When you submit for an open legal position as an associate, your resume should be as tightly tailored to that position as possible. This may mean working with your recruiter on multiple versions of your resume depending on the mix of positions to which you are submitting applications.

Recognizing that recruiters may only read your resume to understand your credentials and professional story, "super-tailoring" your resume is essential.

Even if a position openings asks for other materials that contextualize your background (like a cover letter or matters list), the recruiter may not even get to these materials if your resume does not make sense for the position. As a result, a strong tailored resume is the most important part of the application packet for a legal position. Start by getting the basics of the resume down- see here. Then, review my tips below for "super-tailoring" the resume:

1. Make sure your work experience reflects the specific qualifications identified in the job description. Many applicants don't follow this basic rule and it's very frustrating to internal recruiters. Look at the posted job description online (if this is not available, see if your recruiter can provide more detail). Use language in the experience descriptions in your resume that reflect these requirements. Specific language is important. As an example, take a job description that looks for associates with "transactional experience, preferably including experience with project development and/or finance." If your background covers a wide mix of M&A deals across a range of industries, then for purposes of your resume work descriptions, make sure to prioritize and emphasize any deals that had a project finance and/or energy industry connection. This may mean that other parts of your experience are not included. That's OK. You can be more comprehensive in your attached deals list. For the resume, make it clear that you have experience in the specific area(s) requested.

2. Get information about the practice group and client base relevant to the opening and tailor your work experience accordingly. In order to know what a law firm truly needs for an opening, you need to go beyond the job description. Your recruiter should have more specific details about the nature of the practice group and the specific client base. For example, is a majority of the work in the practice group done for just a handful of local private equity firms? Is there an industry that makes up more than 50% of the work in a firm's commercial litigation group? This additional detail will be helpful when writing up your work experience descriptions in your resume and, in particular, any case or deal examples that you choose to use in the resume.

3. Include information that shows geographic ties. If you are applying to a position in a location that you are not currently working, this is essential. For example, say you are located in New York, but looking to move to the San Francisco office of a different law firm. You may think it is enough to show ties because you went to school in the Bay Area and/or you are barred in the state of California. But is there anything else? Some community service or activity that you used to do that can go in the Personal section at the bottom? An older internship or two in the Bay Area that you can include in order to reveal that you actually grew up in the area? Remember, the cost of a lateral hire with a geographic move is more expensive than a local hire. Make it clear in the resume that you intend to move and move for good. (For more on the topic of relocation, see my FAQ).

4. Put the essential information at the very top. Depending on the opening, there may be some baseline credentials that a candidate needs to have in order to move forward with a candidate. Make sure this information is at the very top of your resume underneath your name and contact details. The most common examples are bar admission, required language skills and the ability to work legally.

5. Use your limited resume space on information that is most relevant to the position. Your resume is only 1 page and there's a lot of information to get across. Only keep in the information that offers some relevance to the particular position. This may mean dropping off old jobs as well as school activities and honors in order to provide more space (at least a full paragraph) to your most recent legal experiences that are relevant to the opening. You want to make it easy for a reader's eye to focus on the key information. If your current job and law school are buried in a list of experiences in accomplishments, then a recruiter won't be able to get the most important information they need to make a decision about your candidacy.

For many lateral associate positions, though not all, a formal cover letter is required. A cover letter is a 1-page formal piece of writing that expresses your specific interest in the open position, as well as how your background and experience match the qualifications desired. For every industry, the cover letter has its own quirks and specific requirements. The legal industry is no different.

When it comes to a legal cover letter, recognize that it only gets quickly scanned (at most), so an easy-to-read organization is essential

Your individual recruiter should work very closely with you on your cover letter, providing specific information and language that is important to convey. Ultimately though, the letter is coming from you.

Below is a sample cover letter to a recruiting manager for a litigation associate position from a hypothetical attorney, annotated beneath with my suggestions on what is most important for a legal cover letter (and what's not):

1. Don't copy this template (or any template!). The first rule of cover letter writing is that you shouldn't just copy another cover letter and fill in key words. The purpose of a cover letter is to write in your own words why you both want the position and why you are qualified to do it. Recruiting managers can often detect when a cover letter is taken from a template. This is particularly true when you copy nearly word-for-word from a Google search result or publicly available document (like this one :-).

2. Keep it succinct and at a single page. A legal recruiter or attorney does not have the time to read a very long cover letter with lots of detail about your experience and interest. If you start with something long, edit it down to a single page with just a few tight paragraphs that conveys only the key information a recruiter needs to know (see the following tips).

3. Use the right formalities. Make sure to use the formalities of a typical letter: a return address, date, addressee, greeting and salutation. Because cover letters are almost always submitted electronically nowadays, use the return address header that you have used for your resume so that the materials are clearly connected to each other for ease of reference. Otherwise, it should look like a typical business letter. If you don't have the addressee's name and information at hand, find out from your recruiter or Google for a name. A letter should always be addressed to a person where possible.

4. The first paragraph covers the position that you are applying to and why. If a recruiter or attorney reads only one part of a cover letter clearly, it will be the first paragraph. Make it clear in the first sentence what position you are applying to; if you aren't applying to a posted position, but to a group in general, make sure you use the language that the firm uses (i.e., don't say you're applying for "a position in intellectual property" if the relevant group is called the "IP & Technology Practice Group.") This information should be followed with the reason you are applying (i.e., looking to move geographically, change or shift practice, etc.)

5. The middle paragraph(s) should cover your relevant experience and most important credentials, with the first sentence of each paragraph being the most important. The middle paragraphs are all about your experience and credentials. A way to think about this part of the cover letter is that it is your opportunity to "re-contextualize your resume." All resumes must follow the format of reverse chronological experience. The middle part of the cover letter allows you to highlight information that may be hidden on your resume, or to tie all of your resume-based experience together around a single theme. There is no one way to do this. Just be brief, non-repetitive and clear. Make sure the first sentence of each paragraph gets out to main thesis of what you are trying to share. For quick scans, it's the first sentences of the paragraphs that will get read. These sentences should share important information about your candidacy on their own.

6. The final paragraph should have contact details. Your closing paragraph is yours to write and sum up based on one you have written above. No matter what, just make sure the relevant contact information for following up is provided there. If you are working with a recruiter, this should typically include their information.

Legal resumes need to be concise and well-organized, but they also need to be written and customized strategically. Don't assume that anyone will read a cover letter in detail. The resume should tell the whole story about who you are, what relevant experience you bring, and ultimately, whether you are a good fit.

Recruiting staff may look at your resume for just a few seconds before moving on.

Given this fact, you need to make sure that your resume leaves a positive impression quickly and efficiently.

Below is a sample resume for a lawyer named Joan Elliott with two years of corporate law experience, annotated beneath with my suggestions on what is important for a legal resume (and what's not):

1. Perfect formatting: This is priority #1. Think of your resume like a formal memo or brief. It should look neat. Start by clicking Select all > Paragraph and then making sure the line spacing is consistent. Afterwards, manually (but carefully) make formatting customizations as needed. Readers can tell when a resume is not properly formatted. It looks sloppy.

2. Simple style: For font, use serif or sans serif font, but it doesn't have to be Times New Roman or Calibri (the sample above is Arial). For punctuation (like dashes, whether or not you use periods, etc.), just make sure you are consistent throughout.

3. Give the important stuff the most space: Joan worked for a school for a year and a major law firm for two years; still, the law firm gets more than double the space (as it should). When it comes to a resume, real estate = visibility.

4. Be clear and specific about your legal experience: Don't assume that every reader will understand acronyms or know your practice. Joan makes it clear what her corporate practice looked like, and how it progressed. This makes it an easy read from the recruiting coordinator all the way up to the practice group head.

5. Save the project/deal/case listing and other details for a separate page: Always try to keep your resume as one (1) page. If you want to share additional details of cases, deals and projects that are public and high profile, save it for a second page. Same goes for any presentation or publication lists.

6. Show people who you are as a person: This is why you leave on old jobs and have an Interests section. People want to know a little about your life and your story, particularly in interviews. Make it easy for them to inquire.