5 Legal Assistant Resume Examples That Worked In 2021

Why this resume works

• This legal assistant resume included a career objective.
  • We recommend including a career/resume objective when you’re going through a career change, are just starting out, or you need to fill some empty space on your resume. If this does not apply to you, or your resume is beginning to look a little cluttered, we do not recommend including a career objective.
• If you determine that you should include a career objective on your resume, you need to make sure it’s highly specific to each job you apply to.
  • Make sure you include the job title you’re applying to, the name of the company you’re applying to, and very specific skills that are relevant for that job. Having a vague, blanket career objective that you send out with all your applications will only hurt your chances of landing an interview. If you’re going to use valuable space on your resume, you need to make sure you’re doing everything you can to make your career objective focused, powerful, and convincing for each application.

Why this resume works

• When you’re writing your senior legal assistant resume, few things are more important than including quantifiable metrics.
• Quantifiable metrics are numerical measures of performance. When used well, they effectively and efficiently demonstrate (rather than tell) your capacity to perform on job expectations.
• Quantifiable metrics are so important that 90% of hiring managers were surveyed said they would only interview applicants that included metrics on their resume.
• Fortunately, writing metrics for your legal assistant resume is not too difficult. You could include numbers on client satisfaction ratings, the types of legal documents you provided, commendations or awards, time you saved the firm by improving filing or general organization, the number of clients and/or attorneys you worked for/with, software you utilized, productive time saved for lawyers/paralegals as a result of your work, the number of legal assistants working under you, scheduling efficiency or reduced error, and any other ways that you improved the firm's efficiency, improved profit margins, or enhanced the client experience.
• Crafting your perfect resume isn’t easy and getting started is the hardest part! If you need a little help making the process easier while enhancing the quality of your finished resume, make sure you take advantage of our resume checker.

Why this resume works

• When you’re just starting out in your career, or when you’re going through a career change, it can be difficult to explain why hiring managers should give you a chance. Making your entry level legal assistant resume compelling, however, doesn’t have to be hard.
• You probably have more relevant experience than you think!
  • Almost any work experience can effectively demonstrate your value as a legal assistant. Sales jobs, restaurant work, administrative work, internships, and volunteer experiences can all show the key skills needed for the job like communication, teamwork, and organization.
  • If you’ve just graduated and don’t have professional work experiences, you can even include school projects, or relevant courses on your resume.
• When you include job titles that are not legal assistant titles, make sure you highlight your attention to detail, organization, communication, collaboration, and writing skills. This will show hiring managers that your skills will transfer to the legal world seamlessly.

Why this resume works

• “To create something exceptional, your mindset must be relentlessly focused on the smallest detail.” – Giorgio Armani
  • Striving to achieve the highest quality work is a goal we should all be aiming for. When we pay attention to the details, we make fewer mistakes, perform tasks more effectively, and inspire others to do the same. A hiring manager looks for people who both possess the necessary experiences for the job, and the qualities of a diligent, exceptional employee.
• Highlighting your attention to detail doesn’t just need to take place in your resume skills section. Take the time to make sure your resume is grammatically flawless, and your formatting has been gone over with a fine-tooth comb.
  • When writing your resume, make sure that punctuation is consistent. For example, if you end some of your bulleted work experiences with periods, you should end them all with periods. Similarly, you should keep tenses consistent, and never include personal pronouns except for your resume objective section.
  • Start bullet points with an action verb.
  • Use active voice throughout.
  • Use quantitative metrics in all or most of your bullet points on your real estate legal assistant resume.

Why this resume works

• One way hiring managers will distinguish good personal injury legal assistant resumes from bad ones is through an oft-overlooked resume section.
  • The skills section (on the left-hand panel in this example) is a short list of skills that are particularly relevant for your job title.
  • Hiring managers use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter applicants before they even look at any resumes. They do this by selecting keywords and skills that are important for the job. Resumes that have a portion of the selected words will automatically be filtered into a group of resumes that the hiring manager will review, while resumes without enough matches will be automatically discarded.
    • That’s why it’s critical to include a skills section so you’re sure your resume makes it through the initial cut! 
• Try to incorporate 4-10 relevant skills in your skills section. Key skills include adaptability, bilingual, organized, technical writing skills, communication skills, record keeping, scheduling, software knowledge, administrative support, and research skills.
  • Always check the job description and see if the listing mentions or describes specific skills that are needed for the job. Repurposing and slightly tweaking those skills for your resume is a sure way to let hiring managers know that you understand the demands of the job.
• Including a skills section is essential, but you’ll also need to back up your claims. If you say you’re organized, you’ll need to provide proof of that throughout your resume. For example, think of times you improved the organization of your workplace and incorporate that into your work experiences.