Employers often ask JD/MBA students why they have chosen to earn both degrees. Be prepared to link your business career goals to the benefits of earning a law degree. It will be of great benefit to include a Career Objective statement at the top of your resume to establish at the outset your desire to combine the two in a business situation. For example:

CAREER OBJECTIVE
A position in human resources management where I may apply my business skills and extensive knowledge of the legal and regulatory environment.

There is no doubt that a great legal resume is very different from a great MBA resume. Pay close attention to formatting. Avoid listing your experience in paragraph form. Instead, use bulleted statements to describe your experience and accomplishments. Emphasize business and managerial experience. List your experience with a law firm or other legal organization from a business perspective. For example:

Baker, McReynolds, Byrne, O'Kane, Shea & Townsend
Legal Clerk - Internship, May 2003 - August 2003

• Researched and analyzed legal concepts in both statutory and case law for use in trials
• Increased file retrieval efficiency by reorganizing system for filing closed cases
  

This section taken from an actual JD/MBA resume emphasizes this student's analytical skills, ability to conduct useful research, and improve the internal operations of an office. Be very specific about your achievements and know how that can be translated in a business environment.

You should also be prepared for employers to be concerned about your graduation date. Most MBA recruiters hire MBA interns with the intention of bringing them on board full-time after graduation. If you will not complete both the MBA and JD program in two years, be prepared to offer reasons why that organization should consider you for an internship. Offer to return the following summer to tackle more advanced projects if necessary.

For more information, please visit http://www.mbamonster.com/Resume_Checklist.html.

1. A cover letter is not as important as a resume.
A cover letter is just as important, if not more, than a resume. If an employer LIKES what they see in your cover letter, they will be more likely to LIKE what they see in your resume (this is called the "halo effect" for you psychology buffs). If an employer DOES NOT LIKE what they see in your cover letter, they may never get to your resume!

2. A cover letter is intended to give an employer an overall understanding of your past.
A cover letter should give an employer an understanding of WHAT YOU CAN DO now and in the future. It should not be an extensive description of your past.

3. Your cover letter is simply a repeat of your resume.
A cover letter should "personalize" your information and identify how your skills and experiences are directly relevant to the position you are applying for.

4. You should try to dazzle an employer with a cover letter that is filled with large, fancy words.
Keep your cover letter clear and to-the-point. If you can replace a large word for a clearer, more concise word, DO IT (i. e., repair—fix, assistance—help)!

5. Cover letters should be written in paragraph style with no variation.
Just as in vocal communication, you can emphasize your most important points in a cover letter.
To do this:
Use bullets to emphasize relevant qualifications
Use underlining or bold to emphasize a word or phrase.

6. It does not matter what kind of font/printer/paper I use to create a cover letter.
These components of a cover letter a very important, especially if you will be sending your resume and cover letter through the mail. Ensure that your cover letter is visually appealing by printing it on a laser printer on high quality resume paper (your resume and cover letter should be printed on the same paper).

7. A cover letter should begin with the salutation, "To Whom it May Concern".
Try your best to find the name of the person who will be receiving the letter. If this is not possible, use a position title in the salutation (i. e., Dear Hiring Manager:)

Here are six surefire ways to make your cover letter stand out from your competition when apply for an MBA internship:

1. Grab the employer's attention immediately in the first paragraph. Begin with a sentence that entices the employer to continue reading.
2. Tell the employer what you can do for him or her!! Tell the employer how you meet their qualifications and convince them that you can be a benefit.
3. Show the employer that you have researched the company! This is perhaps one of the most important things you can do, because it will place you in the minority, for most job applicants do not do this.
4. When discussing experience relevant to the position, highlight an accomplishment that you feel proud of. Also, discussing past examples of behavior gives the employer a hint of what you would be like in the position.
5. Limit your cover letter to one page.
6. Always remember to do a spell check and PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD!! One simple mistake could cost you the position.

One very powerful interview strategy that may set you far ahead of your competition is a well-thought-out, professional career portfolio.

For many individuals in creative positions (i.e., creative advertising, graphic/web design, etc.), using a portfolio is not a secret. It is a very necessary part of the job search, much like a cover letter and a resume. However, for other, less-creative positions, using a portfolio in the job search is not as well-known. Here is how this technique can be a internship-search secret weapon for MBA students seeking internships in any profession or industry:

Reasons for Using a Professional Portfolio
A strong professional career portfolio provides direct evidence of your relevant accomplishments. It provides potential employers with a "snapshot" of your achievements to date, the type of work you have done, and the type of employee you will be. A professional portfolio goes well beyond a cover letter and resume. Rather than simply telling an employer about your skills, it provides physical evidence of them.

How a Professional Portfolio Should Be Used
A professional portfolio is typically presented within an interview situation. A portfolio should be neat, clear and concise and be tailored to a specific type of position. For example, a student applying for a computer programming internship might present an example of a program he or she has written when asked about relevant programming experience. Additionally, a marketing communications intern candidate might present an example of marketing brochures that he or she has created when asked about previous marketing experience.

Contents of a Professional Portfolio
There are a variety of items that may be included in a professional portfolio. Contents selected should be relevant to your industry and internship of interest and should provide evidence of your skills/achievements to a potential employer. Example portfolio items include:

• Letters of Recommendation from Employers/College Professors
• Performance Reviews
• Thank-You Notes
• Awards, Scholarships, Grants
• Examples of Writing: Articles, Papers
• Examples of Projects
• Examples of Presentations
• Brochures/Fliers Created
• Certificate Programs
• Academic Curriculum
• Web Sites/Pages Created
• College Transcripts
• Marketing Plans
• Computer Program Code

Types of Professional Portfolios
A traditional type of portfolio generally consists of a high-quality, leather-bound folder that attractively displays professional documents. Plastic sheet covers may also be used for an added professional look and to help protect valuable documents.

Another type of includes an electronic or web portfolio. This may be advantageous if your employer of choice utilizes web/electronic resumes in their search for interns. In many cases, this is an advanced version of a resume that provides links to portfolio information.

Conclusion
In conclusion, using a portfolio can help anyone move to the top as an internship candidate. It goes beyond a cover letter and a resume by providing employers with direct physical examples of your skills and accomplishments.

MBA Career Fair success lies in effective preparation and communication. Make sure to research the employers that you want to visit. It is important to learn about their companies and overall industrues, as well as the positions they are looking to fill and what type of candidates they are looking for. Here are a few tips to help you prepare for your next MBA career fair:

1. Arrive with a positive attitude and have your 30-second commercial or "pitch" ready.
2. Bring at least 20 copies of your resume. Employers only look at resumes for an average of 10 seconds. You will want to make sure you leave employers with the best impression possible. Check out the MBA Resume Workbook for advice on how to construct the ultimate resume, and/or check out MBA Sample Resume 1, MBA Sample Resume 2 and MBA Sample Resume 3 for guidance.
3. Do your research! The more you know about a company, the more you can converse with the company representative and the more memorable you will be.
4. Plan a few key questions! Be ready to ask intelligent questions like asking how your skills might be utilized within the framework of the company and by asking questions about relevant news within that organization. Make sure to ask the recruiter what he or she likes best about the corporate culture to better assess if that company is right for you.
5. Get the interviewer's business card. If you are called for an interview, you will want to follow up with a letter that reinforces the points you made and the facts you learned.
6. Maximize, Maximize, Maximize! The lines for employers might be daunting, but don't fail to maximize this opportunity. Talk to every company that fits your experience and ambitions. If you meet with 20 recruiters, at the end of the day you will know 20 people by name. That sure beats sending a blind resume to "Recruiting Director."
7. Wear proper business attire. First impressions count! Check out InternshipGPS' article Dress to Impress for more tips for how to dress for such events.
8. Follow-up. Some would say it is one of the most important. You would be surprised at how few job-seekers actually take the time to follow-up their career fair interviews, thus when you do it, you will have an edge over the many others who do not. There are two main methods of follow-up. Some experts suggest actually calling the recruiter the evening of the fair and leaving a voicemail message thanking the recruiter again for his/her time that day. A more concrete and traditional method is to write a thank you note and mail it the next day to the address on the recruiter's business card. In the letter, thank the recruiter for his/her time, restate your interest and qualifications for the position, reiterate your interest in a second interview, and make a promise to follow-up the letter with a phone call (and then make sure you do in fact call). You probably should enclose another copy of your resume to be sure. What should the thank you letter look like? Here is a sample thank you letter to a career fair recruiter.