Paralegals and Legal Assistants
Skills & Knowledge
Most Important Skills for Paralegals and Legal Assistants
- Listening—Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading—Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Writing—Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Speaking—Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Thinking Critically—Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Learning New Things—Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Being Aware of Others—Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Managing Time—Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Coordinating with Others—Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Helping Others—Actively looking for ways to help people.
Most Important Knowledge Areas for Paralegals and Legal Assistants
- Clerical—Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Customer and Personal Service—Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Computers and Electronics—Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Law and Government—Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- English Language—Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Administration and Management—Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Mathematics—Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Personnel and Human Resources—Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Psychology—Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Education and Training—Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Interests
Different careers may be a good fit for your personality or interests. This career is:
- Conventional—Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
- Investigative—Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Learn more about your interests. Take the MnCareers Interest Assessment.
Describe Your Skills
People who have worked in this career typically perform the following tasks.
These statements can help a prospective employer understand what you can do, on a resume or during an interview.
- Using computers.
- Communicating with supervisors, co-workers, or people that work under you.
- Collecting information from different sources.
- Organizing, planning, and prioritizing work.
- Evaluating information to determine compliance with standards.
- Performing day-to-day administrative tasks.
- Documenting or recording information.
- Compiling, calculating, tabulating, or otherwise processing information.
Careers that Use Similar Skills
The following careers use skills, knowledge, and abilities that are similar to those used for Paralegals and Legal Assistants.
View more careers in the Law, Public Safety, and Security cluster
View more careers in the Legal Services pathway
This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.
