So a couple days ago i get invited to this “office party” by my boss. This party is to occur in a fancy restaurant with free food, beer, and soda. I say sure i’ll go. Cut to today, the day of the party.
I make the trek out central park, and it is raining a bit and cut over to the Citrus Bar and Grill, where the party is being held. I’m approximately 1 hour after the party has started. A co-worker and friend of mine “D-” joins me at this little shindig. We run into a few people he knows, because i know no one really, and after exausting our contacts we retire to a table. This took maybe 20 minutes total, thats how few of the people we knew there. Sitting down i question why the fuck i’m even there. I came for free food, to be honest.
But the food isn’t served. time ticks by. still sitting there and 9:00 hits, and i type mary a message on my phone. Meanwhile all these girls are walking around and D- is telling me how freaking good looking they are. The guy who’s job i’m taking walks up and shakes our hands and tells us he will introduce us to some others. I quietly decline thinking i just want food and then i’ll leave. Some time passes. AFter a little while, one of D’s friends drops by and we joke about how the “big bosses” are here and how they are invisible to us because we don’t know who any of these people are.
Here is a little background for you, I work in Newark, NJ. The main office is in New York. It just so happens that very few N-J people went to this party, including my boss who invited me. so i was disappointed a bit. Everyone there works in the New York branch. Not to mention, there are two floors in the N-J branch. The 4 and 5 floor. Accounting is the only office on the fifth floor, and it consists of five people not including me. this means i don’t even socialize with the people on the fourth floor much. So the odds of me knowing any of these people in the last 2 weeks (or less) of employment were non-existant.
back to the story, this friend decides to introduce us to the big guys. Turns out that the big guys are really nice. So i’m introduced to some of the major people, people who in fact have their names on the firm. Anyways, they started talking to me and d- and d- was hitting it off well with them. I was not really hitting it off well. I fucked up actually, but it isn’t a major fuck up.
When talking to one of the guys, i just came out and asked what the qualifications were for being a paralegal. He said that they were pretty lax. He said just some computer skills and college background. He then said they usually work their way up from other positions in the firm. So i nodded. Then he asked how long i worked in accounting, and i said a week and a half. I quickly added that i was enjoying the work, i just had an interest in law. He nodded and asked if i had any college, i said i just graduated. He said, “You must have some good background in accounting,” in which i replied that i worked my way through college doing computer work, and that the position i filled required experience with computers which i fit perfectly. So he nodded and asked like what skills. I started to list them, “advanced in microsoft word, excel, access,” and then i stopped saying that i didn’t really want to go this far, that i was just curious about the qualifications due to my interest in law.
Here is the fuck up. He says, “Well you do realize we do mostly litigation, which is within the courtroom” In which i nodded., and he continued.” and so i’m not sure if thats what you are interested in.” I laughed and said, “I’m actually really interested in Non-Profit work………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………”
yeah… i know… wtf was i thinking? he wasn’t asking about what kind of cases do i feel passionate about, he was asking for what kind of part did i want to play in the legal field. I felt like a dumbass after i stepped back. Not only did i not answer his question, but i voluntered hostile information. This is a corporate law firm. non-profit work doesn’t mix well with these people. oh well i fucked up.
I’ll sleep on it. I still don’t know why i said that. I quickly added to the end of all of that that i wanted experience in law so i could better learn all aspects of the environment in case i wanted to go to law school.
He said in the end, “Well i suggest you work in the accounting division for a bit and see what happens when a position opens up.” oh well.. i fucked up. First position that opens up i’m still applying for it.
ok i need sleep i need to go to work tomorrow… shame really…