedback on the website and your CV in full. Candidate 09021949 PORTSMOUTH I am a self-motivated, hardworking student at University of Portsmouth. I am currently studying for a degree in law and expect to gain my…
Lying on CVs This is probably more relevant for locums than permanent candidates, but when going through gaps on CVs we very often get asked why it is so important that we know what someone was doing in 1995 for 12 months. Well here is the reason. This is an extract from a CV for…
Recently I have put together a couple of emails and letters for a client and these are included as free covering email and covering letter templates in this post below. The candidate in question is currently in house as a General In House Counsel. The covering email/letter is in a classic layout with the information…
Using a Personal Statement on a CV One thing that is often apparent on CVs is that people seem to take the wrong approach to their personal statement on the CV. It seems to be the accepted norm that the personal statement is used to put down quite a bland description of what the individual…
This is the advice I have recently given to a career coaching client looking to put together the perfect covering email or letter. It really depends on the circumstances in which you are using these, but generally you should be sending CVs as attachments and a covering email to go with the CV which should,…
US Degree Classifications versus UK Degree Classifications Converting overseas degree classifications on CVs to the local equivalent is vital, particularly in the UK. Table for converting US degree classifications into UK degree classes. This is very important for US graduates wanting to work or train in the UK to try and use the UK equivalent…
Writing a Good Statement for Job Application Forms If you complete job application forms for local authorities or the judiciary, they often come with a supporting statement, statement of qualities, information to support your application, etc.. etc.. These are all the same thing, and there is a simple technique for ensuring successful completion. 1. Take…
Should I include my date of birth or marital status on a CV? This is a question that comes up time and again. Why would anyone advise to include a date of birth or marital status on a CV? Well, I always recommend considering it, and I know that careers advisers across the country will…
We have been preparing professional CVs for lawyers since April 2000 and the process is fairly simple. Firstly we ask our clients to send us over a completed form on the internet with lots of detail in. Alternatively our clients can send over their existing CV and we will work from that. Very often clients…
How long is a piece of string? I get asked this question almost on a daily basis and hear a lot of different answers once I have given my response. CV – never longer than 2 pages? The usual or fairly common response is someone who has been told by a careers adviser when they…
We have recently taken an order from a US client looking for a CV to use with UK law firms and to present a CV in a way the UK law firms would understand it. Ten Percent Legal Recruitment & Careers Services have been assisting US, Australian, Chinese, New Zealand lawyers for many years with…
The first thing to say about a personal profile section is that if you have nothing to say, the best personal profile section for you would be an empty one and the space used more effectively for something else. You only need a personal profile section to explain about six points. These are 1. Your…
If you are making an application for a legal job or speculatively approaching a law firm for any type of position including solicitor work or paralegal/work experience, you need to make a decision on how you send your details over. Do you need to handwrite a covering letter, send a covering email or print out…