Every inch on a resume needs to be filled with substance. A pet peeve of mine are self congratulatory lawyer resume headers. They are often filled with all kinds of laudatory language which, to my mind, tells me that the candidate things well of themselves but fails to provide evidence of why I should concur.
I have read numerous studies that managers typically make their preliminary hiring decisions based upon a cursory look at the first resume page . The resume header is useful, then, to pull out that really important information which might not be on that first page or which might not otherwise come to the hiring manager's immediate attention. I am talking about a a couple of phrases pithy references to independently verifiable information.
This is especially helpful if the candidate is senior and has a resume which reaches onto a second (or worse still) a third page. So, what kind of information is essential? For an experienced lawyer seeking another in-house position, I like to reference the core practice areas, the industries with which she has familiarity, whether she has worked with public or private enterprises, and, if strong, her academic and formative legal training. An example of this would be
High level in-house legal counselor, problem solver, and
manager with particular strengths in labor, employment and compliance. Experience with publicly
traded global consumer electronics, and pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. Established and managed annual budgets of up to $____ . Managed up to __member legal teams. Top law school cum laude educated. SDNY clerkship. Big Law firm trained.
If the position is in a relevant area-- typically for a patent litigator or prosecutor-- a reference to relevant pre-law school experience and education is helpful. I.e., add
Big Deal Engineering School. Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. Five years pre-law school technical experience.
