[quote=bearishgurl]
You have a point about the law school graduate. Law firms will take a “green” law school graduate to do paralegal work over a paralegal with a lot of experience. Law school graduates (whether they have their bar card, or not) WILL work as paralegal because there are not enough attorney positions to go around and haven’t been for at least 15 years. The country is glutted with law school graduates. Part of the reason is that many attorneys stay with their firms long past the age of 65, taking up an “attorney” spot. I know I was discriminated against when (several years ago, before the ACA) I was asked in three different interviews, “How has your health been? and “Have you been healthy, lately?” They wanted to know how much it was going to cost them to provide me with health insurance (small firms) before deciding whether to make a job offer to me … or not. One of the interviewers even took out a clipboard in my interview and started adding up salary and benefits in front of me to see what the total would be! It was uncalled for because I am fit, dress well, present well and wear a size 6-8. I can assure you that they don’t ask those kinds of questions to a 32 year-old in a job interview. And why should I compensate by telling them that I don’t want or need a health policy when they are providing it to their younger workforce?
Of course, you millenials really have no idea about how overt discrimination feels because you have never experienced it … yet. That day will come and it might be sooner than you think.[/quote]
Ok so it sounds like you were a paralegal. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought most paralegals were interim positions for people that just finished their undergraduate and were looking for a mentorship program waiting to either go to Law School or pass the Bar; afterwards they can start practicing and move up to the Attorney ranks. Is this not true? If that’s the case, it would be better for an Attorney to hire someone who they believed would move up to within the firm. Someone that they could vest time into so they can move up the chain. Not sure if it is similar to Accountants, but when my wife was working at a Big 4 firm they started as Juniors, and Seniors, and moved up to a Manager once they passed their CPA exam. I’m not sure how the company would look at a Senior who would never move up to Manager or Senior Manager, but I think that if they compared a person who had the ability to move up within the organization it would be a significant advantage.
