Public Defender Overview

There are certain skills that many public defenders have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, interpersonal skills and problem-solving skills.

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a public defender, we found that a lot of resumes listed 14.4% of public defenders included mental health, while 14.3% of resumes included criminal cases, and 12.5% of resumes included legal advice. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the public defender job title. But what industry to start with? Most public defenders actually find jobs in the health care and government industries.

If you're interested in becoming a public defender, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 16.1% of public defenders have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 9.3% of public defenders have master's degrees. Even though most public defenders have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a public defender. When we researched the most common majors for a public defender, we found that they most commonly earn doctoral degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on public defender resumes include master's degree degrees or associate degree degrees.

You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a public defender. In fact, many public defender jobs require experience in a role such as law clerk. Meanwhile, many public defenders also have previous career experience in roles such as legal extern or attorney.