I am really sorry about the PFOs. They are a natural part of the journey, and please do not let it keep you down. The paralegal market is really competitive, but nothing you can’t handle. Keep applying, keep refining your approach. Ask yourself… are there any gaps in my application strategy and/or knowledge, and how can I fill in these gaps? This is a question I had frequently asked myself. For example, whether it’s tailoring your cover letter to the specific notes in the job description, speaking very concisely in written formats, or even backing up your points with vivid examples from your past work experiences. The specificity needed to succeed in written applications/cover letters should not be underestimated. For me, I found that saying things such as ”As noted in the job description, typical tasks include X. Whilst I have not done this specifically, I have done Y, which is quite similar in Z respects. In that capacity, I did ABC, which demonstrated my ability to EFG - a key skill needed for success in this role“.
I also recommend applying beyond private practice for these paralegal roles. My main reason for saying this is that you will be able to sit on the business/client‘s side and see how thing operate, ultimately helping you craft better applications. For example, in-house roles, Legal Assistant roles, ALSPs, and so on. Even if the role is not paralegal, and you intern at, say, a private equity firm, you can tie that experience to wanting to train at a transactional focused law firm, when applying for TCs. Now, on the other side of the spectrum, say you find from that experience you want to go into disputes. You can say that through working at X PE firm, you saw transactional matters first hand. But, through taking part in X (disputes related matters), you found that you want to explore this more. The point being here is that any experience you get can help you show demonstrated interest - any experience at all. So, please, do not let the PFOs from the paralegal roles keep you down. You are doing an amazing job.
