Favorite Parts Of Working In The Legal Aid Industry As A Project Coordinator
Maraina, a Project Coordinator at The Legal Aid Society, highlights the importance of "organized, reliable, uh, punctual, persistent" individuals with empathy and the ability to manage pressure, especially emotional pressure from sensitive cases. The work is rewarding but financially modest; success in this field requires prioritizing "helping people" over high earnings, accepting that "the money has to go to other things."
Empathy, Organizational Skills, Stress Management, Community Impact, Nonprofit Environment
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. Empathy and listening skills are crucial for understanding clients' situations and providing effective support.
2. The ability to remain calm and composed under pressure is essential, as cases often involve sensitive and emotionally charged issues.
3. A strong motivation to help others and contribute to the community is more important than high financial compensation in this field, which is typical for nonprofit organizations.
Transcript
How would you describe people who typically thrive in this industry?
I would say anybody that has some of those skills that I mentioned before. So, people who are organized, reliable, punctual, persistent, things like that, the obvious things.
Definitely people who have an empathetic streak, people who are willing to listen, people who can move at a slower pace when they need to, and they know how to read the room.
I also think being able to work well under pressure. I feel like that's true for probably every industry. But, as I've said many times, a lot of these issues are very serious. Sometimes when you're met with why someone is coming to you with a case, you realize just how intense this issue is.
You have to be able to kind of leave that inside and not display that to the people around you. So, you have to have a pretty good poker face, and be a little bit less reactive, I think, when you're hearing some of the things that come up.
'Cause it's family law, a lot of it is not pretty. So that's definitely something. And then I think people that thrive in this industry are also people who are motivated by helping people and not motivated by necessarily having a super thriving career.
And I don't mean that to say that this isn't a career; it is a career path. But I want to be really honest with people who are considering social impact work. There's not a lot of money here.
This is a nonprofit organization that's been around for 70 years, I think. And I believe the cap for the lawyers is like $140,000 a year. So, you know, I'm not a lawyer, so you can imagine it trickles down and it's okay.
And I know that and I'm not expecting more. And I don't really want more because I recognize the money has to go to other things. We need the grants to go toward the products for people. We need it to go toward the actual resources.
So, I think to be in this field, you have to be okay with having a little bit less money in your bank, but knowing that you're doing more for your community.