I am so frustrated!

[Aduladi]

I would agree that the degree has little influence over the ability to gain employment. I am a mid level college adminsitrator with a BA in English and an MA in Liberal Arts that I earned more than 10 years ago. And it's not any different today than it was then, nepotism really helps.

I graduated having chosen my major in the second semester of my junior year and only then because I couldn't take any more classes without declaring a major. I went to grad school because I wasn't quite ready to do the job hunt thing, and after getting my degree, it took me almost a year to find a "real" job. However, the only reason I did was because of nepotism. And seriously, having been in my field for as long as I have, I see it work out over and over, which is why having a mentor REALLY helps.

I think that some of the really good advice that has been given on this thread has been: 1. get a mentor, 2. get an internship, 3. don't be afraid to move. I would add that you need to think about employment as a career as opposed to a job/paycheck. It makes all the difference in the world in terms of how you approach your search.

Knowing what moves you and gives you purpose is helpful. That means figuring out what you LIKE to do (despite what your degree is in) and finding a way to make money doing it. (and belive me you can make money doing pretty much anything)

Once you've figured that out, doing your research is important; you need to be able to anticipate questions for interviews or be able to write a business plan if you are going to go it alone. Don't underestimate the power of preparedness, and it's ok to ask someone who you did interview with, why you didn't get the job. ( "I am going on future interviews and would like to strengthen my interviewing skills. What feedback can you give me that might be helpful?") While rejection hurts, it can also help you if you use it to your advantage.

[jubilance1922]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but its soooo important to market yourself. You have to ready at a moment's notice to give someone "your stats". Being able to show my leadership abilities and my skill set has landed me several opportunities.

Also, how open are you to change? Are you set on one particular path and one path only? Sometimes opportunities open up that aren't in the area you thought you wanted to be in, but they turn out to be the best situation for you. Don't let a great opportunity slip away because the field isn't what you planned to do.

This is my plan for my future:

(1) finish my Associate of Arts in Paralegal Studies
(2) finish my Bachelor of Science in Public Administration (mind you
I already have a B.A. in Mass Communications-Broadcast)
(3) work for 5+ years as a paralegal in Atlanta, GA, volunteer, study for LSAT, and join professional organizations
(4) register for LSAS and take LSAT
(5) enter (hopefully) law school
(6) study for and pass Bar exam in Georgia
(7) one day in the future (when I have the $$) open my own record label (that's my dream . . . kind of hokey but that's what I want to do)

BTW, I don't mind moving once I finish my degrees. That's not the problem. Right now I need to find a job that pays something more than $6.85 an hour and pays the bills. Of course, I want to find something I enjoy . . . that'd be ideal but if I can't pay the bills why stay?

Also, my Paralegal degree is being earned at an ABA-approved program. Paralegals and clerks are in high demand if you have 5 to 10 years experience as a paralegal/clerk. I don't so how can I get experience outside of an unpaid internship?

[Lady Pi Phi]

Originally posted by ztawinthropgirl
This is my plan for my future:

(1) finish my Associate of Arts in Paralegal Studies
(2) finish my Bachelor of Science in Public Administration (mind you
I already have a B.A. in Mass Communications-Broadcast)
(3) work for 5+ years as a paralegal in Atlanta, GA, volunteer, study for LSAT, and join professional organizations
(4) register for LSAS and take LSAT
(5) enter (hopefully) law school
(6) study for and pass Bar exam in Georgia
(7) one day in the future (when I have the $$) open my own record label (that's my dream . . . kind of hokey but that's what I want to do)

BTW, I don't mind moving once I finish my degrees. That's not the problem. Right now I need to find a job that pays something more than $6.85 an hour and pays the bills. Of course, I want to find something I enjoy . . . that'd be ideal but if I can't pay the bills why stay?

Also, my Paralegal degree is being earned at an ABA-approved program. Paralegals and clerks are in high demand if you have 5 to 10 years experience as a paralegal/clerk. I don't so how can I get experience outside of an unpaid internship?

Excellent plan!

A woman I know started off as a law clerk and then went to law school and is now practicing in wills/estates.

Since I don't know what it's like in South Carolina, I can't give you specific advice (things are a little different here...there seems to be more opportunity for entry level law clerks here), but here are something you might try:

* try sending your resume to law firms...big, medium, small, it doesn't matter. They may be looking for a legal assistant/secretary, whatever and you never know, just having a firm on your resume could give you a leg up or they may get you to do some work (help out) that a law clerk/paralegal would do.
Also, many large firms have articling/clerking prgrams for law students...they may also be willing to hire on paralegal students...it never hurts to ask.

* check to see if there is a legal temp agency in your area. They may be able to help find you a job...they don't just place lawyers. I am using one in my area and they have been very helpful.

* Do you know any lawyers in your area? They might be able to hook you up. If you have any connections, don't be afraid to ask for their help.

* Does your school offer a field/work placement program or any career services? If they do, use it! I know at my school many firms placed adds looking for summer students and recent graduates...they are a good source for gaining experience.

Thanks Lady Pi Phi! I have a cousin who is a lawyer in Charlotte, NC and another in Columbia, SC, both cities have a high demand for paralegals and law clerks. Since I haven't finished my degrees yet, I am kind of stuck.

In Greenville, SC, the firms want anywhere from 3 to 10 years experience in the legal field. I think I have blanketed G'ville's law firms with resumes but not all of them! I'll keep plugging along.

[DGMarie]

I wish you good luck in your job search. I am a good example of someone who is in a field completely different from her major. I was an double major in French and International Studies (mostly because I was good in languages and wanted to save the world back then). I ended up my senior year thinking gee, French majors aren't in huge demand and the pay for teachers in S.C. is abyssmal. I had excellent grades and had taken the GMAT, so I applied for and got into the International Business Masters program at my school which at the time was #1 in the country(and went on to study another language there: Portuguese). I got an internship with GM in research in Brazil through school, but GM was not a good place for women managers, so I was stuck.

So how did I end up in marketing research? My mother was the secretary in the field sales office for Motorola. She knew the secretary of the corp vp of the same business at Motorola. She sent him my resume along with some garden seeds (he was an avid gardner) and within a month I had an interview and a great paying job (mind you in another state, but hey, I was young and single). This was 13 years ago and I still enjoy what I do.

The moral of this story: it pays to know people who know people (who garden!)

[CarolinaDG]

Originally posted by ztawinthropgirl
Thanks Lady Pi Phi! I have a cousin who is a lawyer in Charlotte, NC and another in Columbia, SC, both cities have a high demand for paralegals and law clerks. Since I haven't finished my degrees yet, I am kind of stuck.

In Greenville, SC, the firms want anywhere from 3 to 10 years experience in the legal field. I think I have blanketed G'ville's law firms with resumes but not all of them! I'll keep plugging along.

Have you checked with your alumnae group yet? It seems like there must be someone who's a lawyer or married to a lawyer in Greenville. Especially with as many ZTA alums as there are in SC!

[Lady Pi Phi]

ztawinthropgirl:

you might also want to check out if their are any paralegal/law clerk professional associations in your area. They might offer things like student memberships, job postings, course, workshops, etc. They would also be a good source of information for you.

The Greenville ZTA Alumnae group thing is a whole different story and a new thread! I am going to join the South Carolina Upstate Paralegal Association in June. June is when their next meeting is scheduled. They meet at the Poinsett Club in Greenville, SC so cross your fingers something will turn up with that one.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

Originally posted by ztawinthropgirl
I work at Target . . . as a PART-TIME sales associate . . . at $6.85 an hour . . . averaging 14 hours a week.

I used to work at Target too! I was in school full time and sometimes worked (unwillingly) up to 25 hours a week (in the SuperTarget Deli) I quit because my new manager was an evil man who fights with everyone, even though we were all doing an excellent job and sales were way up and everything! I quit and I just got a new job singing at weddings! I was making on average 200$ every two weeks @ $7.45 and hour and now (when there's work...) I'll make up to $150 per job (after training, and that's only for maybe like 6 months, then my rate will climb!

So A) when's your 3 month or yearly raise?! And B) Ask your ETL or TL (whoever makes the schedule) for more hours in the mean time. Sign up in the office for the extra hours needed sheet. Offer to work the registers after you finish your hours before you go home (a few girls did that...) I don't know why you're making 6.85... I was a freshman in college when I started with NO references and very little job experience and I started at 6.75, after three months I was making 7.00 and it DOES make a small but noticeable difference. After a year I was making 7.45.

Try moving on to a dept. store like Dillard's, Penney's, whatever they have locally for you because they pay like $9.00 and hour, at least down here in FL, so it's an improvement. Don't settle for less that you HAVE to and in the mean time/ in-between time, try to apply the degree that you worked so hard to earn by getting a job that you sought when you earned it! Good luck, if anything...try Florida?

My 3-month review was May 11th. I didn't get a raise but I had an excellent review. They said since I was already started at such a "high" rate of pay for a floor sales associate that I didn't get a pay raise. They said we got a 25 cents raise when we passed our 3-month review. That would have raised my pay to $7.10 per hour. Whenever they offer extra hours, they're hours that I am already there so that won't work.

Once I graduate from the paralegal program, I could easily go to Florida because I have family I could stay with until I got on my feet really well. They're in the Orlando area (Winter Garden to be specific) which is a good job market area from what I have heard.

[BabyPiNK_FL]

They said we got a 25 cents raise when we passed our 3-month review. That would have raised my pay to $7.10 per hour.

THAT"S BULLSH!T! (Pardon my French!!!) If they promised you a raise when you took the job you should get a raise REGARDLESS of what rate they hired you at unless they SPECIFICALLY told YOU that you would not get one because you were starting off higher than others normally would! WHICH IS ALSO CRAP unless they are going by different pay rates then stores in other states (or maybe it's your job position [i worked in the deli so maybe rates wouldn't be the same for starters anyhow...])

I started as a FULL TIME COLLEGE FRESHMEN for a little less then what you are making and within three months recieved an evaluation and raise to 7.00! That means if you stay there a year there might be a possibility you won't be making such 'hot' money as they seem to think of it, because everyone who got their raise will get another one while you've only had ONE!

Now, not only do I think you should work for a lawyer (as you wish to do)... I think you NEED one! I'm all like...WTF is up their A$$e$!

[ZTAngel]

Originally posted by ztawinthropgirl
Once I graduate from the paralegal program, I could easily go to Florida because I have family I could stay with until I got on my feet really well. They're in the Orlando area (Winter Garden to be specific) which is a good job market area from what I have heard.

It a VERY good job market. The unemployment rate in Florida is lower than the National average and it's the lowest in Orlando.

[ShaedyKD]

Haven't read this whole thread, but seeing that you're getting an AA in Paralegal, maybe you should check out National Association of Legal Assistants website. After I got my BA, I spent the next semester taking 18 credits worth of paralegal classes at the local Comm. College. As soon as I completed that, I was eligible to take the CLA exam (Certified Legal Assistany). This is the only national certification exam there is for paralegals. It is not required to have this certification in order to work as a paralegal, but it can help you get a job in the field with little to no experience. Like someone else said, you could get a firm to hire you as an assistant paralegal, or secretary, or clerk even - and then work your way up.

Just saying, I'm not sure how far along you are with paralegal classes, but ask your advisor at the school about the CLA exam, research that website, and you might be able to get away with a semester worth of classes instead of a whole year or two. Good luck!

[blueangel]

Be careful about Florida. They pay with sunshine. Although I absolutely LOVE Florida, and wish I could live there, I literally quadrupled my salary when I moved up to the NY area.