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A Relocating Paralegal Shares Some Tips for the Job Search

By Lynne DeVenny

by Jennifer Taylor

The last thing anyone wants to do in the midst of an economic downturn is move cross-country and look for work. But that is exactly what I did at the end of August. My husband?s employer transferred us from Cincinnati to Austin,Texas.

I had two months advance notice to plan and prepare for the move. Having worked as a litigation paralegal at a large Ohio firm, I enjoyed senior status, worked with great attorneys on interesting cases and earned a nice salary. Now I had to start all over in a brand new town. In short, I was terrified.

The first thing I did was update my resume. I had not updated it in over seven years. I asked co-workers, bloggers (thanks Lynne!), friends and relatives to review my resume. I started researching how to write a winning resume. I probably revised it 50-plus times.

I put feelers out in the Austin area before my move. I joined the Capital Area Paralegal Association and gained access to their job bank. I got an Austin cell phone number ASAP. I researched the job market and salary range for Austin paralegals.

I also learned that most paralegals in Texas are licensed by the state bar. No problem, I thought. However, when I contacted the state bar association, I was dismayed, upset and worried to learn that you must work under the supervision of a Texas attorney for three years before you can sit for the bar's licensure exam for paralegals. Uh-oh. Undeterred, I applied for jobs that required licensure, explaining that I had a bachelor's degree, plus over 10 years solid experience.

I did meet a wonderful contact through the local paralegal association who gave me all kinds of tips, introduced me to people and encouraged me. It took me 53 days, but I found a great job in Austin.

First of all, I treated the job search itself like a full-time job. Here are some of my tips:

• Network; tell everyone you are looking for a job. I even put a notice up on my old employer?s internal message board to see if any partners knew Austin attorneys. I generated some leads.
• Join the local paralegal association and gain access to their job bank.
• Think outside the box. I looked for paralegal work on Craigslist, the State of Texas jobs website, and trolled the website of every law firm in town. I applied at insurance companies, mortgage companies and banks. Paralegal skills translate well into these fields.
• Line up good references. I approached partners and former employers before I left town to make sure they would be willing to say good things about me.
• Apply for jobs that are not in your field IF you think you can do the job. That is, in fact, how I landed my new job. Turns out they loved my resume, I clicked with the hiring manager and they fast-tracked me for hire. Having worked in complex litigation for years, I landed an in-house senior paralegal position with an organization that oversees compliance and enforcement of electric power plants in Texas. I have no experience in electric law.

The most important tip is to not give up. I obsessively looked for work and did my share of complaining to anyone who would listen. I applied for over 50 jobs but I only generated three interviews and actually received two job offers on the same day. I kept telling myself that unemployment was temporary. The power of positive thinking or doing my homework? You decide.

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Jennifer Taylor is a senior paralegal with the Texas Regional Entity in Austin, Texas.

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on November 30, 2009 (boomark / email).