Posts made in June, 2008
Canada 9-5 Blog Carnival
It’s almost Canada Day so why not check out this edition of the Canada 9-5 Blog Carnival from Alphablogs – my post on Law Practice and Life Balance is mentioned!!
One of the posts I particularly enjoyed was Sarah Welstead’s post called For the Price of a Cup of Coffee.
Hope you enjoy the carnival!!!
Read MoreVA Certification – Yes or No?
A resounding NO to this question from me! I’m of the opinion that experience in an administrative setting is the key to being successful as a VA, or at least one of the keys. Administrative experience will help you with your client’s work, but you will need some entrepreneurial skills also to help you run your business and you need to have some tech skills for the online and marketing aspects. A professional virtual assistant designation though? Not a requirement to me – maybe not a bad idea, but not a requirement.
Probably that makes this obvious but I have no official va certification, nor do I plan to obtain one in the immediate future. I do have an honors college diploma in paralegal studies and over 10 years of in-office experience so I think I’ve got the background aspect well under control.
Read MoreDo you find work stressful?
This is an older article I came across recently, but stress, not surprisingly, continues to plague lawyers and business people alike.
Work and life balance is a common topic in the work world, certainly with many people I know anyway. I know it’s on my mind. I love working – I love the challenge of difficult assignments, I love helping clients, I love the planning process! But without balance between my work life and my personal life I feel VERY stressed. I love my kids and husband and I need time to enjoy being with them. Don’t most of us need time away from work? Maybe we want to go to our kids’ soccer games or go for a long walk after dinner, or maybe we just want to sleep in on the weekends!
So how do we make it all work? For me the answer is starting my own virtual assistant business, but there are many other options!! Part-time work and flexible work arrangements are another great solution. Delegation is key for small business owners. Don’t get bogged down thinking you need to do it all or be everything for your company, balance can be achieved!!
Read MoreHanging Up My Out of Office Sign
We’re heading on a mini-vacation for a few days – we’re going to visit Grandma! I’ll be back early next week – hope everyone has a beautiful weekend!!!
Read MoreName Calling and Target Practice
I just commented over at the CVAN blog on a post called So What’s in a Title? The topic is one that I’ve discussed before but I always find it interesting and yet frustrating. So many titles for similar yet just dissimilar enough job descriptions.
It’s no wonder I’ve worked for many lawyers with no idea how much I was capable of until we’d worked together a while. I could have had anywhere from a legal terminology class to a college degree and called myself a legal secretary, legal assistant or paralegal. The title doesn’t matter to me, but I do value my education, experience and abilities, which is why I like the term paralegal. But where I live the Law Society hasn’t wanted paralegals providing services directly to the public and the name paralegal therefore isn’t all positive for targeting my marketing to legal practices. I don’t want to be their competition – I want them to be MY clients!!! I love working with lawyers and helping on a file but I’m well aware that I don’t have a law degree.
Just call me Laurie and forget the title thing altogether!!
Read More