I
think that those of you who are not certified
wonder from time to time what all the hype is
regarding certification. If you’re
doing your job and attending NALS meetings, you’re
doing enough, right? Not exactly.
Certification
is important for several reasons:
- It
is important to the legal support profession
as a whole that we show attorneys and administrators
that the legal support profession is just that—a
profession—and that we are doing the
same things they are doing. We are certifying
members of our profession by giving exams covering
topics that are important to our profession,
and we are maintaining our certification by
attending regular CLE seminars.
- It
is important to our firms that legal support
staff be certified. In some areas malpractice
insurance premiums may be lower where staff
is certified. In any event, common sense
would dictate that someone who is as educated
and continuously trained as a certified legal
support staff member is certainly less of a
malpractice threat for the firm than one who
is not.
- It
is important to our association that members
be certified. We are professionals—just
like the attorneys are—and meet to network
and obtain CLE—just like they do.
- It
is important to you because you are proving
to yourself and others that this is your career,
that you are serious about it, and that you
are a professional. The fact that you
take months of your own time to study, usually
pay your own fee for the exam, and spend an
entire Saturday in a room taking the exam are
all testaments to your dedication and loyalty
to the legal support profession.
So
what’s the hype? Just because you
aren’t certified, aren’t you as skilled
and educated and experienced as the person next
to you who is? You very well may be. But
consider this scenario. For some reason,
you are looking for a new job and so is a certified
PLS. The human resources director for a
large firm has both of those résumés
in front of her. Just looking at the résumé with
no other information, even if they don’t
understand what the certification is, the fact
that one is certified and one is not will make
a difference. And once they do understand
what certification is, it may make a huge difference.
Is
it worth it? I have never downplayed the
difficulty—nor the rewards—of taking
and passing a certification exam. For me
personally, there is no question that certification
is worth it. Obtaining my PLS certification
really did change my life. Finding myself
out of a job after fifteen years in the probate
field—where I had obtained my PLS certification—I
knew that I could learn anything, so I was willing
to consider jobs outside the probate field. Apparently,
that was a wise decision, because I have now
been doing litigation for over ten years in a
very demanding and rewarding position. Something
I had sworn fifteen years ago I would NEVER do.
If
you have never considered certification, there is
no time like the present. If you have considered
it and have every excuse in the book not to do it
now, there’s no time like the present. Waiting
for specific events to occur or until the time is
perfect for you to take the exam is usually an exercise
in futility. The specific events either never
occur or trigger another event that must be completed
first and on and on and on. To borrow Nike’s
phrase, “Just do it.” You do need
the commitment and desire. Without those ingredients,
you will frustrate yourself and anyone trying to
help you. But if the time is right, go for
it. You won’t regret it.
