Since you’re in Madison, look into the Wisconsin state civil service. I know it’s got a huge target painted on its back, but it might still be worth looking into. Lots of agencies use paralegals and legal assistants, and with your experience, you may be able to get a higher pay grade.
IME Craigslist is pretty terrible for job searching. Signal to noise ratio is just very shitty.
Agreed. Also be aware that although reputable recruiters use Monster so does every MLM and sales recruiter in existence. I was surprised to get a few weeks of relative quiet from them but this week I’ve been informed that I would be an amazing rental car agent, insurance sales person and that I should visit a cosmetics company for an exciting opportunity.
Yeah, every Monster listing I’ve ever seen was for what turned out to be a thinly disguised cold calling sales job. Admittedly I haven’t been job hunting since 2007.
Ditto. Best of the online jobhunters I’ve seen.
Make sure you get letters of recommendation before they go. They won’t want to be giving references while sipping Champagne on their yachts in the Bahamas. And do ask the lawyer who may not be retiring what she’s going to do, because if she’s not retiring but joining another firm, there may be a place for you there.
Yes, attorneys do take their assistants with them quite frequently when they switch firms. They aren’t saying much to me except that the one who is retiring said the one who is not retiring is looking to rent some shared space that comes with clerical staff. Our existing space is far, far too expensive for a one-attorney office. Business has been down so much here due to the economy doing so well that people aren’t filing bankruptcies. Frankly I don’t think the non-retiring boss will be able to afford (or want) to pay what I make. It’s not bad, but I’m certain I am not paid what a lot of legal assistants do, especially with my years of experience.
I agree with you on the letters of recommendation.
The answer is “all of the above”.
Maybe not Monster. Monster is crap. Not only is it mostly cold-calling churn and burn sales jobs. It’s basically a one stop site to get your email on every spam list ever.