5 Biggest Networking Mistakes Guaranteed to Stall Your Career

Networking is an Art. Networking. How many times have we heard it? It’s like saying, “Bless you” when you sneeze. It has, in a sense, lost its real meaning. How you network can make all the difference in your career success. If you want to get ahead, your networking skills have to be sharp, savvy and yes, leveraged in such a way to propel you forward. Otherwise, you pretty much run the risk...

The British are calling…..the British are calling. UK magazine reaches out for interview.

From our guest blogger,  Karin Schroeck-Singh of the popular Careerheads online magazine in the UK........who graciously conducted this interview. Karin Schroeck-Singh:Chere Estrin is the CEO of Estrin Legal Staffing and Paralegal Knowledge Institute. She is the author of hundreds of articles, 10 books on legal careers and has been interviewed by Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, ABA Journal and...

Weight! Weight! Are You Sabotaging Your Career? Those Extra Pounds May Be Holding You Back

A update to a popular piece..... Have you ever considered that those extra pounds that sneaked up when you were just “having an extra bite” might be holding your career back?  Some years ago when I was just starting out working for a major Los Angeles law firm, my mentor, Sinatra, the Director of Administration, asked me to lunch.  No, not the star but for a variety of reasons you...

Here’s How Legal Technology Expertise Can Make or Break Your Career

In a perfect world, all paralegals know everything about legal technology.  As you and I know, there’s no perfect world. However, not knowing enough about technology or believing you do, is the best way to bust your career. Trust me. I have 20+ years of experience managing, educating and staffing thousands of paralegals. (OK, I can admit to having more years of experience but then I have...

Do In-House Paralegals Get More Respect?

Aretha Franklin sang to the world about it. The subject is included when employees, girlfriends, wives, husbands, boyfriends, grandmothers and pets are asked how they want to be treated. I’m talking about respect.  R-E-S-P-E-C-T, as Ms. Franklin would put it.             In my travels across the country as a paralegal...

Where Do I Go From Here? Leveraging Your Background Is the Smartest Career Move You Can Make – Just Ask Chuck Smith

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in your paralegal career is to not leverage your background. In fact, when faced with either entering the field or changing positions, the words "transferable skills" sometime seem to make a beeline for the exit as candidates get it into their heads that obscure skills in their past are not related to current positions. What am I telling you to...

Donald Trump loves me! (Huh?) What You Need to Know Right Now: Ethics and Social Networking

Today's guest blogger is Ted Brooks with this very funny and insightful blog. Enjoy!  LinkedIn With Donald Trump! (Legal Ethics) Donald Trump loves me! It is certainly clear that he can spot a winner – a leader in the profession, at the top of their game. I'm sure that describes me, and must be why he has requested to join my massive and influential LinkedIn network (of a...

Dear Son: Don’t Forget to Stand Out

You may remember Jamie Collins—one of our top writers.  Today I'm pleased to feature one of her posts on The Estrin Report. I am excited to announce that Jamie is not only writing in the legal genre these days, but also recently launched a personal blog called: Just Being Jamie. So what is this new blog? It’s pretty much Jamie writing on a wide variety of topics, with no set...

Mentoring Can Be the Biggest Mistake of Your Career

No one goes through childhood saying, “When I grow up I want to be a mentor.” That’s like saying, “When I grow up, I want to be an actuary.” When given a chance, believe it or not, not everyone wants the awesome responsibility for someone else's career. I first learned of Jamie Collins when she picked up the phone and told me I was going to be her mentor. She has a different...

Should Attending Law School Be Kept a Secret From My Employer?

“Nothing is worse than making a mistake that could be a career buster.” A paralegal posted a common question to one of the LinkedIn groups: “Am I absolutely out of my mind trying to find paralegal work, with no experience yet, only a certificate, and entering law school in the fall? Not exactly the ideal situation for a lot of hiring companies, apparently.”I had to put in my $.25,...