What can I do with a Legal Secretary/Assistant Associates Degree?

Question

please read the whole thing, as it all pertains to my question

I am due to graduate in November with an Associates in Specialized Business degree. The major when I started was called Legal Office Administration and they've changed it to Legal Assistant. Regardless, I worked for an attorney for a few months. He was so mean and degrading. He would tell me that he loved my work and never wanted me to leave but as soon as he was in a bad mood, he would throw things at me, and call me and another girl Incompetent s-o-b's. Because of that experience, I am really leaning away from working for an attorney.

Now, I don't know what else I can do with that degree. I want a career, not a job, one with decent pay and good benefits. I wanted to take my civil service test, but there is one problem. When I initially started school in 2004, I was young and in a really rough spot...because of situations I could not control, my grades and attendance hit rock bottom. My transcript from before is horrible. I took time off, and went back. The last 2 Semesters I had a 3.5 and 4.0. I only have 1 more until I graduate. So I am worried about employers not wanting to hire me because of what my transcript will say about before.

Anyway, I am unsure of what types of jobs I qualify for with this type of degree. Any suggestions would be great!!

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Warning:   Jobs in the field of Law are drying up FAST!!!  This is not a good field to invest in right now!!!  Reasons:  There are WAY TOO MANY attorneys in the USA, very bad economy, people today (mistakenly) think they can do their own legal work now thanks to the WWWeb, there are WAY TOO MANY law schools in the USA churning out WAY TOO MANY graduates (and this includes legal support professionals).  Even if you do graduate, you probably won't be able to find a job.  IF you DO find a job, you will discover the law office environment is:  very political, very competitive, law office administrators typically do not have the employees' best interests in mind.

Finish your courses.  Keep up your attendance!

Then.....

Suggestion:  Go into the field of Healthcare!!!  <<< LOTS of jobs there!!! Even with your background.

Good luck.

Answer 2

With your needs, a government job might be good.  You would be entry level in administrative, but you should look in offices that deal with compliance (labor and other areas), legislative (there are FT jobs in some areas), and related.  Most employers do not consider the GPA, only whether you passed certain classes.  I would add some public admin coursework if you have it, in order to give you more credits toward government service.  Healthcare is another possibility, as there are many legal-related areas in the field.  Again, take healthcare classes if you choose that route.