Immigration Judge Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Immigration Judge resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Immigration judges are tasked with making life-changing decisions about people’s futures. They decide whether or not someone has a right to stay in the country or should be deported. Immigration judges are also called upon to interpret and apply immigration laws to specific situations.
Because immigration law is so complex, immigration judges must have a solid understanding of immigration regulations and procedures. They must also possess strong decision-making skills and be able to think critically—skills that are essential in any courtroom setting.
Before you can become an immigration judge yourself, you need a compelling resume that will help you land interviews with hiring managers at immigration law firms or government agencies. Here’s some tips and an example to help you write yours.
How to Write an Immigration Judge Resume
Here’s how to write an immigration judge resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing your resume bullet points, it can be tempting to simply list your responsibilities and duties. But that’s not enough to make a strong impression on recruiters and hiring managers.
Instead, you should use your bullet points to demonstrate your experience, skills, and accomplishments. And you can do that by using specific numbers, percentages, and dollar amounts whenever possible.
For example, rather than saying you “managed cases,” you could say you “managed 200+ cases per month for fast-paced immigration court, achieving 98% adjudication rate on time.”
The second bullet point is much stronger because it provides specific details about the project and the outcome. And it also includes a quantifiable number—98%—which helps the reader understand the scale of the project.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume for an immigration judge role, it’s likely that it will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. This software looks for specific immigration judge role-related terms, like “deportation” or “asylum,” in order to determine whether your skills and experience are a match for 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.
In order to increase your chances of getting an interview, use this list of common immigration judge keywords as a starting point to help you optimize your resume:
- Immigration Law
- Immigration
- Legal Advice
- Legal Writing
- Litigation
- Civil Litigation
- Hearings
- Labor and Employment Law
- Legal Research
- Legal Writing Instruction
- Trial Practice
- Hearings & Litigation
- Westlaw
- Appeals
- Administrative Law
- Trial Practice Skills
- Asylum
- Hearings Appeals Board
- Arbitration
- Visa
- Commercial Litigation
- Public Speaking
- Legal Issues
- Mediation
- Motions
- Immigration Law Practice
- Pleadings
- Personal Injury Law
- Legal Consulting
- Pre-trial Proceedings
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As an immigration judge, you need to be proficient in a number of software programs and databases in order to do your job effectively. This might include the Immigration Court Practice Manual (ICPM), the Immigration Courts Caseload Management System (ICCMS), and the Electronic Case Files (ECF) system. You also need to be able to use these systems to communicate with other members of the immigration court team, including clerks and attorneys.