My Mentor Once Told Me…

My Paralegal Mentor Once Told Me…

“Never, ever allow your employer to treat you like an ATM machine!”

Over my 30 year career, I’ve been asked to:

  1. come in over a weekend to set up a new office;
  2. pick up the attorney’s dry cleaning;
  3. collect rent (in cash) from a tenant;
  4. make coffee;
  5. work overtime to prepare for a trial; and much more.

Where I drew the line was accepting telephone calls from the attorney after hours or on weekends or to come in to work on case files over a weekend.

One of the reasons you must ask questions in an interview is to determine the culture of a particular workplace.  While your idea of “working hard” may mean during the time between 8:30am to 5:30pm, Monday through Friday, your employer may have others ideas.  What the employer expects of you is always important to nail down.

Two questions you could ask during an interview are:

  1. Will I be expected to work overtime hours?; and
  2. Will I have to run personal errands on behalf of the attorneys?

Your personal time is vitally important to your physical & mental well being, socialization with family & friends & simply just time to relax. Cherish and protect it.

 

By Leslie Williams

Leslie Sansone Williams is a #1 International Best Selling author of "Legal Break-In" and the author of the "Paralegal Career Secrets BlackBook" (pdf). She is the creator of the Paralegal Inner Circle Class, Cover Letter Secrets Class & Job Hunt Kit Class. Her podcast, Paralegal Coffee Talk is available on Spotify. Leslie shares her Paralegal career knowledge via regular videos on the Paralegal Coffee Talk page on Facebook. Leslie has 31+ years experience in the paralegal, publishing & marketing careers. She has worked in the following areas of law: condemnation litigation, probate, estate planning, personal injury (catastrophic and medical malpractice), administrative law, franchise law, professional regulation, zoning, automobile dealership franchise law and business litigation.

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