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The average admissions officer spends all of thirty seconds looking at your résumé. Nevertheless, she’ll probably look at it before she does anything else, and it may prime her to read the rest of your application more or less generously.
Keep in mind that (1) judges and lawyers put a huge amount of stock in small details, and (2) you want to signal to the adcom that you’ll be employable when you send your résumé out after law school. Thus, it’s incredibly important that your résumé is error-free, legible, and indicative of good judgment.
Most résumés should have four sections:
1. Experience
Include both jobs and internships. Note promotions and other accomplishments.
2. Education
Include degrees, distinctions such as magna cum laude, and academic awards. If you’re still in college, Education should be your first section.
3. Activities
Include community service and other extra-curriculars.
4. Personal
Include skills (e.g. computer programming, piano), languages (other than English), and interests or hobbies.
You might want to give your sections slightly different names and emphases. For example, instead of an Activities section, you might have a Post-College Activities section.
Your résumé should be one page unless you have a very good reason to go longer. The vast majority of applicants do not. Here are some examples of reasons to add a second page: