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Most H.R. personnel and recruiters have reviewed hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes. Your goal is to construct a resume that will stand out from the pile that they receive the same day that yours hits their desk. Whether you are an insurance attorney, specialist, paralegal, legal assistant or secretary, the concepts of drafting an outstanding insurance law resume are basically the same.
· Your resume is the key to an interview. The main purpose of your resume is to get you in the door of a prospective employer. Even if you don’t believe you are good at marketing, your resume will be the most important marketing document that you’ll ever prepare. With the information that you provide, employers will decide if they want to invest additional time in setting up an interview.
· Make it simple for them to understand. In outlining your background and experience, follow the proven method of showing dates of employment in chronological order, beginning with your current or most recent employment and working back in time. Be sure to include dates of employment, employer’s name and location.
· Be sure to connect all the dates. If you have a gap in your employment record, it’s better to show the gap dates and what you were doing during that period of time. In most cases, if no explanation is given for missing dates, employers assume that you’re either embarrassed about something in your background or you didn’t correct the chronology. Either way, it’s not to your advantage in getting that interview.
In addition, often when required to fill out an online application for employment, many companies use an unexplained gap or mistake in dates of previous employment as the bases for withdrawing interview opportunities or job offers.
· Tell me everything in detail. As a prospective employer, I am interested in the details about your experience. For example, don’t simply tell me that you’ve been an insurance defense attorney for 5 years. Give me detailed information such as “For the past 5 years, my practice has focused on insurance defense experience with an emphasis on product and premises liability for major industrial clients.”
Some of the best resumes include an addendum which details specifics of the type of cases you've handled or practice areas. If you're a paralegal, you may want to try a case approach which gives some examples of cases that you've worked on and specifying the exact matters handled under each case.
· Nothing says interview like numbers. The most successful resumes include “numbers” in their description of experience. Tell me your billable hour or caseload requirement. How many first chair jury and non-jury trials have you done? Give me the detail on numbers of depositions, hearings, arbitrations and mediations that you’ve handled on your own. Tell me the amount of judgments, size of policy limits or settlement amounts. If you're a support staff person, tell me how many attorneys you've worked for or the number of cases you normally are working on in a given period of time.
· What others think makes a difference. If your evaluations or performance reviews have been outstanding, include information on how your superiors have viewed your performance. For example, “Annual reviews for the past 2 years have been classified as outstanding in the areas of claims’ communication, file handling and report processing.” Be sure that you can back up your statements from actual reviews, if asked to do so.
· References may be last but they are important. Don’t show “Available upon request.” Rather, it is acceptable to indicate “Please contact after approval from [Name]. The caliber of your references can be a critical factor in getting you an interview. Take the time to determine the best individuals to speak about your qualifications and experience. Be sure to contact each of them to see if they are willing to act as a reference.
· In the beginning, the cover letter made an impression. Just as the resume is the key to getting you an interview, the cover letter is the key to getting someone to turn the page and read your resume. Make it brief and articulate in bullet point how your background and qualifications match the specifications for the position.
Before posting or forwarding your resume ask someone that knows you to review it to see if it reflects your background, skills and qualifications. Often people undersell their capabilities. Ask the individual, “Do you think my resume accurately reflects the level of my expertise in this area or are there additional details that would help sell my capabilities?” Someone else’s perceptions are often more reflective of your strong points.
Last, but not least, keep a file to place documents that will help the next time you update your resume. Examples would be performance reviews, claims appraisals or reviews, positive feedback letter or emails from clients/superiors, acknowledgments from civic/charitable organizations, paper or presentations given to groups, documentation which will help fill in the “numbers”. If you’re a manager, keep track of expenses reduced or revenue increased. It’s easier to build up a portfolio of resume assets then to try and recreate the information when you need to update your resume.
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