9 year gap from legal career-need resume help!
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Anonymous
| After working for 7 years as a staff attorney in the office of general counsel of a HHS agency, I took a career break to raise kids and due to some medical issues, since resolved. I am looking to go back to work and need help structuring my resume to demphasize the extended gap and highlight volunteer work I have done during my time off. I'm looking for recommendations for a resume service that may be able to help. Other advice on re-entering the workforce after an extended break is also welcome. I left the government as a mid-level GS 14, but would happily accept a job as low as a GS 11, just to get back in. |
Anonymous
|
Become a Fed contractor.
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Anonymous
| What do you mean by staff attorney? |
Anonymous
The official title is attorney advisor. Position mainly involved analyzing legal and policy issues so as to provide advice to the agency, and reviewing or drafting regulations and other agency issuances. |
Anonymous
| What is your volunteer work? Is it legal? Do you have any connections at your old office and can you try to go back there? Another option is to try to do some supervised volunteer legal work (eg, DC Volunteer Lawyers Project) to update your resume and get a current recommendation. |
Anonymous
| 9 years?? That will be tough. |
Anonymous
| I am in San Diego. I was a DA in San Francisco for 7 years with killer trial experience, then took the past 7 years to raise my kids, too. But not ready for full time grueling prosecutorial work. Please share your results or solutions, if you find any. I am raising two great little human beings, but apparently few people seem to respect that choice, so it can feel discouraging. If you feel the need, feel free to email me at kiabirdsong@yahoo.com. Good luck, and don't let comments get you down! |
Anonymous
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Definitely explain the gap in your resume. i would think the gap in employment because it can be explained will not stop Fed HR from filtering you out. the thing to know is that the legal job market is really terrible right now so you have a lot of competition. Some from recently laid off big law attorneys. Are you exclusively sticking with Feds? because the other problem with that is that they are really trying to hire vets. Might want to start with some volunteering at non-profits or hourly stuff at small firms. Your contacts are going to be key here. Call all of them. get on linkedin connect with all old colleagues and current friends/ acquaintances. Ask people to review your profile and resume. It is amazing how everyone will help you. People want to help especially if you ask. Put the word out there.
Good luck! I am about to leave my job and do what you did. I hope to get back in someday too. |
Anonymous
Anonymous
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That American U Program is a very clever idea. That would be a good way for you to network OP. I don't know if someone can give us the cost...I didn't see it on the website but it may be there.
Also OP, like someone in the WP story -- you may find a firm that does temp legal placement. You could see what you like and don't like and take it from there. You should also do what some othr poster said and LinkIn with folks you used to work with at fed agency. With sequestration and vet preference, it is hard, but perhaps someone you once knew could be helpful. Good luck -- it's hard out there right now! |
Anonymous
| I would invent a story for the 9 years. Could you say that you were kidnapped by Somali pirates and held for 9 years until your ransom could be negotiated? Or even better - you escaped. Shows initiative. |
Anonymous
 nice of you to laugh at someone's else predicament.
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Anonymous
| Join the Woman's Bar Association and start networking through them. |
Anonymous
I'm a legal recruiter and I see dozens of resumes every week from lawyers looking for work. It's not that people don't respect your choice. That is a lie you are telling to make yourself feel that your difficulties in finding work are a matter of employers' perception, as opposed to some real deficiencies in your skill set. You don't have the same skill set that someone who has been employed for the past seven years has. You just don't. And in this legal market, no one is going to give you 5 minutes to get up to speed. Most employers have cut staffing to the bone and the people who remain are all stretched thin--often doing the work of several people. They don't have time to get you caught up. They want someone who can hit the ground running and not cause even a ripple. And for every you with seven years of killer trial experience, there are 20 other yous with ten years of killer trial experience who have never stepped out of the marketplace. That's the reality. This doesn't mean you'll never find work. But don't kid yourself that it is because your choices aren't being "respected." No employer gives a damn about your choices. They just care bout maximizing the chance that they'll hire the right person, because making a bad hire costs a firm/company a lot of money, and they want to avoid that risk as much as possible. You being out of the market for so long makes you a much riskier proposition. Simple as that. That is why networking is king. The risk that your skills may be rusty is counterbalanced by your being vouched for as a known quantity. |
Anonymous
| Try FDA. Look for counsel positions on usajobs. |