Good Learning Experience, but Stale
Pros
There are some truly great people who work here that are knowledgeable and willing to help new people along. There is a tangible sense of actually helping real people. You will absolutely learn a lot, even if you know nothing about immigration going into this job, because you can't function if you don't. The benefits are generally comparable, as far as my knowledge, and there appear to be raises each year of a few percentage points.
Cons
The most egregious problem is the management structure of this firm. There's a total disconnect between management and the paralegal levels of the firm, and there's a real sense that if you don't "fall in line" with management, you're not going to go very far up the ladder. Paralegals are often micro-managed to the point of paralysis, and even seasoned veterans who have been here as paralegals for 5+ years can be treated condescendingly or dismissively. Even worse than the micromanagement and condescension is the seemingly total lack of actual direction given. While this may, at first glance, appear to be a paradox, the real situation is that partners and attorneys fritter away their time on simple stylistic issues, rather than giving paralegals a general direction on how to move forward on a case. It is aggravating and stressful to both be rudderless while the attorneys explain to us why we're re-arranging the deck chairs to specific inches. Another serious issue is that attorneys and HR make little effort to try to develop any talent. Attorneys and partners are content to throw bodies at a problem rather than preparing paralegals in advance for issues that may appear. While hiring new people is better than doing nothing, it falls on the paralegals, who are already overworked, to train the new hires. The result is an even worse time crunch than usual, and forcing paralegals to train as they go, rather than the firm providing any kind of actually helpful guidance. New hires will sit at computers watching devastatingly boring videos on the importance of privacy for nearly a full two days, and come away knowing just as little about immigration and our day-to-day work as they did when they first entered the office. Depending on what clients you end up working on, the work can be tedious, repetitive, and boring. I personally have asked to be put on more interesting assignments where I can better use my skills for the past year, but have not seen that materialize. Instead, my docket continues to be loaded even more heavily with the same case types. Staff turnover is a complete epidemic, especially in the past six months or so. Temps rarely gain any traction to be converted, and can be strung along for excessive amounts of time without being converted to full time employees. Worse than the temps has been the amount of upper level staff turnover-over half a dozen attorneys, two partners, and countless long-time client services managers have left the firm in just the past few months. This uncertainty has had a trickle down effect on the paralegals, who don't have a reference point for what is normal any longer. Team structures change on a seemingly week-to-week basis, and morale has deteriorated to the point of openly longing to leave the firm. Finally, work/life balance is inconsistent at best and completely out of balance at worst. Work can become extremely busy with little to no warning, and the hours can go from a regular 37-40 hour week to well over 60 hours. Management has little respect for the paralegals' personal lives and expect them to be in on a weekend or late every day at the drop of a hat. Once a paralegal shows an ability to work outside of normal hours or an ability to churn out exceptional levels of work, that paralegal is then expected to make that their normal output. Burnout and a lack of focus on the paralegals' level runs rampant because of this.