Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28WH AT JO B ADS SAY VS WHAT T H E Y ME AN 1. MAIL/COURIER MANAG EMENT You’llbetheoneprintingoffalltheincoming correspondence,orsortingtheoutgoing correspondenceintoenvelopestogototheir recipients–thatis,ifyourworkplacehasn’tmoved totallyelectronic,inwhichcase,you’llbetheone filteringouttheemailsthatcometothegeneric addresstotheappropriatepeople.You’llalsobe responsiblefordistributingincomingmailtothe relevantstaffmember,andmakingsurethings thatweresupposedtoarrive,have,andchasing themupiftheyhaven’t. 2. DYNAMIC Thismeansthatinanyonedayyourdutiescan gofromphotocopying,toattendingcourt,to draftingcorrespondence.It’llbevariedandno twodayswillbethesame.You’llalsoprobably findyourselfworkingonmultipletasksatonce– greetingclients,answeringphones,attendingto administrativetasksandofficetasksingeneral. 3. AD HOC DUTIES Whatevercomesup:you’reit.Anytimeaclient callsqueryingwhythelawyerhasn’treturned theircall,orwhethertheirpaperworkhascome through,ortoaskwhetheryou’veheardanything fromtheotherparty,you’llbetheoneexplainingit tothem,orputtingthemonholdtofindoutwhat’s goingon.Italsoincludesanylastminuteactivities whenthedeadlineiscreepingup.Youmighteven findyourselfhavingtorundowntofilesomething atcourtatthelastminuteifyou’reworkinginan areawherethingsmoveprettyquickly.Basically, anytaskthatrequiresactioningimmediatelywill probablyfallonyou. 4. F ILE MANAGE ME NT/ GE NE RAL A DMIN ISTRATI VE D UTIE S You’rethephotocopierguru.You’llberesponsible foranydocumentationthatneedstobeobtained, copiedandinsertedintotheclient’sfile.You’ll alsobeinchargeofmakingsureit’saccurateand makinganyamendmentsthatmightbeneededas perthemanager’srequest. 5. SY ST E M M AINTE NANCE Anytimesomethingbreaksdown,you’rethefix-it person.You’llprobablybetheoneattempting tofixityourselfandgettingfrustrated,notto mentionthetimeyou’llwastebeforeyoufinally decidetoaskforhelp.Andwhenthatdoesn’t work,you’llbetheonecallingthetechniciantofix whateveritis,andinthemeantimehavetodeal withfactthattheplacewillbewithouttechnology forseveralhoursandapologiselikecrazyto clientswhonodoubtwillbeasannoyedasyou aboutsomethingyoucannotevencontrol. Despite these not being explicit in the job ad, you definitely should expect a challenge, and with challenge brings new skills and accomplishments. So read the job description, but be prepared to go further. BY JESS A 21