Do recruiters prefer applicants with a slightly messy, interesting background over someone who followed a traditional career path? Wondering how much “personality” in your resume actually helps or hurts.

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No we don’t prefer that lol

likefunny

No. They prefer the right schools, good grades, and clerking. Anything else just doesn’t matter that much. I think your experience will help you realistically when it comes to managing stress and working with others.

likefunny

Well that’s sad…

You cannot change you. It doesn't matter what anyone prefers because you can only control YOU. Are you the traditionally perfect or non-traditional candidate? We're all a weird mix of each. Just bring your genuine self because that is the one thing you can control. If you're not that purple unicorn for that one thing, there is always the next. Never stop bringing you to the table.

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So many firms are so heavily focused on grades and law school. Even with great experience. I feel like an interesting background is so valuable. But I’m not a hiring partner at a top firm.

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Nontraditional lawyer here. I struggled to get my first legal job but now that I'm looking for my 2nd...recruiters and firms are eating up my prelaw work experience. They have commented on it with every interview.

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Speaking only for myself, it depends! If you did a tour in Afghanistan before college or worked with the Red Cross in Syria, that makes for an interesting interview, and a selling point to firms. But I’ll still take a candidate who went directly from an Ivy to HYS law every time. IP lit is special, of course, so it’s great if you developed a killer algorithm or some kind of new life form in your free time.

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The decision makers are the partners hiring for their group, the recruiters don’t care as long as you have good schools, good firms, and longevity. They don’t make substantive decisions like that they just pass on the resumes to the partners they work for.

No and it’s the reason I decided to start building my own legal tech startup. Sick of trying to fit into broken hiring processes and systems. I was rejected from over 50 traditional legal jobs before that after completing over 100 total combined interviews. Legal industry really needs to change soon. The outdated elitism and closed minded hiring attitudes have got to stop.

i. Roderick Macdonell, no longer work at the Salvation Army. I worked at the Salvation Army's Ottawa Booth Centre (OBC) from March 2014 to May 2024.
I was laid off in May 2024, based on a reduction of salary (expenditures), by the OBC. The layoff was ordered by the OBC 's Toronto headquarters.
ibwas provided by the OBC with a financial settlement and an undertaking from the senior manager that if required, I would be provided with a positive evaluation of the quality of my work at the Booth Centre.
ENDS
By Roderick Macdonell

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