How to Write/Organise your CV for Commercial Law
Make a good impression fast
Pass the 6-Second Test: Impress Recruiters with Your CV
Recruiters take only 6 seconds to judge your CV, so be concise and straight to the point.
Keep Your CV to One Page ONLY
We understand many of you are early in your careers and might have held multiple entry-level jobs. Even if you have several such roles, remember the 6-second test—recruiters won’t read through multiple pages or consider all the details relevant. Choose and highlight the most pertinent experiences that showcase your best qualities. Including only relevant experiences can be the difference between getting noticed and not being considered.
Aim for 475-600 Words
Based on research by career coach Austin Belcak, a CV with 475-600 words hits the sweet spot for recruiters.
Structure Your CV with the "PEWO" Format
- Profile
- Education
- Work Experience
- Other
Highlight your best qualities and make it easy for recruiters to pick up on what makes you a great candidate.
LBDL has created a template for you below...
Profile
Look at the PDF below for reference.
Your profile should be a brief introduction, highlighting your current stage in your career or education, your interest in the role, and your availability. Keep it concise—one or two sentences are sufficient at this point, as this isn’t a full cover letter.
Education
Next is your education section, where you should highlight only the most important and relevant information. You don’t need to list all your grades/ results—just your final grade if you've completed your degree, or any standout modules or achievements. Include any relevant qualifications here as well.
Look at the PDF below for reference.
Work Experience
Look at the PDF below for reference.
For most Undergraduates, having commercial law experience can be difficult. Nonetheless, even if your work experience isn’t directly related to commercial law, you can still highlight the roles you’ve had and the transferable skills you've developed that are relevant to a career in commercial law. Focus on how your experiences have prepared you for this field, even if they aren’t law-specific.
Use the OWL system when filling in your relevant experiences. This is the most effective way to highlight and fill in your work experiences.
OWL stands for:
1. Overview
2. Work Done
3. Learning Points
These are the three sections that you want to include per work experience entry.
For example if you did graphic design work break it into OWL section like this -
For Overview:
"At this events promotion company, I worked as a graphic designer"
For Work Done:
"I was tasked with creating promotional graphics for clients' events on and off the university site. I often had to liaise with clients and the company's internal team to identify the specification of the work"
For Learning Points: (The most important part)
"From this experience, I developed my ability to be clear and concise in my communication. As well as this, the experience improved my time management and organisational skills as I dealt with multiple projects at a time"
After you have used OWL, use one sentence to show how this experience ties with the role you are applying for. I.e, how it will be beneficial for a paralegal role or a trainee solicitor in commercial law.
Other
The final section is for "Other" which is your extracurricular interests or hobbies. In our example, it’s labelled as 'Extracurricular Interests,' but feel free to use that heading. This is where you can showcase achievements outside of work or anything non-work-related that you feel is worth sharing with the recruiter—whether it's sports, hobbies, starting a new business, or general interests. Even if they don’t seem overly impressive, this section allows the recruiter to get to know you on a more personal level.
Look at the PDF below for reference.