A corporate law CV has its own logic, and if you send a generic one to a corporate team, it shows. Corporate and transactional recruiters look for specific signals: relevant transactional exposure, the ability to draft and do diligence, commercial awareness, and attention to detail. Whether you are a student aiming at corporate, a fresher, or a junior associate looking to move, let me show you the format recruiters approve of and how to present transactional work well, including within confidentiality.
Quick answer
A recruiter-approved corporate lawyer CV is clean and one page (one or two if experienced), leads with relevant transactional experience, and describes your work with specific, evidence-based bullets: the types of deals or matters, your diligence and drafting work, and the substance involved. For experienced lawyers, a concise deal sheet (covered separately) is a strong companion. It also signals commercial awareness and detail-orientation. Cut anything irrelevant to corporate work. The reader wants to see you can support transactions capably.
What corporate recruiters look for
- Transactional exposure: the kinds of deals or corporate matters you have worked on (M&A, financing, general corporate and so on), described within confidentiality.
- Drafting and diligence: the contract work, due diligence, and drafting you have done. Corporate work runs on these, so make them visible.
- Commercial awareness: signals that you understand the business context, not just the law. (See the commercial-awareness guide.)
- Attention to detail: a clean, precise, error-free CV is itself evidence of this, which corporate work prizes.
- Relevant internships, especially at firms or in-house teams, described specifically.
The format, section by section
- Header: name, one phone, one professional email, LinkedIn. Clean.
- Experience: lead with it. Relevant roles and internships, most recent first, each with specific bullets about the transactional work you did.
- Deal sheet (experienced lawyers): a concise list of representative matters, presented within confidentiality.
- Education: brief.
- Skills: genuinely useful ones, including relevant tools and languages.
Before and after: a corporate bullet
- Before: “Worked on M&A deals and did due diligence.”
- After: “Reviewed a set of vendor and customer contracts during the due diligence for an acquisition, flagging non-standard indemnity and change-of-control provisions for the associate; assisted in preparing a first draft of the disclosure schedule.”
The second version shows a corporate recruiter exactly the transactional work you can do, with the substance and detail visible. That specificity, plus a flawless presentation, is what makes a corporate CV land.
YLCC ACTION STEP: Rewrite your corporate-related bullets to name the specific transactional work you did (the type of deal, the diligence, the drafting) and the substance involved, within confidentiality. Then proofread ruthlessly, because on a corporate CV, a single typo undercuts the detail-orientation you are trying to show. If experienced, start a concise deal sheet.
PLEASE DON’T DO THIS: Please don’t send a generic CV to a corporate team; tailor it to show transactional relevance and commercial awareness. And please don’t tolerate a single typo or inconsistency on a corporate CV; detail is part of the job, and a sloppy CV signals the opposite. Precision here is not optional.
If this is you
- Student or fresher aiming at corporate: Lead with firm and in-house internships and any transactional exposure, described specifically, and show some commercial awareness. Even modest transactional experience, described well, signals genuine interest.
- Junior associate moving firms: Foreground your transactional experience and, if you have it, a concise deal sheet within confidentiality. Show the level and substance of your work.
FAQs
- What do corporate recruiters want on a CV? Relevant transactional exposure, drafting and diligence work, commercial awareness, and meticulous detail, all presented specifically and cleanly.
- How do I show deal experience without breaching confidentiality? Describe the type and nature of the deal and your role, without naming clients or disclosing sensitive specifics. A deal sheet does this well.
- Should a corporate lawyer CV be one page? One page for students and freshers; one or two if experienced. Keep it focused and precise.
- What is a deal sheet? A concise list of representative transactions you have worked on, presented within confidentiality. It is a strong companion for experienced corporate lawyers.
- Why does detail matter so much on a corporate CV? Corporate work prizes attention to detail, so a clean, error-free CV is itself evidence of the skill, while a typo signals the opposite.
Thank you for reading!
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