Question: What is an advanced paralegal certification?

Also, do you have any other work experience? Retail, office, whatever? (It helps to list it, because those skills really do translate.)

Let's see... I'd leave off the graduation date, bring "Related Coursework" up and have it as bullet points underneath education, also bring up distinctions and make it part of the education section. Were you in any clubs or anything? I listed stuff like that, like a student leadership seminar, etc.

I work in the Springfield area, by the way :-), and am a member of the Western Massachusetts Paralegal Association. Are you looking for something in Massachusetts or Connecticut?

oooh! thanks so much. those are some good tips, because i do have some retail experience too. i would LOVE something in western mass, if possible, but i've seen very few postings. so, ive mostly been applied in the hartford area.

from what i can gather the "advanced paralegal certification" means that the program exceeds the min. expectations for aba approved paralegal schools.

Masslive.com sometimes has some decent postings. Good luck, and I hope you join the WMPA if you haven't already! www.wmassparalegal.org

In fact, here's a listing that was posted last week on the WMPA job board & is now on Masslive:

Legal Assistant/Paralegal. Preparation of legal documents, docketing
and scheduling. Experience in domestic relations and residential real estate
preferred. Self-starter with strong organizational skills, proficient in use
of Word. Competitive salary and benefits. Send resume and salary
requirements to Charlene Kras, Frank P. Fitzgerald, P.C., 1391 Main St. Ste
600, Springfield, MA 01103, via e-mail cbk@fitzgeraldatlaw.com
<mailto:cbk@fitzgeraldatlaw.com>, or fax 413-732-3346. No calls please.

Thanks!! Just applied!! :)

i think you might be writing about the rez critique i took part in. i'm willing to help but before you read further, i want you to know that i can sound harsh. i believe in effective writing. that means, i want to make sure that you feel like you have to react to what i suggest. so, don't take anything i say personally, my critique is simply to improve your rez.

also, don't just read my critique, read others, especially sunfire_leo because she is in your market. she knows about your market's unique requirements to get a job. my critiques are simply from the point of view of making it standout in the first thirty seconds so that i would be interested in your rez for at least another minute to consider you seriously.
so, here is the fix i'm providing you:

Susan Tingley
118 West Street
Goshen, CT 06756
susan.tingley@hotmail.com
(860) 480- 0324

EDUCATION:
Elms College – Chicopee, MA
May 2006
Bachelor of Art, Legal Studies – ABA Approved Program; Minor in History
GPA: 3.76
Paralegal Tutor – Academic Resource Center

EXPERIENCE:
Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination – Springfield, MA
January 2006 – May 2006
Paralegal Intern
• Filed complaints
• Interviewed complainants
• Draft official correspondences with complainants
• Assist attorneys with investigation strategy

Middlesex County Probate Court East Cambridge, MA
June 2005 – August 2005
Case Specialist
• Averaged over 100 divorce and paternity dockets
• Provided legal service work to Department of Revenue

COMPUTER COMPETENCIES & RESEARCH SKILLS:
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite
• Proficient in Westlaw and Lexis

REFERENCES:
References are available upon request.

aside from changing your novels to bullet points, i've kept your format for the most part. it's clear, clean and readable. i don't like it, however, if i was given it, i wouldn't complain about the format because i've seen some attrociously "creative" resumes.
you're a recent grad, so i've made the most important part of your rez the top entry
i don't have time to spend more than 30 seconds on a resume that is likely to be useless to me. so, don't try to explain anything, just tell me the raw stats i am looking for and let me figure out if i'm interested. there is nothing you can do on your resume to interest me. the problem with paragraphs is that you are doing things that make me disinterested. let's avoid making it harder for the reader and at least give yourself a chance. if i get the raw information i want and think there might be something in the rez that i would like explaning, i'll call you and talk with you on the phone... or setup an interview.
how is tutoring a distinction? is it only the top 10% of your class? is there some other way it is a distinction? you need to state why it's a distinction. but it doesn't deserve it's own section. you didn't when the national debate championship. even if you got a summa cum laude, you wouldn't put that in its own section so i just don't see how you are going to justify its own section. but if it is a disctinction, just put in a short explanation.

you can't lie and you shouldn't even want to deceive. the fact that sunfire_leo was confused about what kind of degree/certificate you have is a problem, especially in light of the fact that she works in the market you intend to find a job in. it would be one thing if i didn't understand, which i don't, because i'm from a different market. so... do you have a bachelor's degree? my version of your rez includes such an entry, but if you don't you need to fix that. it's okay that you don't. there is nothing you can do about that unless you intend to go to school to get one. just work with what you have and make what you have shine. don't hide what you don't have because it'll be apparent that you think of what you don't have as a weakness.
took out the course work. attorneys knows what you were studying. don't treat them like idiots.
here is the contradiction you've been waiting for: treat the rez like the attorney/paralegal is an idiot! make everything clear.. crystal clear. statements like "provided legal service work to department of revenue" has two questions written all over it: 1. irs or the one in your state 2. what is legal service? were practicing law without a license? probably not. need to be clearer. (granted i wrote that line, but i couldn't make what you wrote into anything that was acceptable.)
remember i told you a couple points ago not to lie or deceive? well, you need to start thinking about loop holes, starting with you rez. rather than writing that 100 docket entries was a requirement, just state that you did at least 100 per day. let them do the interpretation.
computer proficiency is not in my rez because that is simply expected. but i think a recent grad should have an entry in there for that. but don't write a novel about it, you are not in the tech field - plus it wouldn't be all that impressive if that's all you could do with technology in the tech field. so, just bullets points that reassure them that you are proficient in the things you need to do your job.
good to hav ethe reference section but you need to have your references on a sheet just like the rez. i don't know if you have it or not, but if you do, great. make the header exactly the same on the reference. you want consistency as part of your personal brand.
lastly, have two of your references write generic letters for you. "dear employer, sue was my best student in class..." something like that. this way, your references will get less calls and it looks more impressive. it means that your references actually had to do some work for you. and people dont' do work for other people for free unless they like that person. the letters don't have to be long and you really don't need more than two: two professors or one from the internship and the other from a prof.
comments about you, not about the rez: the most impressive part about you is your grade, or so i can read from your rez. you didn't run for office at school, you didn't do any extracurricular activities. that's fine, work with what you have, right? so, what you have instead is some work experience. besides from putting it into your rez, you'll need to highlight that in your interview. make that what distinguishes you from other recent grad candidates. but whatever you do, don't try to compete with experienced professionals in your interview. don't compare yourself to people who will make you seem less accomplished. best of luck

wow, thanks for all the insight, that was great!
:)

oh, and to clarfify, the "advanced paralegal certification" is the 32-credit aba approved certification that came with my BA. it's one of the things they try to push about the program, although i'm not sure how it differs from your standard paralegal certification.

oh, so then it's probably this:
ba in legal studies
advanced paralegal certificate - aba parroved program
minor in history

that should explain to employers that you have all three of those separate things. that's really a pretty darn good deal, if i can say so myself.

i thought so too! now if only i can get an f-ing job.

thanks again for all the help, i really appreciate it. just having another pair of eyes (albeit, resume skilled eyes) helps so much. :)

I agree 100% with changing the wordy paragraphs to simple, concise bullet points. An employer wants to take a quick look at your resume and see what you have to offer. He/she doesn't want to read paragraphs.

Best of luck to you! :)

thank you! :)

I'd cut down on the coursework descriptions and just list the courses (if I were an employer I would skim over that and just read the course titles)....and use that space to add a "qualifications" section (I put this near the top before education or experience) listing your skills pertaining to the job you're applying for.

Also where is your objective?

Make sure that you use your OWN resume design, and not a generated one from MSWord or anywhere else....you want your resume to be unique and stand out, and not look generic or common. Otherwise, the employer might just pass right through it w/o even looking at it because it doesn't look interesting (it's true :)

Also, the references thing at the bottom doesn't really need to be there. They are kind of expected nowadays....you could include something about the references in your cover letter if you wanted to, this way you can save space on your resume (keep it down to one page) for other information.

how would you propose making it more interesting? i added the bullets that juris suggested and i def think im going to add the qualifications section as well as list some courses. the reason i really want to at least list them is because i've gotten a lot of questions (from attorneys mostly) about what paralegal education is. (most seem to think that its just like secretarial school or something).

do you think changing the heading (font, bigger size)to look prettier might work? i guess i went with such a simple font because i didn't want to be obnoxious, but i guess that lead to it being blah.

the bigger the heading, the better...you want yourself to stand out.

the bullets do improve it a lot better.

that's strange that the attorneys are asking you what the paralegal education is...maybe it's your location??? Maybe they just want to get a better idea of what you actually know and obtained from your schooling?