<p>I’m in publishing now, and it’s not a good place to be. Everything around me is crashing and burning. Layoffs left and right. Salaries are low, and sinking. I’m ready to bail. </p>
<p>Problem is, what to do next? I’m good with words and very detail oriented. I don’t feel I would be a particularly good teacher. I can’t stand the sight of blood, and I hate hospitals. I was thinking of going back to school to become a paralegal. Does anyone have any experience in that field? I know that the legal profession is somewhat depressed at the moment too, but I’m thinking it may pick up in a year or so. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>The paralegals I’ve seen are very good at multi-tasking, managing to keep track of a variety of matters/deadlines/etc. w/out getting overwhelmed or frustrated (often, they have to be the one to calm down the frustrated/freaking out lawyer).</p>
<p>I imagine the paralegals I deal with as those Indian gods with eight arms. :)</p>
<p>There are online programs offering paralegal certification. University of Washington has one, and that’s where one of my friends got her certificate (but decided to continue with her current occupation).</p>
<p>I am a paralegal. Be prepared to be a secretary as well, there is often no line between the two. Paralegals are always the first to be laid off. A really good secretary can take up much of a paralegal’s slack and the lawyer can do the rest. It’s not really the best field to be in right now. If you are planning to go back to school - go to law school!!!</p>
<p>PhotoOp- It’s the opposite where I work. My paralegal is a lawyer without a degree! She can do almost everything I do and we would probably get rid of a lawyer before we lost our paralegals! We have admins, too, and the paralegal work is vastly different. We are a corporation, I should add.</p>
<p>I don’t know your educational background, but you might want to check out whether you really need to go back to school. A lot of big NYC firms hire young college grads without any certification. </p>
<p>The daughter of one of my lawyer acquaintances actually had a paralegal internship, which I’d never heard of before. You work for the firm for the summer after your junior year. They have a very structured training program during it, and they make permanent job offers to the best of the lot. They ask for a two year commitment, and make it clear that if you stay less than that you’ll get a lousy reference. In other words, they aren’t interested in applicants with certification. They’d rather hire young people and train them themselves. </p>
<p>There are certain specific areas in which certification helps–trusts & estates and human resources come to mind. </p>
<p>I agree though that paras are being laid off at many firms.</p>
<p>It seems to me that quite a few corporations give their paralegals a lot more responsibilty than some law firms do. I’ve seen small corporations where the chief legal officer is a paralegal. I think some probably practice law without a license. IN contrast, some at firms can be close to secretaries. Others have the mind numbing job of summarizing depositions, day after day after day. Find out as much as you can and plan accordingly - you could end up with a dream job or a nightmare.</p>
<p>If you’re thinking of a law firm, please think again. Not a good time. Check out abovethelaw.com and look at their layoff watch. The entire law firm model is being re-evaluated across the country. If you could get a job in a corporation, it might be perfect, but I’d stay away from law firms right now.</p>
<p>Many law firms choose either the young people on the way to law school because they don’t have to pay much, or career paralegals because they’ll work any hours. It’s kind of a funny position. Not a lawyer, but not wanting to be staff.</p>
<p>Zoosermom, my brother told me that also. He used to work for a law firm. He said that during hard times, they would fire the paralegals, and the associates would pick up the grunt work.</p>
<p>Nowadays, temps do the grunt work. We have, literally, dozens of temp attorneys and paralegals right now. They sometimes sit as many of a half-dozen people to an office meant for one person. </p>
<p>How are you with technology? The practice support area, including database management, is booming and they’re hiring bit-time. It’s similar to paralegal in terms of qualifications, but you have to be really good with computers.</p>