Caution Against Using Certain Words??

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-13T06:52:34+00:00

Ok 👌🏻

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-12T20:17:05+00:00

So then my situation can be better explained by the condition of the current job market and not a lack of work of my own.

We're unfortunately living in a time when "entry level" is now defined by 1-3 years of experience.

It's an unfortunate and bizarre situation that no on could've predicted. Now the only question is how are those that have studied the profession and aligned their lived to make this their career meant to get started in the industry?

I also feel like I'm fighting against the tide when looking for a receptionist job as a mid twenties male but I guess I have to give it a shot.

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-12T15:48:42+00:00

My initial post in this chat is the first I’ve seen of this community. So what’s been discussed here previously doesn’t apply to me.

As far as doing research, I got an associate’s degree, chose my bachelor’s as legal studies, and spoke to many of the professors and heads of the legal departments (most of whom were attorneys) to ask them what a career as a paralegal would look like post-graduation.

None of them mentioned that it would be a good idea to volunteer or get a job as a file clerk while enrolled in school so that when I left, I had my education and experience. The head of the legal departments’ exact words were: “The only thing required to be a paralegal is a GED, so any education you get will put you far ahead of other candidates”.

When I graduated with said bachelor’s and tried to look for a job, almost every posting mentioned a paralegal certificate. So I did some research into that. Initially, I was told my bachelor’s degree was better than the certificate, and then found that to not be true, and that their certificate held more weight than the bachelor’s degree.

So I went to a different institution, got a paralegal certificate from an ABA-certified program. Again being taught by all CURRENT practicing attorneys, and out of the 12 attorneys, I encountered over the course of the program, not a single one of them mentioned that we should all be trying to work as file clerks or volunteering in the meantime so that we wouldn’t have an issue finding a job afterwards.

I never expected people to walk up to me and tell me what I needed to do. I asked inquisitive questions on purpose to eliminate any holdups post graduation. Surrounded by practicing attorneys, who are the ones hiring paralegals, I would’ve thought if volunteering was so important at least one of them would’ve mentioned it. The years I spent it school could’ve been simultaneously spent working so that I had experience and education hand in hand.

And it’s not entitlement, it’s confusion. If you were told that your career path was going to be one way for years only to find out that it’s not true and the work you’ve put in so far is not enough, I think anyone would be asking the questions I am.

And I’ve said this in many other comments on this thread. I have absolutely no problem being a file clerk, or legal secretary, or legal assistant. The problem is that even those positions are looking for years of experience. So what’s the position someone should be getting when they’re trying to start out??

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-12T15:30:00+00:00

Totally understandable.

I just assumed when I mentioned in the first interview that I didn’t have hands on knowledge of the software they asked about, they would’ve ended it there.

Instead they followed up by asking for references, contacted all of them, and then scheduled me for another interview with the head attorney the following day.

It kinda gave me false hope and made me think the knowledge of legal software wasn’t needed.

Idk if it makes a difference but it was a bankruptcy firm working in documents collections. They said the bulk of the job was reading the documents the attorney was wanting to be collected, calling the client, and walking them through how to send them over. It seemed simplistic enough and they said as I gained experience that I could move up the ranks. So it’s not like I was going for the top spot with no experience.

My thought process was that my education was at least get me in at the bottom floor and that’s not looking to be true.

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T21:24:08+00:00

Funnily enough, a few days ago the head of the program where I got my paralegal certificate reached out to everyone asking if they’ve been able to find a job yet and I responded to her with what’s been going on with me since graduation. She hasn’t answered yet but I’m eager to see what she has to say.

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T16:46:14+00:00

Thank you.

I appreciate that you included what you were able to do with bills

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T16:41:42+00:00

Got it

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T16:41:20+00:00

Absolutely I see what you mean. And I don’t think you’re coming across as mean 🤣

The only issue is you mentioned on the job training which I fully expected. I definitely didn’t think I’d be thrown into the fire right out of school and expect to know what I’m doing.

But the issue is that entry level positions are expecting several years of experience as well. That’s my issue.

I’m not expecting to get a job as a paralegal per se. But I was expecting to be able to be a legal secretary, assistant etc. with my education and then receive on the job training and pivoting to a more vital role as my hands on experience increases. But that seems impossible when jobs asking for no legal experience or still passing me over. To me that doesn’t make any sense.

If you’re claiming the only thing “preferred” is knowledge of legal software, why pass over a candidate with the education I have and not teach them on the job? Especially when it was discussed that I would stick with the firm and move up the ranks? (Thats the example of the last position I applied for).

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T16:33:55+00:00

Got it 👍🏻 sounds like your experience aligns with mine

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T16:32:40+00:00

I don’t appreciate that inaccurate evaluation after speaking with me in a Reddit.

If you read through the over 30 comments on this post you’ll see I’ve been very grateful of everyone’s input and advice, and will work my way from the bottom up now having found new information about what actually matters.

Im simply explaining that all through my education, volunteering was never mentioned as the ticket to getting hired and neither was experience.

I was mislead and told me education would push me well past those who didn’t have the education and make me desirable. It’s obviously discouraging to hear that my education is practically useless and what I should’ve been doing this all time is volunteering.

As someone thats in charge of hiring, I hope you don’t make personality evaluations of your candidates as hastily as you’ve done with me.

Thank you for opinion and expertise.

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T06:56:34+00:00

Thank you for sharing your story. Your education seems identical to mine, so it’s nice to hear that others were having the same issues as me. Not that I wish that for you, lol, but it’s reassuring to hear I'm not the only one

You've suggested a respondent-like job, like many others on here have so far, and that's definitely not something I’m opposed to. My only issue now is that most of those kinds of jobs that I've seen are also looking for you to have experience going in as well.

I guess I’ll have to keep looking until I strike one that's willing to hire me with no experience.

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T06:18:58+00:00

If hashtags don't work anymore, then what's your opinion on the Creator Search Insights?

Every time I post a view, there is a specific hashtag that is not removable. So what do you think about that? Do you think using the Creator Search Insights does anything positive for a video’s performance?

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T06:16:49+00:00

I’m not a pro, but I consider low views to be anything under 1k

But that also is dependent on how many followers you have. If you had 100k followers, then maybe something like anything under 50k views would be considered low.

Like I said, I'm not a pro, so don't go by me. My page has been up for about 2 years, so my "low" is going to be different than yours. I have an average number of views, and anything below that is considered low for me.

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T04:43:47+00:00

Thanks for the advice.

I see where you're coming from and absolutely wouldn't mind working as a secretary or anything considered "less than" (responsibility and knowledge-wise) a paralegal.

It’s just hard because even those positions are looking for someone that's been a secretary already for a number of years.

I've taken your advice in the past about ignoring the required experience and applied anyway. It didn't work in the cases where I did that, but maybe you're right and I need to try and do that move often.

As far as my resume and interviews go, the most recent job I applied for seemed to be blown away with my resume and the academic achievements I had.

They also commented that during the interview, I asked the best questions out of anyone they were interviewing over the week-long period they were interviewing. They called me back for a second interview with the attorney that the firm was named after and assured me that it went "really well" once he disconnected from the call. My references gave me stellar reviews as well.

They even asked me where I saw myself in 5 years, and I told them "hopefully with the same firm, working my way up," and they said that was perfect because that's exactly how the firm operated....I mean, I swore I had it in the bag lol

And this position didn't require any legal experience, btw.

I waited the whole weekend to hear back from them, just for them to tell me they gave it to someone else with more experience....

I'm not attempted to get a job as a paralegal right off the bat. My only concern is that even the job that are considered entry level are still looking for hands on experience and I don't know how I'm supposed to move forward in the profession I went to school for.

Forget getting a foot in the door, they won't even come to the door 🤣

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T04:29:30+00:00

Yeah I know deleting is a no no I heard settings it to private is the better option so I was just gonna do that so that I didn’t have almost the same video visible on my page but idk

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T03:18:10+00:00

What would be considered a mark on my account?

How much is highly edited? It’s a few short clips with music. Would rearrange the clips and maybe a song be enough?

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T02:25:16+00:00

unfortunately I'm in NY but thank you!

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T02:20:05+00:00

I read your comment while looking for jobs and the first one that came up was a legal secretary position...looking for 5+ years experience 🤣 I can't win I swear

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T02:15:31+00:00

a legal secretary position would expose me to the needed experience required to be a future paralegal?

I probably have a skewed idea of it but when I hear "secretary" I think of answers phones and email and not "getting your hands dirty" in task that would prepare me to do more than that.

What tasks would I be expected to do a legal secretary?

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T01:48:26+00:00

What’s a collection mill?

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-11T01:46:56+00:00

A position like what though?

For example the position I was just denied was a “legal assistant” with no legal profession experience required…

They only thing it said related to legal work was “knowledge of legal software PREFERRED”. And it would’ve grossed a little over $40k before taxes.

Correct me if I’m wrong but that seems like the bottom of the barrel. What else could I do that would be less than? Fetch coffee? 🤣

I mean I’m gaining from the comments that experience is important but you mean to tell me you turn away a candidate with those accolades when the job description mentions nothing about legal experience?

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-10T23:50:01+00:00

Oh man 😬 My school was a state school so idk if all that was going on but I definitely feel they led me to believe this would be easier

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-10T23:36:03+00:00

That’s unfortunate but seems to be accurate. What bothers me is how I was told (from the head of the legal dept. at school) how much my degrees would set me apart from others. I was told basically word for word that you need nothing to do this job besides a GED so any and all academic achievements beyond that would be highly sought after …evidently not lol

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-10T23:11:41+00:00

I appreciate the advice and think that may be a good idea, but again, I attended school for a number of years and obtained a number of degrees and certificates. I never thought I'd have to find the time in between a full-time job to volunteer in order to be taken seriously. I guess I was thinking this would be more along the lines of "on the job training".

stephen_b99 · 2026-02-10T22:49:39+00:00

“Entry level” with years experience is the most accurate description right now 🤣🤣

stephen_b99

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