Anyone Here Have Any Experience With Penn Foster Career School?

[Isilwen]

As we all know, no one is actually getting older and at 45 years old, I am not a spring chicken anymore. Forty-five is still young, but as an EMT, it is starting to get old. I feel it both in mind and body. Especially since I have been doing it over 18 years. As I mentioned yesterday, I also have some fear of Covid exposure as I have an underlying condition, with asthma.

I was looking at jobs today, and one that caught my eye was a legal position for the state working with kids. One of the requirements is legal secretary. So, I looked up online courses for legal secretary. One of the schools I found is Penn Foster Career School.

Online Legal Secretary Course - Program Overview | Penn Foster

It won't put me into debt and I can complete it while I am working as an EMT. It won't alleviate my Covid fear, but at least it will give me more skills than I have in a different profession.

Does anyone have experience with Penn Foster?

 

[crossnote]

I would look into what % of their graduates get placed.




#yestrump2020

 

[Albion]

Hi. It is getting more and more difficult to distinguish the acceptable (and accepted) correspondence or online courses of study from the ones that are not going to get the student very far in the real world.

I don't know anything about Penn Foster except that I followed the link.

What I saw, however, was this: The Penn Foster course of study is said only to prepare you for the exam which qualifies anyone for the position of legal secretary. From what you wrote, that is exactly what the job demands--being a bona fide legal secretary, not just someone with secretarial knowledge, etc.

Here's the language from the website:

"Learn the foundational skills that can help you prepare for industry standard certification from the National Association of Legal Secretaries (NALS) from home, on your schedule."

Notice the weakness of the wording--learn, can help, help you prepare, etc. There is nothing there that even promises competency. And what is offered is a diploma, not a degree. It would be too much to expect a valid degree, of course, but diploma doesn't say much other than that you completed their course.

Also, the reference here is to "industry standard certification." To what is the reference there? The NALS apparently deals in a much higher-level Professional Legal Secretary/Certified Legal Professional (PLS/CLP) Exam which, by the way, costs about $270.

It's possible that checking out and then contacting the National Assn of Legal Secretaries could help you decide.

 

[Isilwen]

Hi. It is getting more and more difficult to distinguish the acceptable (and accepted) correspondence or online courses of study from the ones that are not going to get the student very far in the real world.

I don't know anything about Penn Foster except that I followed the link.

What I saw, however, was this: The Penn Foster course of study is said only to prepare you for the exam which qualifies anyone for the position of legal secretary. From what you wrote, that is exactly what the job demands--being a bona fide legal secretary, not just someone with secretarial knowledge, etc.

Here's the language from the website:

"Learn the foundational skills that can help you prepare for industry standard certification from the National Association of Legal Secretaries (NALS) from home, on your schedule."

Notice the weakness of the wording--learn, can help, help you prepare, etc. There is nothing there that even promises competency. And what is offered is a diploma, not a degree. It would be too much to expect a valid degree, of course, but diploma doesn't say much other than that you completed their course.

It's possible that checking out and then contacting the National Assn of Legal Secretaries could help you decide.

I just looked up what the requirements are to be a Legal Secretary and a degree is not needed. Just some experience in it.

Do you think this course would just provide that experience?

 

[Albion]

I just looked up what the requirements are to be a Legal Secretary and a degree is not needed. Just some experience in it.

Do you think this course would just provide that experience?

I am guessing, but the Penn Foster website seemed to use a lot of rather imprecise wording which worried me. And if you Google the NALS, as I did, you will see that the examination referred to by them (and one would assume the same one referred to by the PF website) is for people with more advanced training and experience. This is the Penn Foster wording: "Learn the foundational skills that can help you prepare for industry standard certification from the National Association of Legal Secretaries (NALS) from home, on your schedule."

All of this brings me back to the main question...what is it that the job you have you eye on is asking for? Is it just training, or it is passing an exam that is necessary for legal secretaries as is the case with cosmetologists and other professions? And if so, is it the one that the NALS described (Professional Legal Secretary/Certified Legal Professional (PLS/CLP) Exam)?

IMO, you will need to find out, and that will take some asking around. I hope my doubts are unfounded and you find that there are no unseen problems, but it is important to investigate!

 

[Isilwen]

I am guessing, but the Penn Foster website seemed to use a lot of rather imprecise wording which worried me. And if you Google the NALS, as I did, you will see that the examination referred to by them (and one would assume the same one referred to by the PF website) is for people with more advanced training and experience. This is the Penn Foster wording: "Learn the foundational skills that can help you prepare for industry standard certification from the National Association of Legal Secretaries (NALS) from home, on your schedule."

All of this brings me back to the main question...what is it that the job you have you eye on is asking for? Is it just training, or it is passing an exam that is necessary for legal secretaries as is the case with cosmetologists and other professions? And if so, is it the one that the NALS described (Professional Legal Secretary/Certified Legal Professional (PLS/CLP) Exam)?

IMO, you will need to find out, and that will take some asking around. I hope my doubts are unfounded and you find that there are no unseen problems, but it is important to investigate!

I'm starting to think you're right in regards to the course at Penn Foster.

Which sadly depresses me. I thought that it was perfect because I could compete on my own time online. I found a resource that shows what colleges have excellent legal secretary courses online and they all require specific times during the day, which I cannot accommodate.

I feel rather stuck because I cannot quit my job and because of my hours, I cannot attend schooling.

 

[Albion]

Well, you could simply contact the state and ask about the job you saw. I would think that it would not remain open for six months until you finished your online course if you chose to go that route. But you could certainly inquire about the specific meaning of "legal secretary" in the ad and about other openings that are anticipated by them.

 

[Isilwen]

Well, you could simply contact the state and ask about the job you saw. I would think that it would not remain open for six months until you finished your online course if you chose to go that route. But you could certainly inquire about the specific meaning of "legal secretary" in the ad and about other openings that are anticipated by them.

Yeah, that is indeed an option.

I did find this though on one of the websites for one of the colleges recommended:

"Legal secretaries do not need a post-secondary degree. Forty-one percent of legal secretary jobs only require a high school diploma. For those looking to get a feel for working in law before committing to extra schooling, a job as a legal secretary could be the perfect starting point."

So, there is some hope in that.

From the state listing for the job:

"Completion of a training program to become a legal assistant, a paralegal, a legal paraprofessional or a lawyer's or attorney's assistant."

Legal assistant and legal secretary are interchangeable.

 

[Albion]

From the state listing for the job:

"Completion of a training program to become a legal assistant, a paralegal, a legal paraprofessional or a lawyer's or attorney's assistant."

Bingo. That settles something.

We're not talking about anything that the NALP website was explaining, or about that exam. The reference to the NALP on the Penn site was done just to make Penn Foster look solid.

A paralegal or paraprofessional is at a lower level than anything that's "certified" or "professional." My conclusion is that you are in the ball game with the training you have in mind except, of course, you don't have the training yet. And you will have to decide if Penn Foster is the place to get the training. There may be dozens of similar career schools for all I know, and I'd still suggest looking around or asking around about that.

 

[Isilwen]

Bingo. That settles something.

We're not talking about anything that the NALP website was explaining, or about that exam. The reference to the NALP on the Penn site was done just to make Penn Foster look solid.

A paralegal or paraprofessional is at a lower level than anything that's "certified" or "professional." My conclusion is that you are in the ball game with the training you have in mind except, of course, you don't have the training yet. And you will have to decide if Penn Foster is the place to get the training. There may be dozens of similar career schools for all I know, and I'd still suggest looking around or asking around about that.

Thank you for your help! I will look to see what else may be out there education wise.