My background working with legal professionals includes, but is not limited to, Legal Assistants, Paralegals, Legal Secretaries, Legal Wordprocessors, Legal Office Administrators and Attorneys.

I've found that Legal Professionals often make two big mistakes in their resumes. They usually don't include an in-depth description of their job duties or responsibilities and they present unrelated experience so that it weakens their image.

We'll use Francis who had been a Legal Office Administrator for about 2 years, as an example. Prior to that position she had been a Sales Representative for Nordstrom while completing her degree. She had also completed an internship with one of Seattle's largest law firms as an Assistant Legal Office Administrator. Francis had been making about $36,000 but found a position with a criminal law firm starting at $42,000+. The position description emphasized case management and ability to oversee client accounting and billing. Knowing she would have intense competition, Francis realized that her old resume style was not going to promote her effectively. Take a moment and look at how Francis' job titles stacked up on her before resume and the image they create.

As you can see, the second title of Sales Representative causes Francis' image to drop and weakens her image. What salary range do you think the titles listed above make Francis sound qualified for?

Even though Francis' title had been Senior Sales Representative she had actually managed a department with responsibility for 7 sales associates. Take a moment and read the new job titles and skill headings I created when writing Francis' new resume with her. Notice how we retargeted Francis' job titles to market the best of her skills and present her as well qualified for the Legal Office Administrator position with the criminal law firm.

$9,000 Salary Increase
The first resume workshop in this site shows how Fran's after resume resulted in a $9,000 salary increase. Fran wanted a $33,000 Corporate Customer Representative job but her resume created an image of her being at a $20,000 to 24,000 salary level -- that's $9,000 to $13,000 beneath her goal.

What Level Does Your Resume Market You At?
If you are curious to see what level your resume is marketing you at … then be sure to read and use the graphing techniques in my first workshop. By graphing the job titles used in Fran's resume it's easy to see why her resume failed … and once you understand this … you will understand why the majority of resumes fail. You'll then understand how to analyze your job titles and see if you are better off using them or replacing them with skill headings that market you more effectively.

Most People Have Job Titles that Weaken Their Image
I estimate that at least 85% of all job seekers have job titles unrelated to their current career goals … and that they are much better off using skill headings rather than job titles to land higher salaries and double and triple their interview rates.

For example, Fran had been a Directory Operator but in most people's minds that doesn't sound like she's at the level of a Corporate Customer Representative making $33,000 … that's because most people don't view directory operators as providing true customer service. Most people say that Directory Operator sounds like someone making only $20,000. However, by using the 12 Questions in my Proven Resumes Series, Fran wrote a new description of her duties as a Directory Operator that described her being selected out of 100 Directory Operators to provide specialized Customer Service to the Governor's Office and Political Dignitaries in the Washington State Capitol … now that information begins to change our image of Fran doesn't it? That makes her sound much more like someone being able to command $33,000.

Which sounds like a better match for the $33,000 Corporate Customer Service Representative goal… her old job title of Directory Operator … or a skill heading like Customer Service Representative to State of Washington Account. In Fran's actual resume we used the heading of Customer Service Representative but you can see how you can play with skill headings to control and elevate your image … this is one strategy I explain in detail with examples throughout my book, Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries, and one of the strongest things I can offer you as a resume writer … just in case you don't have the time or patience to write your own.

Going from 0% to 100% Interview Rate
By using skill headings that matched her goal, Fran went from a 0% interview rate to a 100% interview rate -- meaning none of her prior resumes had landed an interview but her new resume landed an interview for each position she applied for.

Click here to learn other ways we improved Fran's resume and landed her a job paying $9,000 more click here to read my first set of resume workshops! If you've entered my site via this page, be sure to go to my main website's home page for an overview of more than 60 Free Resume & Job Search Workshops that include tons of Resume Tips for 45 Career Fields, Job Search, Electronic Resume, Cover Letter, Interviewing, Networking and Confidence Building strategies.

The testimonials throughout my site describe salary increases ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 and more. Here's one of my most recent ones:

In Summary
As you work on your resume, tweak and target your job titles or skill headings so that they are comparable to the salary and responsibility level of the position you want.

If you have extensive experience or are graduating from a 4 year university program, I recommend that you consider purchasing my booklet series, Proven Resumes: Strategies That Increase Salaries. It is targeted for job seekers with a salary range of up to $100,000+ and provides over 2,000 skills, skill headings and sample sentences for 40 career fields. It provides extensive resume examples and worksheets to help you identify your skills and market them to match the jobs you want. For a complete description click on the link below.