Resume Review

The Job Description: Today, I am continuing the series on resume writing. The purpose of today's post is to review some of the job descriptions listed in my resume.

I have included job descriptions of two clerkships. I attempted to do a number of things when I wrote the following job descriptions:

1. Defer To The Employer: Provide the judge's full name, his title at the time of the clerkship, the full name of the court, and the dates of the clerkship. Always pay deference to your employer.

2. Verbs - Past Tense: If you are no longer working for a particular employer, then the work you did there should be written in the past tense.

3. Paragraph, Paragraph, Paragraph. If a position required the employee to wear more than one hat, and it would be just as easy to separate the duties as it would be to keep the duties together, then separate the duties. Make it easier on the reader's eyes, and show the degree of difficulty of the job. In each set of descriptions below, there is a reference to general duties, followed by more specific duties.

4. Talk the Talk, or Take a Walk: a resume which indicates that a person worked in a tax or probate related position should actually use words that describe the type of work that would be found in that particular job. You must be able to write about your work and include it in the resume, and discuss it in person, during the interview. If you cannot write it, or speak about it, you may have to walk somewhere else to find employment. Employers' want a person who can articulate and convey information. The resume and cover letters are both opportunites to showcase your writing.

5. Use Verbs To Describe Your Duties: What you did for a particular employer should appear at or very near the beginning of each sentence in the job description. Use the main text from your first-year writing course and look in the back of the book for "forceful" words. I italicized the forceful words I used in the paragraphs below.

Law Clerk
The Honorable Peter J. Panuthos, Chief, Special Trial Judge
The United States Tax Court, Washington, D.C. (04/05 - 12/05)

General Duties: Prepared reports on matters referred for review and decision to the small tax division of the U.S. Tax Court. Reviewed documents relevant to taxpayer deficiency, incl., taxpayer correspondence, court transcripts of witness testimony, federal tax returns, petitions, deficiency notices, and correspondence from the I.R.S. Reviewed transcripts of collection due process hearings to determine proper filing of federal tax liens and levies.

Taxation: Prepared reports on individual & corporate federal income tax returns incl., claims regarding dependent exemption deduction based on divorce decree & custody arrangement, earned income credit, withdrawals from retirement account for purchase of home & education, & penalties associated with withdrawal, filing of amended returns, personal & corporate loss, examined short & long term capital gain, innocent spouse claims, joint filing status, activities not engaged in for profit, taxpayer protest, late filing, failure to file, and accuracy related penalties.

Law Clerk
The Honorable Jose M. Lopez, Presiding Judge, Probate and Tax Division
The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. (09/03 - 09/04)

General Duties: Coordinated administrative calendar of approx. 50 weekly intervention, guardianship, trust, civil & criminal tax, and miscellaneous civil/criminal matters. Processed orders & court correspondence; assisted judicial staff. Drafted continuance orders, orders for motions to seal arrest records, jurisdictional issues regarding application of the Youth Rehabilitation Act, and post sentencing motions under D.C. Code Sec. 23-110. Answered telephone queries of attorneys & interested parties in probate, tax & criminal proceedings. Supervised six interns; conducted legal research & prepared written documents.

Probate & Estate: Conducted legal research & prepared memoranda on substantive probate topics regarding will formation, will contests, undue influence, incapacity, self-dealing, conflict of interest & appointment/removal of counsel and other court-appointed representatives. Researched statute under D.C. Code Secs. 21-2041(a), -2044(b), -2051(a), -2055(b), prepared memoranda; determined that court has the ability to use its inherent powers to continue an evidentiary hearing for the appointment of a guardian or conservator when petition is withdrawn. Drafted order on surety's liability to third party for the misappropriation of funds by a fiduciary who was not personal representative of the estate at time funds were mishandled. Determined surety was not liable, although it knew or should have known of misappropriation at the time fiduciary obtained bond, however, surety not bound outside scope of contract. Wrote memorandum order on allocation of settlement proceeds to beneficiaries in wrongful death & survival action.

Federal & State Taxation: Prepared memoranda on matter of first impression regarding constitutional claims under the First & Fourteenth Amendment (substantive due process & equal protection) to determine whether state tax assessor arbitrarily or intentionally targeted only commercial real estate owners for supplemental assessment tax on land. Prepared memoranda & drafted order on constitutionality of state law supplemental assessment tax under D.C. Code Sec. 47-829(d), determined a violation existed, based on legislative history. Drafted order on novel issue - whether, under D.C. Code Secs. 47-1522(a), -2001, and -2202, the government was required to pay use & personal property tax on personal property that the contractor was hired to purchase on the government's behalf, and subsequently transfer to goverment after seven-year servicing period.

Tommorrow: Some descriptions, some tips, and words to make your resume pop!

Thank you,

Prof. Smith