1. How long should a law CV be in the UK?
Two pages is the industry standard in the UK but this can extend to three if you have a long career history or work multiple projects.
2. I can’t make my law CV fit two pages – what should I do?
There is almost always something you can cut out to make more room such as earlier, irrelevant jobs, names of modules completed during your degree, even the line “references available on request” is not necessary. Try to revisit your law CV from the angle that this is a marketing document, not a chronology of everything you have done.
3. How do I make my law CV stand out?
The structure and positioning of the text as well as formatting are all essential to getting your CV noticed. You need to bring key information to the reader’s attention immediately, particularly your USP. Something as simple as the way you describe yourself in the first line of your introduction can make all the difference. You need to identify your core strengths and what sets you apart – have you won any awards? Are you a scholar student? Are you a mooting champion? Published author in your field?
4. What do you put on a law CV if you have no experience?
Highlight your office-based skills and experience and any customer-facing roles. There are transferable skills that can be drawn from both of these. If you are starting with a completely blank slate – volunteer at your local charity shop or online. Meeting people, interacting with customers, handling challenging situations that come with the day to day part of work life are all useful. 
5. What are the common mistakes people make on their law CV?
Spelling mistakes! Proof read your CV. Ask someone else to read it. Run it through grammarly. Do whatever you must to ensure there are no typos or grammatical errors. It’s the easiest way to end up in the reject pile.
Another one is not using appropriate headings and sections. You need to break up the text. Use bullet points. Imagine you are a recruiting manager who has sifted through hundreds of CVs that very day. Chunky paragraphs and small fonts are not pleasing to the eye. Use size 10 font minimum. This actually leads nicely onto the third point.
The chances are, if you using small font sizes and chunky paragraphs then it is likely you are trying to squeeze in too much information. Be selective. Be tactful. Dispense of very early irrelevant roles. Be succinct in your descriptions of more recent and relevant roles. Try not to duplicate responsibilities across multiple roles.
6. What does a law CV look like?
Simple, linear structure and format is best for law CVs. There are a lot of fancy templates nowadays with photographs, side bars, patterns and all-sorts. These might suit people in creative industries, but for a law CV keep things simple with text broken up by headers in a linear structure. Try avoid using tables, columns and side bars as these can distort applicant tracking systems. Headers are fine.
7. I keep getting rejections after submitting my law CV to firms – what am I doing wrong?
If you have followed all the points above, then the chances are you are not tailoring your CV appropriately. This does not mean you need to rewrite your CV every time you make an application, but there are tweaks you can make to the introduction, objective or key skills to reflect the language and requirements of the job description or firm. Recruiters and hiring managers have a strong eye for generic one size fits all applications.
If you have any other questions about your law CV, please do get in touch with me.