1. If you are interested in making a lot of money or are considering law school, we suggest that you apply for paralegal positions at major law firms -- they provide many opportunities for overtime pay and have the greatest number of openings for paralegals.
2. Begin your search by looking at one or both of the following two books: The Insider's Guide to Law Firms or The VaultReports.com Guide to America's Top 50 Law Firms. The Insider's Guide is offered on-line at http://careers.findlaw.com. All you have to do is register - for free - and you can look through complete entries on each firm. These books provide useful statistical and contact information.
3. Look at the firms that have offices in the city/cities where you want to work, and pick a few based upon factors that you consider most important to your stint as a paralegal.
4. To be safe, choose ten firms.
5. You can also begin your search with a less precise but less costly resource called Martindale Hubbell. "Martindale," as it is known in the biz, is a directory of every single attorney in America, organized by city and then by law firm. Read the abstracts at the top of each firm's entry, which describe the nature of each firm's work: corporate or litigation, entertainment or finance, and choose your firms, based on features that appeal to you.
6. There are career sites on the net that serve as excellent general job resources and can inform you of paralegal openings. Good places to start are www.monster.com and www.careerbuilder.com. If you go to these sites and look for paralegal openings, you'll be hit with a list of currently open positions.
7. If you are looking for a job with set hours and the potential to move laterally to a non-legal job, you will want to apply for paralegal positions at insurance companies, investment banks, or other private companies with in-house lawyers.
SoYouWanna know more? Check out our full-length article SYW be a paralegal?
