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It's too bad you are having a bad time. We relocated from L.A 4 years ago and my husband did not have any problems finding a good job. Right now, he works at OUC... (great benefits!). He has been working there for a couple of years so far. This summer, for example, he is getting a three week vacation...
By the way, we do speak Spanish, (although it was NOT a requirement when he applied for the job). Now we want to learn portuguese too (and other languages if necessary), because we understand that it's good to be prepared for our own benefit. The United States is a country of inmigrants and a multilingual person is an asset for any company. Not only we want to learn a new language, but all those skills (computer, etc) that are necessary to compete out there... here in Orlando, or any other state.
My wife is a paralegal, the last attorney she worked for started people at $33,000 a year. Right out of school. File clerks made $10 per hour. I wouldn't work for the company NG works for. No wonder your depressed.
Thank you for your "kind words" about me.
There is no such firm paying $33k staright out of school in Orlando. Do you have any ads to back-up that unsubstanciated claim? Where does she work? They start all Paralegals at Morgan for less than $20,000 a year. And that is THE biggest firm in Orlando.
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Originally Posted by phoenixxphyre
That's what's worrisome for me about trying to find a job before moving. I live in OH--there is NOTHING here as far as jobs (making 20k a year would actually be an improvement for me), and I could pick up and move within a couple weeks. My brother lives near where I'm applying, and others have suggested to use his address so I don't get throw in the trash BUT as he points out, if they ask me to come in for an interview it'll be tough to explain why I have to take a flight to do so. So, the best I can do is use my address and stress that relocation is not an issue, that I WANT to move.
I know the OH job market sucks. All the companies leave OH because taxes are so high in OH. My wife is from Cincy.... I know the drill.
The catch is... if you take a $20,000/year job in FL, you will NOT be able to ahve your own place without 2 or 3 roommates and barely get by. Cost of living down here is MUCH higher than OH.
Use his address to actually get some replies to resumes. I have to let you know, the local job market is EXTREMELY competitive and there are VERY few good jobs out there. The reason: people move to FL in droves... tons of people moving in and there are MORE PEOPLE THAN GOOD-PAYING JOBS.
But you believe the rosie picture the other are paiting. They live in "fantasyland". Everything is perfect... no crime in orlando, no insurance or property tax crisis, no trouble getting a GOOD JOB. OH and this one of my favorite.... some of these guys even DENY that Spanish is a REQUIREMENT (not an option) to work in a ton of jobs in Central and South Florida. Again, there is reality and there is dreamland. Some of these posts here are way out in dreamland. Oh well....
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Originally Posted by blueoktober
My friend works for Seminole Co Legal Aid Society - a non-profit place - and she is a Paralegal making near 40k.
People with brains......do your research. My old company was looking to hire a new intern to do phone work and learn Technical Support as they went along for about 30k a year. It took them a month to find someone.
Legal Aid Society has been letting a lot of their staff go. They do NOT pay that much either... tehse guys do "pro bono" work (free legal work). $40k a year? LOL.... maybe she told you "$14,000" and NOT "$40,000".
Thats not true of every company...simply because NirvanaGuy's company has ignorant hiring practices that doesn't mean everyone does.
This is true. I actually heard back from a company in VA that I'd applied to right after graduating which is still a pretty good distance of relocation. I think places should at least be upfront if they only accept locals (I've seen more than a few that say something to the effect of 'must live within reasonable commuting distance'), and I'm just hoping that the places I've applied to which haven't indicated such are as fair. (Then again, I guess if they aren't that's telling in and of itself and not a place I should want to work for).
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There are tons of jobs in orlando paying great money. People like ng do not like to get their hands dirty and work hard . They like to sit round all day doing nothing and make good money. Y ou can bartend wait tables fix trucks cut grass clean houses drive a truck sell cars do lots off things and make more than 30 40 k ayear.You can put me anywhere in usa and i will make 50k ayear and thats whitout any school.
And I don't mind doing that. I figure what I've done here while looking for a better job (retail, hotel work), I can do anywhere just as easily, or bartend, waitress, etc. It's all customer service, all requiring more or less the same kinds of skills with slightly different application. I figure if, in a few months of applying to what I can and attempting to get interviews from a distance, I haven't found something I'll have saved enough to move and take the first job(s) I can find to sustain myself until I can find what I'm looking for.
Why would I make it up. She worked for a debt colection lawyer. There are 7 or 8 paralegals there now that make good money. There are plenty of good paying jobs here. Yes they are lower than alot of places. But you act like the only jobs in Orlando pay $10 hr or lower.
Actually the wages are $7,500 a year--paralegals have to have six jobs to make ends meet.
The last time I made $20,000 a year was in the early 70's. I've been a paralegal in Orlando since 1986, legal secretary since 1970. What Dalt10 posted about $33,000 as a starting salary as a paralegal is right on. Salaries go up from there to $50,000 to even $70,000 for one paralegal in Orlando I know. There is no ad in the newspaper for a paralegal for $12,000 to $18,000 a year. I've decided you probably do work in a legal department of a major corp in Lake Mary--as a manintenance guy. Otherwise why would you have so much time to write messages during the day. You just post too many discrepancies with what is really going on in the legal community in Orlando.
. . . . .
Paralegal with 2+years of experience.[/b] an you imagine, a paralegal with experience getting paid $20,000 year!! I tell that to my setpdad in Texas he doesn't believe me. He says they start paralegals fresh out of college between $25,000 - $31,000.
Check out the ads for a paralegal in Orlando these days. They are starting them between $12,000 - $18,000 a year.
I don't understand carolac's post above. Is she saying paralegal starting pay is high or low?
I was interested in the post from blueoktober about her "friend who works at Seminole Legal Aid" who makes a livable wage. Funny, I worked at Seminole Legal Aid and the only paralegal there who makes that living is the paralegal for the director. She has been at Legal Aid for about 10 years so, yeah, she should make a decent living. When I worked there, I had to take money from my savings every month to pay my bills. The starting pay there is $10 an hour for a paralegal who graduated with A.B.A. certification.
If you want to see pay for this job class, just look on careerbuilder. You will find one firm right now paying a range of $13,000 to $15,000 per year. Crazy.
I have been looking for work for months and the pay in the Orlando area is about $20k to $25k a year for a paralegal. That's it.
I don't understand carolac's post above. Is she saying paralegal starting pay is high or low?
I was interested in the post from blueoktober about her "friend who works at Seminole Legal Aid" who makes a livable wage. Funny, I worked at Seminole Legal Aid and the only paralegal there who makes that living is the paralegal for the director. She has been at Legal Aid for about 10 years so, yeah, she should make a decent living. When I worked there, I had to take money from my savings every month to pay my bills. The starting pay there is $10 an hour for a paralegal who graduated with A.B.A. certification.
If you want to see pay for this job class, just look on careerbuilder. You will find one firm right now paying a range of $13,000 to $15,000 per year. Crazy.
I have been looking for work for months and the pay in the Orlando area is about $20k to $25k a year for a paralegal. That's it.
Hey SunState!
I got a job for you. One of the girls (who has been here 5 1/2 years) has FINALLY found a job that pays #30,000/year and she is leaving. THis job pays between $20,000 - $25,000 a year... they have not put an ad out, so if you send your resume in NOW, beofore they out the ad out and get 20 or 30 resumes in a week, you might have a chance to snatch it for $25,000. I CANNOT promisse anything... I don't own this joint. This belongs to the rich attorneys.... But I will try and help you. I have sent you a PM. Best of luck finding a legal job in Orlando. The good-paying job market is horrible in Orlando! Too many resumes for such low pay... depressing.
Ha ha ha.... someone posted a message about Paralegals making $70k!! LOL..... it is HYSTERICAL!!
The ONLY place Paralegals make that kind of cash is in NYC. IN Orlando, they are starting Paralegals fresh out of Valencia between $12,000 - $18,000.
Want proof? Call Kathy Fedell, the Paralegal Studies Program coordinator at Valencia Community College and she will tell you just that much. I called her before to ask about job and wage trends and she TOTALLY agreed... she is baffled by the retraction of the legal job wages.
My brother moved to AZ with his wife and three kids two years ago and is STILL trying to find something better than what he has (which means he works for peanuts)
Best of luck to you. Hope you find something soon.
My brother moved to AZ with his wife and three kids two years ago and is STILL trying to find something better than what he has (which means he works for peanuts)
Best of luck to you. Hope you find something soon.
Tell him to move over to Florida from Arizona.... he will continue to look for something better than working for peanuts.
The only difference is that here his rent will cost twice as much as in Arizona and car insurance will cost 3x as much as in Arizona.
Oh, don't worry about me. I am OUT of this ridiculous city.... I am done withworking for nothing and everything costing an arm and a leg. I already have a high paying job and a 2/2 apt in a clean, decent area for $625/mo. My car5 insurance has gone down by $725/mo and my renter's insurance will ONLY cost me $122/year!!
God bless America!! I am moving to the United States from Mexico... I mean from Orlando!!
NG, I still disagree, even with Kathy Fedell. And I will call and talk to her, and I have a paralegal friend who is some kind of director on a VCC board for the paralegal program there, knows the program director very well, so I will contact her as well to shed some light on this huge starting wage discrepancy you're setting forth. The lowest wage I have seen a paralegal start at is $28,000 this year, and that was because this was his fourth career change, so the firm was skeptical. He was raised to $30,000 after 6 months.
The real problem paralegal graduates with no experience are having is not a terribly low starting wage, but that many are not finding jobs at all. The market just can't support the number of inexperienced people being graduated by the colleges, and I blame the colleges for that and have talked at length many times with a former VCC paralegal program director about that. Many firms are wanting 4 year degrees, even some from an ABA approved school, not just 2 year degrees such as VCC offers, and the colleges are pushing out so many grads, the law firms can get what they're asking for. The market has changed significantly over the last 20+ years.
I find it interesting you would mock my statement about a paralegal friend of mine making $70,000 a year (she may be making more now) after you gave me a positive feedback with a comment thanking me for shedding light on the reality of paralegal wages in Orlando.
I had a friend who made over $12,000 from a few month paralegal temp job she went on. IF a new grad can find a job, they will not be started at $12,000 to $18,000 a year. It's not a scary situation as you say--it's just not the truth.
After 9-11, the market slowed WAY down. Wages did detract, but at no point to that ridiculous level.
[quote=Nirvana-Guy;663928]Hey SunState!
Ha ha ha.... someone posted a message about Paralegals making $70k!! LOL..... it is HYSTERICAL!!
The ONLY place Paralegals make that kind of cash is in NYC. IN Orlando, they are starting Paralegals fresh out of Valencia between $12,000 - $18,000.
Want proof? Call Kathy Fedell, the Paralegal Studies Program coordinator at Valencia Community College and she will tell you just that much. I called her before to ask about job and wage trends and she TOTALLY agreed... she is baffled by the retraction of the legal job wages.
This is a scary situation.
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NirvanaGuy..don't feel too discouraged
My car5 insurance has gone down by $725/mo and my renter's insurance will ONLY cost me $122/year!! 
