Environmental Lawyer Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Environmental Lawyer resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Environmental law is a fast-growing field with plenty of opportunity for those who want to make a difference. Environmental lawyers help protect the planet by researching, drafting, and litigating environmental regulations. They work with scientists, engineers, and other experts to identify and address environmental issues like pollution, endangered species protection, fracking, and climate change.
If you love being outdoors and have a passion for protecting the environment, you might want to consider becoming an environmental lawyer. Here are some tips plus an example resume to help you write your own stellar environmental lawyer resume that hiring managers will love.
How to Write an Environmental Lawyer Resume
Here’s how to write an environmental lawyer resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
Bullet points are the most important part of your resume because they’re the first thing recruiters will see. And since they’re so important, it’s crucial that you use them to your advantage by including specific details about your experience and accomplishments.
For example, rather than saying you “assisted in drafting legal documents,” you could say you “assisted in drafting legal documents for $10 million environmental lawsuit, resulting in favorable settlement for client.”
The second bullet point is much more specific and provides more detail about what you did and the outcome of your work.
Related: What Is an Environmental Lawyer? How to Become One
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for an environmental lawyer role, your resume is likely to go through an applicant tracking system (ATS). This system will scan your resume for certain keywords related to the job opening. If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right terms, your application might not make it past the initial screening process.
One way to make sure your resume includes the right keywords is to read through the job posting and take note of the terms and skills that are mentioned. Then, make sure to include those same terms on your resume. Here are some common environmental law keywords to get you started:
- Environmental Law
- Environmental Litigation
- Environmental Compliance
- Environmental Impact Assessment
- Environmental Policy
- Environmental Studies
- Environmental Regulations
- Environmental Consulting
- Environmental Management Systems
- Environmental Impact Assessments
- Environmental Awareness
- Water Law
- Sustainability
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Natural Resources
- Environmental Issues
- Water Quality
- EIA
- Mining
- Aquatic Ecology
- Environmental Assessment
- Environmental Impact Statements
- Hazardous Waste
- Remediation
- Superfund
- Legal Writing
- Legal Research
- Civil Litigation
- Negotiation
- Litigation
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As an environmental lawyer, you need to be proficient in a variety of software programs and systems in order to conduct your research and communicate with other members of the legal team. Programs like Westlaw, LexisNexis, and PACER are essential for conducting legal research. Additionally, many environmental lawyers use Microsoft Office Suite programs like Excel and Word to create presentations and drafts of legal documents. familiarity with environmental law software programs is also beneficial.
Related: How Much Does an Environmental Lawyer Make?
Remember The Basics
As you’re writing your resume, you’ll want to keep a few basic guidelines in mind.
Make Sure Your Resume Is Easy to Scan
There are a few things you can do to make your resume easier to read, such as left aligning your text, using a standard font type and size, and using bullets instead of paragraphs to list your experiences. You should also use all-caps and bold sparingly, and keep your bullets under two lines. Additionally, you can include some white space on the page to make the document easier to scan.
Be Concise
When writing a resume, you want to be concise and get your point across quickly. This means that a resume should typically be one page long, unless you have a lot of experience to include. If you do need to go over one page, make sure to focus on the most relevant and recent experience. In general, you want to be succinct and get to the point.
Check Your Work
Proofreading your resume is important in order to make sure it looks professional and error-free. Spell checking is a must, as are punctuation and grammar checks. It is also helpful to have someone else proofread your resume for you, as they may catch mistakes that you have missed. Beware of easily confused words, and make sure that your tense is consistent throughout the resume.
Consider Including a Summary
If you’re looking for a new job, a resume summary statement can help to explain how your past experiences will translate into the new role you’re hoping to land. When writing your own, be sure to play up your relevant soft skills, mention your most highly transferable experiences, clearly state your intentions, and try to keep it to just a couple of lines. This can be an extremely helpful tool for job seekers, as it can help to bridge the gap between their existing experience and what they’d like to do next.
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