The Happiness Avoidance Problem: You sure do know what you don’t want.

We all want career happiness. So why, for some people, is it so hard to get? It is remarkably sad that so many people end up devoting their careers to jobs that don’t make them happy. They don’t start out that way, of course. It just ends up that as they get further along in their chosen job, they discover they’re not very happy. It could be attributed to a number of things: The people...

How to be a successful virtual paralegal – just like Brenda Studebaker

When you think about being a paralegal, the general picture that's conjured up is a bunch of attorneys, a paralegal an arm's length from those attorneys, a file clerk frantically looking for the document the attorney swears he never had, phones ringing, computers crashing (well, they do....), chaos, activity, energy, excitement and calm. Calm? Well, I thought I'd throw that in...

5 Ways to Talk to the Bully at the WorkPlace

Our guest blogger today is Mark Gorkin, The Stress Doc. How to Talk to the Bully:  Five Strategic Tools, Techniques, and Tips  Now that we have a definition of bullying and some key psychosocial conditions that encourage this often demeaning, ego- or power-driven, and manipulative process, let's continue with the final segment...How to engage and set limits on the bully and...

My Toughest Assignment – Ever

No one goes through childhood saying, “What I want to be when I grow up is a mentor.” That’s like saying, “When I grow up, I want to be an actuary.” It just doesn’t happen that way. When given a chance, believe it or not, not everyone wants the awesome responsibility of carrying someone’s future career in their hands. That is, of course, if you take being a mentor seriously. I first...

Thinking of leaving the field? Try this instead.

Recently, I was a speaker at the Los Angeles Paralegal Association's 19th Annual Spring Conference. The theme was the Paralegal Career - What's happening today; alternative careers and the ever-talked about licensing, registration and regulation. What can I say? It was informative, lively and eye-opening. I was invited to be on the alternative careers panel. Oh, boy. Having taken one of...

The Salary Survey That Can Ruin Your Career

I got all excited. The NALA salary survey was out. Time to find out what paralegals around the country were making. And then the other shoe dropped.  I'm not a statistics expert. I don't claim to be. However, I am an advocate of higher salaries. Frankly, I don't know of advocates for lower salaries. I started to read the "small print" in the salary survey and all I can...

I Quit – In Stilettos. (It was epic)

Our guest blogger, Jamie Collins, sure does take chances. Burn bridges? Maybe. Comic relief? Oh, definitely. Here's her latest escapade: Today I'm here to tell you about one of the most powerful days in my life. It was transforming. Awe-inspiring. A day filled with tremendous personal freedom. It was the day I quit. I'm pretty sure you're prepared to read some humdrum piece about...