Do you want to apply for a Legal Secretary position to help you get closer to your career goals? Applying for jobs on Seek, LinkedIn, and other job boards can be a time-consuming process, however, to streamline the process, you can ensure your resume writing helps you to stand out from the crowd, and your online profile helps you to get an interview!

If a recruiter or hiring manager are looking for a Legal Secretary, they are searching for specific transferable skills. With less than ten people being interviewed for the job and hundreds of people, just like you, applying, The Perfect Resume team have created Resume Writing Tips to help you stand out from the others.

What do recruiters look for in a Legal Secretary resume or an online profile?

Tailoring your resume to a Legal Secretary position is mandatory today to ensure that your application will pass Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). In doing so, your resume will be read by the prospective employer. Then, fingers crossed, you will be shortlisted as a potential candidate and be called for not one, but multiple job interviews!

Firstly, before you apply to be a Legal Secretary, you need to be acquainted with what a Legal Secretary does!

Legal Secretaries handle the clerical duties such as attending court proceedings, researching case information, scheduling meetings, and filing legal documents.

Hiring Managers are looking for a exceptionally organised, composed and astute Legal Secretary to assist in playing a crucial role in a law office, preparing court documents, maintaining attorney calendars, and typing court minutes.

To be successful as a Legal Secretary, you should have knowledge of necessary corporate procedures, be open to learning, and have strong communication skills. Ultimately, a high performing Legal Secretary should be able to achieve attorney efficiency and timely delivery of documentation support.

Knowing this, your resume and online profile should include the hard and soft skills that the recruiter or hiring manager is looking for in a candidate.

The Legal Secretary position description template will also contain pivotal information about what the candidate will need to do daily. Such as:

• Providing secretarial support to one or more lawyers at the firm.
• Editing and proofreading all legal documents.
• Maintaining the attorney calendar by scheduling conferences, depositions, and meetings.
• Welcoming clients and conducting initial screenings of new clients.
• Going to court proceedings and typing minutes.
• Organising all legal documents and ensuring they are updated.
• Ensuring all court documents are in order and filed before deadlines.
• Answering emails and phone calls, and when necessary, redirecting calls.
• Researching and authenticating important case information.
• Preparing different legal documents including appeals, motions, and petitions.

You will also have some requirements and personal attributes that you will need to demonstrate in your resume to ensure your potential employer will take your application seriously, such as:

• Associate degree in legal studies or related field.
• A minimum of 3 years’ experience in a similar role.
• In-depth knowledge of legal documents and terminology.
• Skilled with MS Office.
• Excellent time-management and organisational skills.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.

You may also want to do some industry research to find out what other companies want in their Legal Secretaries.