It’s tough when the economy’s down and you’re in danger of losing income or your job altogether, but a recession can be a blessing in determining the strength of industries and help you decide when to make a good career change. Especially if you haven’t been satisfied with the work you’ve done in the past, considering a career change that is more fulfilling and leads to a better salary can be a great way to use the downtrodden economy to your advantage.
Many people are caught up in life and don’t want to spend years going back to school and racking up debt, but oftentimes you don’t have to. A paralegal career for example can take as little as three months to train for and appropriate certifications might only require 50 hours of research to pass. A career as a paralegal offers salaries of 34-60 thousand dollars per year and the industry is expected to grow by 28% over the next few years according to US Department of Labor statistics.
A paralegal career can be as dynamic as a degree in law. Virtually every sect of law incorporates the use of paralegals on their staff to assist in cases, filings, research, documentation and client relations. Paralegals can work for patent attorneys, corporate lawyers and even for criminal cases.
A paralegal career usually means that you’ll be working in a private law firm or practice, as about 75% of paralegals did according to the US Department of Labor in 2008. Paralegals can advance by jumping to other law firms that require a more specialized assistant, obtaining certifications and even managing other paralegals in large law firms. Paralegals are often called law assistants, and do just about everything a lawyer can do except practice law, provide definitive legal advice or proceed in courtrooms.
Paralegal career training can take up to 2 years in an associates degree program, but many vocational schools and online paralegal degrees can certify paralegals within 3 months. Often an internship to gain some real life experience is necessary before landing a first job, but many law firms will also provide on-the-job training for the right applicants since the paralegal career is highly specialized contingent on the law firm.
Well over 200,000 people work as paralegals, and roughly 15,000 are certifies by the National Association of Legal Assistants or the American Alliance of Paralegals, so obtaining these certifications can help you stand out in initiating your paralegal career.
To obtain certification in these governing paralegal bodies, it’s usually only a matter of about 50 hours of learning and taking a 2-day exam. The NALA and AAP usually ask that their certified paralegals obtain certification every 5 years with new courses of study in order to keep atop on the industry. Having a good understanding of law databases and resources, in addition to court filings and proceedings related to a specific area of law can substantially help you land a paralegal career.
