How To Get Paralegal Work Online

We never thought we’d see the day when we welcomed a mouse into the house. Yet, mouse, modem, monitor the three Ms are the job search tools you need for the millennium. Gone are the days when you thought use of the Internet was for geeks only. The World Wide Web abounds with career-planning and job-placement sites. How many of them have abundant jobs for paralegals remains to be seen; nevertheless, passing up this resource would be foolish indeed.

The best of them save time and put career choices in your hands by offering easily searchable data bases with job listings from around the country and even the globe. Looking for a paralegal job in Europe? Get on the World Wide Web. Search Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) under “employment” or “jobs” and you’ll get hundreds of sites at this writing. Try The Riley Guide (www.dbm.com/jobguide) and find a comprehensive index of employment-related sites.


Research some of the legal periodicals and find job-searching areas on their Web sites. Many corporations and law firms post openings directly on their home pages. Some firms list their Web sites in the legal directories. Scan the firms listed in your target city(ies) and look for one that is the size and does legal work in the practice area in which you are interested. Make note of any Web site listed and then conduct a search to see if the firm has any openings for paralegals posted. To get you started,
we’ve compiled a few established sites for both entry-level and experienced paralegals.

The Monster Board: www.monster.com

Well, it’s not exactly the kind of name that is associated with staid, conservative law firms. But it is the most frequently visited job site on the Web. Easily searched (job category, location, key word), its listings come from top-notch companies. (In one search, we found offerings from MTV and a few of the Top 10 Law Firms in the country.) You can respond by clicking your mouse and E-mailing a resume to the employer. First, however, you have to register with the site and enter your work history in the “Resume City” database. Here’s a handy feature: create a profile of your job needs, and a personal job search agent named “Swoop” (we suppose in a law firm he would be Mr. or Ms. Swoop) will wire notification of a matching new listing directly to your “Profile In Box.”

While the site averages 50,000 job listings, only a handful are for a paralegal position. However, it could be a very important handful. Learn to look past the job title “paralegal” and delve into the job description. It could be a paralegal job in disguise!

JOB-SEARCH TIPS

Here are a few tips for job hunting on the Internet. Remember: Keep it simple!
 

• Take advantage of free search agents and E-mail bulletins that alert you to jobs matching your goals. With electronic notification, you won’t have to keep logging on to check your favorite job-search sites. You’ll automatically be notified. Make sure, though, that you receive notices through personal E-mail and not at your current employer’s address.
• Build an on-line resume: There are many sites providing hand- holding and prompts. The builder will ask you to choose from various formats. Fill in the blanks and watch as your resume takes shape. When you’re finished, you can copy and paste it into the resume builders of other job-search sites.
• Keep your resume in more than one format. Some employers will accept the on-line resume you’ve built, but others (mostly law firms) will want to get a hard copy by fax and/or mail. An ASCII format (plain text) is particularly useful. You can attach it to the body of an E-mail or translate it into any popular word-processing format and print.

CareerPath : www.careerpath.com

Here’s a site that lets you customize your job search. After registering, you can create a personal home page to save the details of all searches. Sign up to receive E-mail notification of new job listings, and you’ll be issued an on-site in-box to help track correspondence with employers. Check off the local and regional newspapers to augment the primary listings; check additional papers you want to search and from which you want to receive updates. Building a resume is relatively easy. All you need to do is copy and paste into blank fields. Privacy is guaranteed. The site reports 250,000 listings, “none more than two weeks old,” and covers aerospace, banking, entertainment, law, real estate, and other areas.

CareerMosaic: www.careermosaic.com

There’s a “CareerNetwork” section that allows you to pick a job description and canvass a range of industries. If that’s too much to handle, view all available jobs within a single industry. If you still can’t find what you want, use an index to search listings culled from Usenet Newsgroups (text-posting bulletin boards) across the Internet.

There are on-line job fairs on this site where large employers such as Citibank and Disney display company-wide openings and a career resource center with helpful advice on resume construction. Industries covered include accounting, health care, and insurance.

Headhunter.net: www.headhunter.net

This site promises that information won’t be released without your specific permission. It is claiming more than 250,000 job listings; however, we found only around twenty-five paralegal ads. But don’t let this deter you! Out of those twenty-five, you might just find the right one! Also, be aware of your alternatives: you may find a position that looks like, acts like, talks like a paralegal position without the title.

The CareerBuilder Network: www.careerbuilder.com

Here is a recent addition to the wired world of job searches. This site includes a “Personal Search Agent” that scans the site’s job databases daily for new listings that match your search criteria. When it finds one, you receive an E-mail with a job description and instructions on how to apply. It has other interesting features: “Hot Companies” that are currently hiring, advice on marketing yourself, and “The Relocation Salary Calculator,” which lets you select your current city and the city you’re moving to, then enter your current salary, and view the salary you’ll need to live in your new location. Read the monthly on-line ‘zine, Achieve, for advice on finding your dream job. Listings cover a host of industries, including biotech, health care, and media, and top-notch companies from Andersen Consulting to The Washington Post many prime targets for paralegal jobs.

Paralegals Classified: www.paralegalsclassified.com

Finally, a site dedicated strictly to paralegals nationwide. While many of the positions listed on the site are excellent, unfortunately, the site does not adequately cover some major cities. For example, Los Angeles, an active paralegal market, only listed two paralegal job listings at this writing.

However, it’s definitely worth checking. There is a free period to view the site; thereafter, there is a small monthly fee.

Hieros Gamos Legal Employment Site: www.hg.org
Here is a site showing other legal employment sites.

WOMEN'S WEB SITES

Here are a few women’s Web sites in the general job market (outside legal, specifically) that may be able to offer some solid advice:

Advancing Women: www.advancingwomen.com
Resources: Plan Your Career, Top Markets, Job Growth by Region, Industry Reports.

Electra Career: www.electra.com/caremain.html
Resources: Ask Our Career Advisors, Meet a Mentor, Right Resume, Solution Center, Back to School.

iVillage Career: www.ivillage.com/career/
Resources: A weekly E-mail career newsletter; forums and features such as Assess Yourself, Work Smarter, Work From Home, Dilemma of the Week, Ask the Experts.

Women’s Wire Work: www.womenswire.com/work
Resources: Career Quiz, Ask Biz Shrink, Business Travel, Hot Careers, Management Tips, Where to Work, Work From Home, chat rooms, and message boards.

If You Get Stressed Out Over The Whole Deal
Mark Gorkin, a Washington, D.C., psychotherapist, offers a weekly chat room and biweekly newsletter on stress. He is a national seminar speaker on job-related stress and has lots of experience in the legal field. If you want to just let off some steam, find out about the Web site www.stressdoc.com. We think he’s great.

Headhunter.net automatically “purges” resumes after 90 days. It and most other sites offer easy options for deleting your resume whenever you want.
 

• Get a secure E-mail address from an independent provider. Don’t use your office network, which may not be secure. If the site you’re using doesn’t offer E-mail, sign on with a free Web-based service such as Hotmail (www.hotmail.com). Consider signing up for personal voice mail as well.
• Know who can view a site’s resume database. The Monster Board requires employers and recruiters to pay a fee to gain access, but job seekers can keep identifying information out of sight and get employers to respond to a private mailbox.
• Always ask enough questions through the feedback button or “FAQ” (frequently asked questions) section.