Thursday, September 24, 2009

Paralegal Profile: Thirteen Questions for Megan Power

Megan Power is a paralegal I enjoy following on Twitter as @Meg_Power. To learn more about her, I asked Meg to answer the Paralegal Mentor's Thirteen Questions. Thanks, Meg!

1. Where do you work and what is your job title? I work at Lowenstein Sandler PC. It's an AMLAW 200 firm based in Roseland, New Jersey with additional offices in New York City and Palo Alto, California. My title is Corporate Paralegal.

2. What prompted you to choose a paralegal career? I fell into it, to be honest. I initially thought my first paralegal job would be a stepping stone on my way to law school. I quickly learned that I would not enjoy being an attorney. I'm glad I learned that lesson before taking on all of that law school debt. Fourteen years later, here I am.

3. What is your favorite part of your job? Research. I love digging for information and then compiling it in a way that makes sense for the attorney and client.

4. Do you belong to any professional associations? No. I have looked into a couple over the years, but haven't taken the step to join.

5. How has your membership benefited you? Not applicable.

6. Do you have any professional certifications? No. This is again something I've looked into over the years, but so far, I haven't felt it was necessary to advance my career.

7. What has been the highlight of your career? Being hired by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York City. Having that name on my resume still opens doors for me today. As for other highlights, well, I feel like the best is yet to come.

8. What do you see as hot trends in the paralegal industry? Virtual paralegals appear to be on the rise, or maybe it's been going on for a while, and I'm only now cluing into it! I'm interested to see where this virtual segment of the market goes.

9. Have you dipped your toes in the social media waters? How has that benefited you? You can find me on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/megpoweror on Twitter @Meg_Power. I've found Twitter in particular to be incredibly helpful in connecting with paralegals all over the country. It's been eye opening to see the varied and interesting things paralegals are doing. I've become a paralegal mentor through connections I've made on Twitter which is likely not something I would have done otherwise. Connecting with others on Twitter has really helped me to see where I might take my career to the next level. The paralegal community there is really supportive, and I'm glad that I found it.

10. If someone contemplating a paralegal career asked you for career advice, what would your answer be? I would encourage anyone to pursue a paralegal career with confidence. The outlook for paralegals is great. I'd also encourage anyone new to the profession to be open to looking for positions outside of their preferred practice area, especially in this economy. Take what you can to get your foot in the door and get some experience under your belt. You never know, it might be the area you like best! I'd also emphasize that networking is critical.

11. You've enjoyed a successful paralegal career. To what single event or person do you attribute that success? I cannot think of any single event or person. I've been fortunate that I've met many people along the way who have been willing to take the time to teach me what they know.

12. What is the most important step a paralegal can take to keep his or her career interesting? It's really all about reaching outside of your comfort zone and volunteering to take on projects that might not normally come your way. There are so many different things going on in the legal field, in so many practice areas. Just today I volunteered to help a performing arts alliance form a nonprofit organization. I do not have much experience in organizing nonprofits, so this will help me gain experience in a new area, while helping out a great local cause.

13. Is there a quote that inspires you? "Be the change you want to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi.

Bonus…Just for Fun Fact: I registered to take part in this year's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the first time. Be sure to look for my resulting award-winning novel in bookstores next year. (haha)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Don't you find that people tend to drift into paralegal from a variety of places? Interesting article.