Paralegal Blog

There is no place for inaccuracy on a resume or application, whether by fabrication, embellishment, or omission. Don’t make stuff up, twist information, or distort details to gain an advantage. This constitutes professional fraud. While a company is unlikely to pursue legal action in response to a bad-faith misrepresentation, it can be at risk of legal liabilities related to negligent hiring practices in some instances. Purposeful inaccuracies discovered on a resume will almost always result in a candidate being removed from the hiring pool. Any deception discovered post-hire, even many years into tenure, may also result in termination.

Below are 10 ways job seekers commonly adulterate their resumes and applications:

1. Misrepresent prior employment or duration
2. Omit jobs or the reasons for leaving them
3. Falsify job titles or responsibilities
4. Overstate involvement in or contributions to a project
5. Exaggerate the level of education attained
6. Claim to hold a degree, certification, or licensure not earned
7. Inflate mastery of skills and abilities
8. Assert conversational knowledge of a second language as fluency
9. Overinflate salary history
10. Give fake references

FAB is an acronym for Features, Advantages, and Benefits. FAB is a common 3-Step strategy employed in sales and marketing to generate interest in products. However, the technique can also be utilized during an interview to SELL yourself and fit any expertise acquired through experience, education, and training to specific job requirements. Consider the following when organizing your FAB responses:

Feature – What key factors, attributes, and skills do you have as required by the position?
Advantage – What strengths do your accomplishments, abilities, or past performance indicate relative to the competition?
Benefit – What is the result or value an employer can anticipate from hiring you?

A paralegal job description will typically require the ability to prepare legal documents and correspondence as well as the ability to organize and maintain files. The examples below illustrate how you can use the FAB method to focus your responses, so they are more impactful.

Example 1
Feature: You earned a Paralegal Credential
Advantage: You understand the legal process and terminology better than someone without a credential
Benefit: You are qualified through education and training to perform substantive legal work that requires knowledge of legal concepts, and as a result, can complete the work more quickly and effectively.

Membership in a paralegal association is a great way to make professional connections and support your paralegal career!

According to the National Federation of Paralegal Associations, 85% of paralegals have formal paralegal training. For future paralegals, this statistic is critically important. Your likelihood of career success—from receiving an invitation to interview for a position, to earning a competitive salary—increases if you pursue an appropriate paralegal education.

However, with multiple training options available, and roughly 600 paralegal programs in the United States alone, determining the meaning of “appropriate” can be difficult. To assist you, the below is an introductory guide to how to become a paralegal.

If you are considering a career as a paralegal, you may understandably wonder what salary you could command in such a role. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average paralegal salary in 2016 was $49,500.¹ However, it is important to recognize that this figure can vary as a result of several factors.

What are these factors? As a prospective paralegal, do you have any control over them, and if so, how can you increase your earning potential if you ultimately decide to enter this field?