An attorney's resume is his/her calling card and it's the first thing a potential employer sees representing the potential employee.  While we have discussed the importance of a resume's content, what we haven't delved into is the importance of an attorney's resume style.  For more experienced attorneys, this is mostly a given; but for law students, knowing how an attorney resume should look is often new territory.  Let's take a look at what law students can do to get that attorney resume edge and make the best first impression possible.

1.    Avoid those cute, fancy fonts.  That's right, the ones with curved lines and the little hearts above the "I." Stick with an easy-to-read font such as Times New Roman or Courier.  Remember, potential employers scan (not read) hundreds of resumes for just a single position.  What are they scanning for?  Any sign that the attorney candidate is not a professional.  Fancy fonts could put your resume directly into the trash bin.

2.    Use 1 inch margins, for the top, bottom, left and right.  Don't have a lot on your resume?  Don't try to fill the page by creating 3 inch margins.  The same applies for really long resumes, don't skimp on the margins.  Go with the standard 1 inch margin, leaving just enough space to give an overall balanced appearance.

3.    Use bullet points to highlight important accomplishments only.  Don't overdo it with the bullet points, too many will decrease the effectiveness they have of pulling attention to what you want to stand out.

4.    Keep the formatting of your resume simple.  Avoid the use of columns, tables, special styles and characters because some software programs may not be able to read them.  

5.    Spell check and always use proper grammar.

6.    Print your resume using a laser printer and heavy-stock paper.  Use muted colors such as grey or off-white.