9 to 5
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Paralegals
in 9 to 5
I'm looking for a career change and think this might fit my personality well. I don't know anyone in this field however.
Can anyone give me some insight--the good/bad, what do you love & hate about the job? How long have you been at it? What to look for in a firm to work for?
Thanks
Re: Paralegals
I have my BA in Accounting and got a Paralegal certificate. I always considered law school so tried this route. I didn't care for it so went back to Accounting. I got an internship while in school at a smaller office. I worked with a Family Law and Workers comp/personal injury lawyers. I looooved Family Law. It was just a PT position so I tried to find a family law or bankruptcy paralegal job after graduating. I had a couple interviews with bigger firms and the one that offered me a job was very low paying with no benefits. I decided I missed accounting and didn't want to take that big of a drop in pay.
Everyone is different on firm size. I know do Accounting at a huge company. The perks are the benefits. Small firms typically won't have as good and is harder to take days off when you may be the only paralegal there. But I enjoyed the small firm because it is definetly more personable and can be fun if you work with really great people
I loved law but missed Accounting and found that I got paid better with that background. Another thing too is if you get into a small firm you may also have legal secretary duties - typing letters, answering phone calls, etc. I hate that stuff but some people enjoy it. I think if you have an interest in law it is definetly a good field to go into but I would check out the job market in your town. Paralegals can work at a ride range of places and I'm sure I could have gotten a good job, it just wasn't for me.
I work as a paralegal in a very small firm (2 attorneys and I only work under one of them). It is a *very* high stress job imo. It can vary from firm to firm but everyone I know who does this work agrees that it is extremely stressful.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, but if you are looking for something that you can walk away from at the end of the day and not really think about, I would think twice.
I am close to transitioning to a larger firm with more oversight and I am looking forward to that (and the benefits).
At my tiny firm the benefits are lousy but they are very flexible (e.g., letting employees leave early, pick whatever days they want to take off for vacation, leave early on Fridays, that sort of thing) which is much less likely at a larger firm.
I've been in both sectors. I agree with the PP about the flexibilty about time, but my employer in the private sector actually paid for my benefits in full. If you are looking for a pension, you probably won't find one in the private sector. Having been in both worlds, I would prefer the smaller firm, but that may be just because of where I am in life right now.
The job is stressful, but it keeps you thinking, moving, on your toes mentally. I enjoy it a lot!
I do dislike dealing with clients who are upset about their bills.And I think one thing to look for is see how organized the office/firm is. A disorganized law office feels like you've been sucked into h*ll.
The job is totally dependent on the office. I've worked in multiple firms in multiple positions (secretarial, paralegal, records, etc.) and the job varies widely depending on where you work. This is one of those fields where there is no standard definition of the job and it varies according to practice area, office size, and attorney personality. It can vary widely. Some offices have paralegals who have their own assistants. Others are completely on their own.
ETA: I should mention that I made more money as an experienced secretary than as a starting paralegal. Personally, I found secretarial work to be less stressful, but not by much.