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  • Paralegal Online

    Posted May 11th, 2008 by
    Categories: law-degree

    Online Paralegal Schools offer studies and degrees in the many responsibilities of legal assistants, or Paralegals. Paralegals perform many of the time-consuming tasks that lawyers would otherwise perform in legal offices. Paralegals, however, may not practice law, setting legal fees, or give legal advice.

    Online Paralegal studies prepare students for assisting lawyers to prepare for hearings, trials, meetings, and closings, investigate case facts and relevant information, identify relevant laws and prior judicial decisions, locate legal articles, and prepare and organize materials for lawyers. A well-trained Paralegal will be prepared to write reports that will determine how to handle a case, prepare arguments, draft pleadings and motions, and assist attorneys in the courtroom proceedings.

    The duties of Paralegals can vary widely, depending on the type of organization in which they work. Paralegals in small law firms usually are responsible for a variety of duties that require a general knowledge of the law. Large law firms, government agencies, and corporations, however, are more likely to expect Paralegals to specialize in one aspect of law.

    Computer use and technical knowledge has become essential to Paralegal work, requiring studies in software and Internet.

    Advancing your career or make a career change are possible through Online Paralegal studies. You can find the Online Paralegal School to meet those needs by searching options right here at www.schoolsgalore.com.

    Copyright 2006 - All Rights Reserved
    Michael Bustamante, in association with Media Positive Communications, Inc. for SchoolsGalore.com

    M. Bustamante is a staff writer for Media Positive Communications, Inc. in association with SchoolsGalore.com. Find Paralegal Online at SchoolsGalore.com; meeting your needs as your educational resource to locate schools

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    Graduates! Transferable Skills Are Like GOLD To Employers

    Posted May 2nd, 2008 by
    Categories: law-degree

    Transferable skills can be defined as those skills or abilities that can be applied equally from one job to another. They are skills that graduates have gathered through volunteer work, sports, hobbies, community work, and can be used in their new careers. The importance of transferable skills for graduates cannot be overstated. There is a growing demand from employers, for strong graduates with desirable transferable skills.

    In this day and age, employers expect graduates to not only have knowledge of their area of study or expertise, but to have the inherent and learned ability to adapt to the new working environment they will be joining, bringing exceptional communication skills, the ability to lead and be led, and the proven ability to function efficiently and effectively.

    Transferable Skills and Education

    Education does not mean simply to impart knowledge, but to contribute to the holistic development of the student. Skills, such as communication skills, planning skills, and multi-tasking skills, among others, are known as transferable skills, and are also alternately called ‘key skills,’ ‘generic skills,’ or ‘core skills.’

    In the ever-changing employment market, there is an increasing need for graduates to move away from the conventional market, as there is a diverse range of jobs for them. They need to perform efficiently as soon as they take up their new appointment, utilizing the many transferable skills they may have picked up during their education. Today’s work environment strongly endorses the transferable skills in a graduate seeking employment.

    There is research going on to identify the type of transferable skills that are required by graduates. The scope of the research, among others, includes:

    Identifying transferable skills valued by employers

    Ascertaining the importance of transferable skills when recruiting graduates

    While recruiting graduates, ‘transferable skills’ is a more sought after factor as opposed to academic record and relevant work experience. Developing transferable skills that would be an asset in a work environment is a major concern for graduates. In the fast-paced work environment, employers are looking for graduates who can fit into their organizations; can add value and learning quickly.

    More and more organizations and employers are looking to employ graduates, who not only are experts in their career field, but also are competent in other realms of the business world including communication, networking, team building, and career management.

    Some of the transferable skills, which employers look for, are:

    Delegating responsibility
    Dealing with crises
    Attending to visual detail
    Assessing and evaluating own and others’ work
    Time management
    Multi-tasking
    Presenting written and oral material
    Handling complaints
    Keeping records
    Coordinating activities
    Planning and arranging activities
    Utilizing specific computer software
    Training or teaching others
    Motivating others
    Identifying and managing ethical issues

    Organizations with affirmative recruiting objectives will recruit earlier, even before the end of the academic year, allowing them first pick in graduates.

    © GradResumes.com - Any reproduction or reprint must include this information. GradResumes.com specializes in writing graduate resumes and college admission documents. With dozens of professional resume writers and education specialists, and some of the finest editing staff in the industry, we have effectively helped thousands of clients launch their post-graduate careers and successfully gain admission to their schools of choice.

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    The Application Essay

    Posted April 28th, 2008 by
    Categories: law-degree

    Whether you’re submitting a personal statement, a statement of purpose, or a diversity essay, make sure to follow these rules:

    Rule #1: Edit and Proofread, Then Proofread Again Your grammar, spelling, and punctuation must be flawless. When in doubt, pullout those old standbys The Chicago Manual of Style and Strunk & White. If grammar, spelling, and punctuation aren’t your strong points, enlist a friend to help (and give you a tutorial, while you’re at it). There’s no excuse for a college graduate to mess this up. And beware the spell-check trap — it won’t catch “right” when you should have written “write,” and it won’t catch your “commitment to pubic service.” (You laugh, but I saw that typo as a law review editor.) Always have a second pair of eyes proofread your essays before you send them off.

    Rule #2: Nothing Cutesy Anything cutesy or gimmicky will make admissions officers groan. Stay away from the following:

    Essays in the form of poetry
    Essays in the form of a legal brief (”For all the reasons cited above, the admissions committee should admit Petitioner to Slamdunk Law School.”)
    Essays in the form of an obituary (”Tracy Johnson died the most respected jurist of her time.”)
    Essays in the form of an interview
    Crayons, construction paper, perfume, or illustrated essays, no matter how sophisticated

    Rule #3: No Legalisms You’re not a lawyer yet, so your use of legal concepts or terminology will most likely demonstrate that you have no idea what you’re talking about, not to mention the fact that legal writing is considered god-awful by the rest of the world, including admissions officers. Many applicants, for example, refer to a company or a person violating someone’s right to free speech, when, in fact, the First Amendment applies only to government restrictions on speech. And by all means, steer clear of anything in Latin.

    Rule #4: Show, Don’t Tell Back up any general statements with examples and anecdotes. If you write, “The student presidency taught me that leadership means more than delegating,” tell us how you learned that lesson. What were the conflicts and problems you faced? If you write, “I have excellent time-management skills,” back up that statement by pointing out that you graduated in the top 10 percent of an engineering program that 40 percent of engineering freshmen drop.

    Rule #5: Respect Page Limits and Other Minutiae If a school gives you a page or word limit, abide by it. And follow the spirit of the rule as well as the letter — don’t get too sneaky with fonts, margins, and line spacing. Admissions officers won’t cut you any slack if your essay comes in under the page limit but makes them go cross-eyed because the font or line spacing is so small. If a school doesn’t specify a length, a good rule of thumb is two to three pages, double-spaced, in eleven-point Times New Roman, with one-inch margins all around. When in doubt, shorter is better than longer. As an admissions officer buddy of mine likes to say: “The vast, vast, vast majority of just-out-of-college applicants (almost all applicants, really) are not interesting enough to fill six pages. Show me that you understand my time is valuable, and show me that you understand how to pick out what’s really important.”

    Make sure to put your name and Social Security number in a header and page numbers in a footer, just in case your file goes splat and has to be reassembled. Also, identify in the header what essay question you’re answering, if you’re given more than one option or are submitting more than one essay (”Personal Statement,” “Optional Essay #3,” etc.). By the way, you don’t need to give your essay a title like “Morris 405″ or “Jorge.” I added those titles in the appendix essays so that I could refer to them easily in this chapter.

    Don’t submit pages that are crumpled, stained, or smell like pot smoke — most admissions officers really aren’t looking for that contact high. Really, your essay shouldn’t smell like any kind of smoke.

    And finally, if you’re getting too close to your material and think you’re losing perspective, turn to the sample essays in the appendix to keep your big-picture objective in mind. Can you see how much more engaging and revealing the good ones are?

    Copyright © 2006 Anna Ivey

    Excerpt
    An excerpt from the book The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions
    by Anna Ivey
    Published by Harcourt; April 2005;$14.00US; 0-15-602979-0
    Copyright © 2006 Anna Ivey

    Anna Ivey, JD, served as dean of admissions at the University of Chicago Law School. She now runs Anna Ivey Admissions Counseling, a counseling firm for college, business school, and law school applicants. She divides her time between Boston and Orlando. Please visit her website at http://www.annaivey.com.

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