Paralegal Jobs Overview
Attorneys—especially those at bigger firms—can’t do it all on their own. Essential members of their teams often include paralegals. However, these roles should not be confused with legal secretaries, who only handle day-to-day admin duties and customer-service tasks.
As defined by the American Bar Association (ABA), a paralegal is a professional “who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible.” Hence, paralegal jobs encompass a variety of work that’s more directly involved with supervising attorneys or lawyers, such as preparing affidavits and legal correspondence, filing pleadings, responding to discovery requests, researching case-related information, and recapping depositions and trial transcripts.
And now’s a great time to pursue this career. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is forecasting a 12% growth outlook over the next decade for paralegal jobs, which is faster than the average for all occupations, as law firms and other companies keep hiring more paralegals to increase productivity and cost-effectiveness.
If needed, try widening your opportunity-net by searching for other legal jobs. Or you may want to trim down your options to these positions:
Paralegal Education and Skills
To succeed as a paralegal, you should be intrigued by (and willing to learn about) how the U.S. legal system functions—and you need to like working with lawyers too, of course. Here are some other useful skills:
- advanced written communication
- advanced reading comprehension (and the ability to understand complex texts)
- knowledge of legal vocabulary (or an interest in etymology)
- thorough attention to detail
- memory skills
The more fastidious you are, the better your chances will be to thrive in paralegal jobs. And although there isn’t a federal-government requirement to obtain an official license, there are ways to acquire a paralegal certification. However, most employers will rather want to know that you have some formal education at the college level. Here are a few paths you can take, degree-wise:
- Get an associate degree in paralegal studies. That should take about two years.
- Get a bachelor’s degree in legal studies. That should take about four years.
- If you already have a bachelor’s, get a master’s degree in legal studies. You can find online programs, and these typically take one to two years to complete.
Meanwhile, go over Monster’s template for a paralegal job listing to garner more details about expected qualifications and the responsibilities that come with this position.
Update Your Paralegal Resume
Your paralegal resume should open with a compact, hard-hitting objective. When writing this, think of it as arguing your case—a compelling opening statement, so to speak. You can also opt for a career summary instead, if you’d prefer. After that, it’s important that you give specific examples of your accomplishments and quantify your achievements (e.g., how big were your previous caseloads and how fast were you able to finish respective tasks?). Take a look at our paralegal resume sample for more pointers.
Additionally, try sending a persuasive cover letter with your application, as it will help your candidacy if you do it right. Need some guidance? Then review our example of a well-written cover letter for paralegals.
Interviewing for a Paralegal Job
Before you interview for any paralegal job, you should consider the kind of workplace you’ll be joining. As indicated by the BLS, law firms will likely remain the biggest section of employers for this field, but corporations are enlarging their in-house legal departments too. This is mainly to avoid high fees from outside counsel. So you may end up working at an insurance business, a hospital, a financial institution, or a Big Tech company—and you should prepare for your interview accordingly.
Begin by rehearsing your responses to general questions, like “What is your ideal work environment?” Then, check out Monster’s full spectrum of articles about job interviews.
How Much Do Paralegal Jobs Pay?
Different factors (including your education) will ultimately determine your pay, but according to our data, the median salary for a paralegal is $45,193. More experienced paralegals can make up to $61,427.
Want to see location-specific salaries? Then go to Monster’s Salary Tools site, where you can type in any job title and the city you’re based in.
Want to Learn More About a Law Firm or Company You’re Interested In?
Paralegals have lots of options regarding the work environment they want to be in—from smaller law offices and major firms to the legal departments of corporations and government agencies.
But before applying, we recommend that you do some research on the organization and gather some insight about their culture. Start off with Monster’s company profiles, where you can view:
- mission statements and number of employees
- photos, videos, and links
- job postings for law firms and companies all over the country
Discover a Plenitude of Paralegal Jobs on Monster
Construing legalese and being in the midst of legal action is what drives you, and we want to make sure you find the right fit for your paralegal career. So join Monster for free by creating a quick profile so that we can connect you with recruiters at top law firms and the companies most suitable to your ambitions.