Today, especially from COVID and on, many people use online networking as a way to make connections and even obtain employment. Prior to undergrad and law school, most individuals have Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Once you “get older” you are told that you need to get a LinkedIn account. For me, I did this around sophomore year of college. Although you are always told to create this account, many have no idea what to do from there. Many people, including myself, would just post their resume and sporadic academic achievements, such as dean’s list.

During my second year at Widener, I decided to get serious about an internship in the field I wanted to be in, in the hopes that I would achieve post grad employment. Internships available through our school resources did not really seem to fit into my narrow specialty I wanted: a boutique firm that solely focused on family law. From this, I went and emailed probably ten to fifteen firms. No luck. Then, I began searching “family law attorney” all over LinkedIn. I found one attorney that caught my eye and sent a message saying something along the lines of I was really interested in her line of work and that I would love to talk to her about how she got to where she is at. I believe the best move that I could have made was that I did not ask for an interview or for a job. Instead, I tried to get to know the attorney prior to asking for job opportunities. The attorney responded to my message inviting me to a lunch and to discuss her career. 

Once I got to know this attorney in particular, I felt an immediate connection and I could not help but be proud of myself and the leap that I chose to make by randomly messaging her on LinkedIn. I was grateful that after our interaction she asked if I was looking for summer employment. Fast forward a few months, I loved every minute at this office and I was given a job offer for post grad. 

From this opportunity, I cannot rave enough about going off on your own and making attempts to network. Although it may sound scary, it is worth the uncomfortableness you may feel for a short period of time.

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