Recruiters vs. Legal Assistants in California... (Monterey: lawyers, salary, professionals)

[the city]

What do you see being more in demand and a secure job? I know that recruiters can make more money with the commission. I also know recruiter positions are most common around large cities where as paralegals/legal assistants are also common in large cities, but can also can be found in small to mid-sized cities in California.

I am curious which has more job growth in the future and more demand in the future in California?

I read a new and upcoming trend is paralegal firms which do the work for law firms.

I also read the average salary for paralegals in CA is about $51,000 a year. I have read the most paralegals usually make is about $63,000 in California and that's usually for the largest law firms.

I am guessing legal assistants demand will increase as immigration cases increase in California.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Depends on the kind of work environment you would prefer. A recruiter will always be under pressure to meet a quota. I'd guess they don't work set hours. Whereas, a legal assistant would work a normal workday, with maybe some overtime. There may be pressure to meet deadlines, but not to meet a quota. There wouldn't be a commission to worry about or compete with anyone for.

My daughter ended up in Payroll. This is a job that is always in demand, as every business has a payroll. It's very specialized, and once you get experience and get certified, you can make good money. My daughter started out at the bottom, and got certified at the lower level, then at the professional level, and when she got her first supervisor position, she was making $80,000. And that was in Monterey, where salaries are not as high as the SF Bay Area. She does not have a degree.

She attended payroll conferences every year, and renewed her certificates and the required education every year, and learned different payroll software programs. She has worked her way up to a payroll systems analyst position making over $100,000/year. This process took her about 15 years.

But, look at what payroll professionals make. Even payroll assistants. To start, it is a lot of data entry, and bookkeeping.

I used to work for lawyers, and they are notoriously cheap. No matter how rich they are.

I'd expect you to do much better becoming a payroll professional. It's a very specialized field of law, without a lot of competition in the field, and once you get above the data entry level and earn your certificates, you can make a pretty good wage.

Here's some info:

Certification

[eureka1]

On the other hand a legal assistant with the right background can get a true professional job and can potentially work for the court system, state or Federal. Recruiters are essentially salespeople. Apples and oranges.

[Nema98]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Depends on the kind of work environment you would prefer. A recruiter will always be under pressure to meet a quota. I'd guess they don't work set hours. Whereas, a legal assistant would work a normal workday, with maybe some overtime. There may be pressure to meet deadlines, but not to meet a quota. There wouldn't be a commission to worry about or compete with anyone for.

My daughter ended up in Payroll. This is a job that is always in demand, as every business has a payroll. It's very specialized, and once you get experience and get certified, you can make good money. My daughter started out at the bottom, and got certified at the lower level, then at the professional level, and when she got her first supervisor position, she was making $80,000. And that was in Monterey, where salaries are not as high as the SF Bay Area. She does not have a degree.

She attended payroll conferences every year, and renewed her certificates and the required education every year, and learned different payroll software programs. She has worked her way up to a payroll systems analyst position making over $100,000/year. This process took her about 15 years.

But, look at what payroll professionals make. Even payroll assistants. To start, it is a lot of data entry, and bookkeeping.

I used to work for lawyers, and they are notoriously cheap. No matter how rich they are.

I'd expect you to do much better becoming a payroll professional. It's a very specialized field of law, without a lot of competition in the field, and once you get above the data entry level and earn your certificates, you can make a pretty good wage.

Here's some info:

Certification

Very informative post.

[the city]

thanks for the great posts!