A Day In The Life Of A Project Coordinator At The Legal Aid Society Of San Mateo County
Maraina, a Project Coordinator at The Legal Aid Society, emphasizes that the most crucial skills for her role are "timeliness" and organization, given the urgency of legal deadlines and high case volume. Beyond efficiency, however, empathy is paramount, as the job requires "spending a little more time with people" to ensure those seeking help "feel seen" and heard, reflecting a commitment to "seeing things through," even with lengthy processes.
Time Management, Organization, Persistence, Empathy, Commitment
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Maraina Weyl
Project Coordinator
The Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County
Syracuse University
Santa Clara University School of Education and Counseling Psychology- M.A. Counseling
International Relations & Affairs
Government & Public Sector, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Consulting
Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Worked 20+ Hours in School, LGBTQ, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Timeliness and organization are crucial for handling multiple cases with deadlines and ensuring accuracy.
2. Persistence is key when contacting clients and following up, even when facing challenges.
3. Empathy is vital for providing support and understanding to clients facing difficult situations, ensuring they feel heard and valued.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
Skills are really important for this role. I actually wrote down my answers to make sure I covered everything.
The first skill I think is crucial is timeliness. Generally, someone else's urgency shouldn't be your urgency. However, with government bodies and deadlines for hearings, notices, and legal matters, you have to match that urgency.
Being timely means knowing when things are due and ensuring you submit them on time. This also requires being very organized. You might have ten cases with clients named Maria, and you need to be sure you're sending the right information to the right place for the right person.
Persistence is also really important in this job. Sometimes people are very hard to reach. A client might call with an issue at their son's school and need help, but they don't answer follow-up calls or texts. It can take a lot of persistence to connect with someone.
I like that you're persistent for people who want to talk to you, as opposed to those who don't, which is less enjoyable. But definitely, persistence and not giving up on people is key.
Commitment to seeing things through is also vital. These processes can be very long. I have cases from September that I'm still dealing with, and we're still receiving new information. You have to follow the case through the entire process to ensure it's handled correctly.
Perhaps the most important skill, though I didn't mention it first, is empathy. If you're working in this community with this population that truly needs help, these are mostly low-income individuals with no resources, which is why they're seeking your assistance. You need to have empathy when speaking with them.
It can't just be another intake call. This sometimes means calls will take longer, and you'll need to spend a little more time with people. But it's worth it because they're coming to you for help and to feel seen.
I'm also in grad school for counseling, so this might be influencing me. I really want everyone to feel heard and have a chance to vent about what's going on. If they're coming to legal aid, something serious is likely happening, and I don't want to just dismiss it as paperwork.