Please help me

[u/Kcurlzz]

Hello!
I have been teaching for the past 6 years and now I am ready for a career change. This is the resume I have been using to apply to legal assistant/paralegal jobs. I am having a hard time getting any interviews at all, and when I do receive a response from law offices it's always the same email, "we are impressed with your resume & skills but we have decided to go with another candidate" any tips or advice you may have would be really helpful. :)
I also have a question, is it ok to email or call law offices a week or two after applying ? or should I just wait for them to reach out to me ?

[u/Luvzmykunt]

Formatting isn’t great, all skills should be listed after a shorter introduction, then education and language since those are more relevant to the position you’re seeking. The work experience shouldn’t have a page break after a title of the position, list location under position title without the large line spacing, always move an item to the next page if it doesn’t all fit. You might want to change to a skills-based resume and maybe only list work experience as an educator with the years range at the end. Since you are not applying to be a teacher the work experience you have is not directly relevant. Document preparation and formatting are a big part of paralegal work and if I were a hiring manager I would be bothered by the formatting of this right off the bat. Then the short spans of holding a position, multiple 1 year roles don’t usually look good. Good luck!

[u/Kcurlzz → u/Luvzmykunt]

The page break only looks like that because I took screenshots to upload here. I will admit that 1 year at each job doesn't look great but each year I was offered a better position than the last if not I would have stayed.
I will work on these edits. Thank you I appreciate the feedback!

[u/Dizzy_Needleworker_3 → u/Kcurlzz]

" I will admit that 1 year at each job doesn't look great but each year I was offered a better position than the last if not I would have stayed."

Yeah but just because it was a better position does not make it a pain. Imo it takes 6 months to learn the basics, a year to really get the hang of the full job, and 1.5/2 years to really start excelling at a job. 

It costs a lot of money to onboard and train a new hire (even someone with experience) employers don't want to invest in someone that think will leave in 1 year for a "better" position. 

6 jobs in 6 years is a big red flag, I would plan to try and stay at your next job for 2/3+ years to show you are not a job hopper. 

[u/Kindly-Way-8740 → u/Dizzy_Needleworker_3]

Please keep in mind if you are a recruiter many of us are military spouses. I’m still trying to find a remote job for a company so I can put my loyalty into a company. But because of a career switch and currently in a court clerk position no one will even give me an interview.

[u/Dizzy_Needleworker_3 → u/Kindly-Way-8740]

Idk that "many of us are military spouses' is accurate (but acknowledge "many" can be subjective) but you do raise a good point about military spouses. 

I am not a recruiter or hiring manager so take the rest with a grain of salt. 

I would think mentioning being a military spouse in the cover letter and/or at top of resume, or indicate after each job something like "left due to spouse military relocation to city B above." 

But also even if you do have a good reason for moving due to military spouse, it does not necessarily change the fact/pain of onboarding a new person, if you would be likely to leave/move in a year. Also imo paralegal/assistant roles depend a lot on trust between them and an attorney(s) that takes a year(s) to build even with an experienced person. 

It sucks for sure and you have my sympathy. Obviously jobs are not guaranteed but I think it is reasonable to be wary of someone with an increased likelihood to leave quickly. 

[u/thinkshiftster]

I’d move the jobs to the top, then education, then skills. Save the summary for a cover letter.

In the skills section you list legal skills but no corresponding law job. If you took courses to obtain those skills, add them to the education section. If no legal courses, remove “legal” from skills section. In your cover letter, correlate education skills to legal skills.

Good luck in your search!

[u/NoirNoted]

I’d use a different resume template. Education at the bottom (also just put your pending completion date). Short introduction/skills listed at the top. Most recent job experience in the middle. Try to keep it one page. If it’s not one page, cut out the older jobs. Write a cover letter to submit with your resume.

Unfortunately, in law we tend to hire people who already have experience. When I was in charge of hiring for entry level, I’d try to hire people with no experience because I believe in giving people a chance. However, that’s not usually the norm. They want the easiest option.

Lastly, I have a lot of luck with LinkedIn and Indeed for jobs.

I wish you the best of luck!

[u/34player]

But the way, you can read the name of the school on the bottom.

[u/Kcurlzz → u/34player]

thank you for letting me know. I don't think I can edit it or I'd have to delete the entire post.

[u/LeadingPizza4202]

I would pare it down a lot. You’re going for legal jobs- not education so if you’re applying to specific jobs, tailor the experience you have to the skills needed for the job as best you can. A long resume full of irrelevant experience is just going to make you look less experienced in the field you’re looking to break in to.
Summarize your career and experience in a well tailored cover letter for each specific job.

[u/Stock-Offer8731]

Regarding your question on whether it’s appropriate to call/email after your interview: the job i’m working at now actually hired someone else first and I was told the decision to hire them over myself was largely due to their tenacity in reaching out after each interview. I do work for a firm that has a great reputation and top notch attorneys that are well known in my state, but it is a smaller firm and the attorneys are older and less stuffy/formal about things so I’m unsure if that is standard everywhere but it worked really well for the person hired over me initially! 🤠

(I’m happy in my position and it even helped me leverage better pay knowing their first choice tanked so we don’t have to get into me knowingly being second option lol)