Consolidate Your Current Position

Congratulations!  You’ve just been promoted at your current employer.  You’ve moved form Associate to Senior Associate.  You’ve moved from Counsel to Associate General Counsel.  That’s great….but how should you reflect that on your legal resume? 

Too often we see attorneys make a new entry on their resume:

Spacely Sprockets                                              Orbit City, MN
Lead Attorney                                                                           March 2020-Present

·       Item 1

·       Item 2

·       Item 3

 Senior Attorney                                                                         April 2017-March 2020

·       Item 1

·       Item 2

·       Item 3

Do you see the problem here?  A lazy reader can think that they are two separate positions.  Don’t let someone think you have job-hopped.  There is a better way to designate the change in your resume.

First, make sure that all of your positions are listed just below the name of the company.  If you have a gap in your tenure at the company, it can still be included here (but note that the date on the top line should reflect your time as an attorney, not as an intern, as shown in the example below).  The important thing is to include the TOTAL amount of time that you have been at the company on the top line, and then list each position’s tenure separately.  See below:

Spacely Sprockets                                              Orbit City, MN

                                                                              September 2015-Present

Lead Attorney                                                                           March 2020-Present

Senior Attorney                                                                         April 2017-March 2020

Attorney                                                                                   September 2015-April 2017

Legal Intern                                                                              April 2017-March 2020

·       Item 1

·       Item 2

·       Item 3

This small change in your resume can improve its readability, appearance and effectiveness.  It allows the reader to see a natural progression of your career with one employer.  It avoids the confusion of duplicative resume entries from one employer (where the job duties might be very similar.

 So keep climbing the ladder – just make sure it’s appropriately reflected on your resume!