Frustrated

Does anyone else here write for newspapers?

How do you handle trying to call school principals on the phone? (or teachers, school people in general)

Whenever I try to call a principal or school official for my job, I always get the "gatekeepers" or secretaries. They always say they'll take a message and have the person get back to me. But then I have to wait for them to call back! I can't sit by the phone all day. (I'm a freelancer; I'm not always at my desk.)

What is the right way to handle this?

Thanks for any ideas.

Okay, just to clarify, even if you're not a reporter, I just want to know what is the best thing to say to a secretary to make sure the principal calls me back?

Should I put a time limit on it? Should I ask what is the best time to reach the person?

jeffo said:

In my experience with school administrators, literally sitting in the office is the quickest way to get heard. I know, it's not always possible, but at times it's actually the best use of your time because it will take less time than playing phone tag for weeks...

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Yeah, I had thought of just showing up at his door.

Silver King said:

Do you have a cell phone? If so, you could give out that number so they could reach you even when you're away from the office.

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I did give the secretary my cell number. But even so, I can't always answer it. If I'm standing in line at the grocery store and he calls me, sure I could talk, but I can't very well interview him. I need to be sitting down with my notes.

So, as it turned out today, he never called me back or replied to my emails. I'll never do it that way again. The next time I'm told the person isn't there I will just keep calling back until I reach them.