Gotta Start Somewhere

November 1, 2021

I wish I could say I was able to hit the ground running, but this week ended up being a rather slow and bumpy start. I still was not feeling too confident about getting on the phone with professionals (Mr.Pirtle really scared me when he said all the lawyers I will talk to will be rude and impatient), so I decided to start the process of contacting professionals by sending emails rather than jumping right into phone calls. I used the email template I had made the previous week to send some emails to a handful of professionals I had email addresses for. In the process, I came across my first challenge - some of my email addresses were for the law firm or institution as a whole rather than for a specific individual. I was unsure how to address an email when this was the case, so when I had the chance in class, I asked some questions about how to approach that scenario. Mr.Pirtle explained how to format emails like that and I was able to resolve my confusion. I also went ahead and sent a message to an attorney I found on LinkedIn. With all the email addresses and Linkedin's used up, I was left with only one other option - the dreaded phone calls.

I gathered myself and quickly dialed a number from my contact list that I wanted to contact before I could talk myself out of it. The professional picked up the phone and introduced himself and just as I began to greet him - BEEP!!! He cuts the call. Not a great start. But I do not want to give up so I try again and this time I get a lovely receptionist who informs me that the professional I was asking for no longer worked at that firm. Again, not a great start. Not wanting to let this challenge deter me, I remembered what Mr.Pirtle said about how you just need to get your foot in the door, so I asked the receptionist if there was another attorney or paralegal I could interview. She said that everyone is too swamped in work at the moment to spare the time, but took my contact information to pass it along once their work started thinning.

While it was not an interview, I was still happy with the result and my performance with the call so I still consider this call a success. This interaction also taught me that I am more than capable and prepared to call professionals and really eased my nerves. However, it did bring about some worries that many of the people I reach out to will be too busy to sit for an interview. If this becomes an issue, I will simply have to go back and expand my contact list even more. I might even consider adding some law professors to my list, as they will likely be much more inclined to help. This next week will be entirely focused on making more calls so I can get through my entire contact list and hopefully score an interview with at least a handful.