CV keywords for attorneys and legal advisers in South Africa
The keywords firms and in-house legal teams search for: admissions, practice areas, forums and legislation.
Legal recruiters in South Africa search by admission, then by practice area, then by post-qualification experience. Firms and corporate legal departments read for different things, so it pays to know which you are writing for.
Admissions
State each admission and the year: attorney, conveyancer, notary public, advocate. Candidate legal practitioners should say where they are in the PVT contract. The attorney admission guide covers the route and the LPC fees.
Practice areas and forums
Name the practice areas and where you appear: High Court, magistrates' courts, CCMA, Labour Court, arbitration. "Litigation" alone is too broad to rank you for anything.
Legislation
In-house roles want business language
A company hiring a legal adviser wants to know what you made possible: contracts negotiated and their value, disputes settled before litigation, risk reduced, turnaround on contract review. Put those in the first line of each role.
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