Everyone knows manners are important, but what if your dinner etiquette could jumpstart your career?
The David-Michael Scholars Program hosted the first annual Business Etiquette Dinner and Seminar at the Waterfront Place Hotel Monday. The dinner was designed to instruct pre-veterinary students of West Virginia University and other undergraduates on proper etiquette and business practices for career and academic interviews.
Professional Image Consultant Susan Lawrence advised veterinary students on personal appearance, conversational polish, and dinner etiquette to aid them in high-stakes interviews. Jeryl Jones, professor of animal nutritional sciences at WVU, helped organize the event. "As veterinary and medical fields get more competitive with more students, anything that can give people a bit of an edge is worthwhile," she said. She said she hoped this event would help the students become more polished for graduate school interviews.
"Yes, we learn basic manners, but sometimes people don't have a good ability to talk to people they don't know," she said. Besides dinner etiquette, students learned how to introduce themselves, how to talk to other professionals and how to improve their body language. "How you carry yourself during the interview process is very important," Jones said.
The event began with a social hour followed by a lecture and dinner. Students were given etiquette handbooks that detailed the location and purpose of tableware, marking the location and purpose of everything from salad plates to dessert spoons. Valerie White, a junior biochemistry student, works in a fine dining restaurant and has watched other students struggle through dinner interviews. White said their misfortune inspired her to attend the event. "I see how nervous they are and hesitant to do anything, and I don't want to be like that," she said. White said any experience is going to help her become more comfortable during interviews.
"As a server standing there, it's comical to watch, but when it's my turn I want to be calm and act like I know what I'm doing," she said. Ryan Poling, a junior animal nutritional sciences student, said he hoped to improve himself and his etiquette to impress potential employers."Being inexperienced in business etiquette, I figured this could give me an edge during interviews," he said.
Poling said he never expected such attention to detail at dinner. "I sort of joked around about this when I was younger, but now I'm realizing this is actually true," he said. The seminar included a four-course dinner. Featured speakers were Lawrence, international image consultant with Class Advantage, Inc., and Susan Robison, assistant director of the Center for Career Development in WVU's College of Business & Economics.