get one's foot in the door

present singular third person gets one's foot in the door · participle present getting one's foot in the door · past got one's foot in the door · UK participle past got one's foot in the door · US participle past gotten one's foot in the door

1. idiomaticTo initiate contact or a relationship; to gain access, especially to an entry-level job.

   But despite his academic credentials, Julian had to fight just to get his foot in the door at most laboratories.

   2007 February 4, Sara Boyd, “A Formula for Greatness”, in Washington Post, retrieved 10 Jun 2009, page Y14

   3 more examples

   And the legislature had better study Texas, before it commits this state to parimutuel betting, thus letting the professional gambler get his foot in the door.

   1935 February 19, “When You Let the Gamblers In”, in Milwaukee Journal, retrieved 10 Jun 2009, page 8

   Guinier recognizes the need for minorities to get their feet in the door, but argues that "insiders" must be authentic representatives in order for minorities to achive real political power.

   1994 October, Binny Miller, “Disarming Hostile Majorities: A Queer Reading of Lani Guinier on Voting Rights”, in Gay Community News, page 10

   He was able to gain employment as a cleaner relatively quickly. It was a 'foot in the door', but it wouldn't appease his ambition for long and he later qualified as a 'passed cleaner' (a fireman in all but name), based at King's Cross and St Pancras.

   2021 December 29, Tom Allett, “How Wilston Jackson made railway history”, in RAIL, number 947, page 52

   Synonyms: put one's foot in the door