Feeling like you aren’t qualified enough?
My name is Natalie Simms and I am currently working as the Expert Witness corporate management intern at Experts by Experts. EXE is an expert witness referral company in the heart of Philadelphia. EXE provides a wide array of expert witnesses and professional consultants for attorneys all over the East Coast. Experts by Experts also teams up with local businesses for consultant referrals for business related events. Though I was informed of my title, I quickly thought… that could mean anything, and it did!
My first day working at EXE I was assigned a desk, computer, and a phone to answer the conference line. After the conference call ended I went straight to work.
Immediately when I began my internship I had no idea what to expect, but within no time I quickly learned how much work I would have to put in. I was the only intern at the office. Meaning I helped with everything. Every task that did not get finished it fell on me, any work I missed due to being in school full time was up to me to check in with my coworkers to ensure progress or completion. While working for EXE, this internship happily humbled my idea of the work environment after graduation and has definitely prepared me for taking on any job after May 10th. What I felt was the most important take away from my experience was the importance of pushing your limits.
My Daily tasks consisted of….
Coordinating pending matters: Organized the highest priority cases needing experts, updated spread sheets displaying all contact information.
Maintained accounts receivable: assorted checks and maintained records by invoices, debits, and credits also contacted attorneys for past/prior payments.
- Drafted and verified legal documents dealing with litigation metrics, complaints, subpoenas, memorandums and legal briefs.
- Emailed clients for new case updates, and hours/ payment changes.
- Created files based on the experts to review legal publications, assessed criminal background checks and performed database searches to identify laws and court decisions relevant to pending cases.
- Conducted client interviews for attorneys resulting in client intake forms, memos summarizing the testimony for attorneys and attorney sign up bonuses.
All of these tasks rotated many times throughout the day, and in the beginning were overwhelming for someone jumping straight into it. As time went on over my span of three months I learned to take on projects fast. As my senior year is coming to an end the biggest thing that I wanted to accomplish was taking on new responsibilities and learning as much as I could. I wanted to show myself that I would be prepared for a job after college. Though I had moments that were hard and I had to learn how to maneuver around, surprisingly one of my biggest take aways came from something that stressed me out the most. As time went on I grew to enjoy having things thrown at me every day. Though it seemed stressful from my description, it caused me to multitask and prioritize my work in a way I had never done before. It honestly began to excite me every time I returned. Through my boss throwing me in the loop on my first day I had no time to adjust, I had no time to over think, I just did it. I worked hard to learn as much as I could, and when tasks were completed I asked to learn something else. I did not sit back and wait for things to be given to me.
Growing up the most important thing we learn about ourselves is adaptability. Being able to adapt and trust yourself is the most constructive experience anyone could ask for. Previously I had other internships for major corporate companies, but they all provided training on my day to day tasks. The significance of this internship experience for me was to understand I will not always know what I am doing, but I will figure it out. Many times we go into things not sure of the outcome and worry about the experience. As seniors we contemplate daily if we will actually be prepared for a job or if we will have detailed training in order to succeed. What we fail to notice is that we have all the training we ever needed, but we never get to see that side of ourselves unless we are thrown into it. My best advice to anyone taking on a new experience is to stop questioning if you are qualified or prepared, just try it out and prove to yourself what you can do. When you prove to yourself how quickly you can adapt the possibilities are endless.
