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Clueless
about what to do with all that silverware surrounding
your plate? Get the scoop on proper usage and
other eating tips by taking a dining etiquette
class.
Let's Make an Employment Deal -- at the Dining
Table!
By Feona Sharhran
Huff
January 2001
The CollegeBound Network NewsClick -- Hurray...
you're one semester shy of graduating from The
University of XYZ. Job prospects are looking great,
too. However, a few of your potential employers
want to complete the interview process over dinner.
Over dinner? Oh no... that means you'll be eating
in front of someone who can decide your employment
fate! The only thing you know about fine dining
is what you've seen on television -- you've never
actually practiced eating a salad with the third
fork away from the plate or sipping soup with
the first spoon to the right of the fish knife.
It's sink or swim time and you only have a short
amount of time to get polished.
Not sure what to do? Cast
away your table manner woes with a dinner etiquette
course. "As the world becomes more competitive,
proper business etiquette and interpersonal skills
play an increasingly important role in the success
or failure of your business career," says Nonnie
Cameron, a certified etiquette consultant. "It's
important to remember that there are no free meals
in corporate dining situations -- whether you
are seeking employment or eating with supervisors.
People will be watching what you do at the table."
That's why many schools
are beginning to prepare their students for the
inevitable dinner meeting -- like Washington College
in Chestertown, MD, and University of Texas-Austin
in Austin, TX. According to Tara McKee, director
of leadership programs in Washington College's
office of student services, the school sponsors
an annual etiquette dinner including a four-course
meal -- soup, salad, entree, and dessert -- "to
give students a base level of knowledge so they
know that etiquette exists beyond not speaking
with your mouth full." Catering director Darrell
T. Jester gives the students drills on how to
handle napkins, wield bread knives, and pass salt
shakers, among other dining dos and don'ts. Students
are even given a handbook to help them get through
the course.
Leah Golshani, a graduating
senior at Washington College, says the etiquette
dinner is just what she needed. "These are things
I am going to come across in the future. I hope
I'll learn something about the proper way to behave."
Gabriel Dominguez, a student
at UT-Austin says he took the corporate dining
etiquette course because he wanted to learn how
to make a good impression and interact with people
in a social setting. "Some of these things I had
never given much thought to. I never knew I was
doing so many things wrong."
Check with your school
to see if it offers courses in dining etiquette.
It will save you lots of embarrassment and help
to secure the job that's almost yours!
10 Proper Table Tips:
1 - Serve food from
your left and pass it to your right.
2 - Cut one bite of meat at a time.
3 - Stir iced tea
quietly. Cover your hand to squeeze lemon over
the glass.
4 - Pinch one bite of bread off at a time.
5 - Chew with your mouth closed.
6 - Refuse food by
saying, "No, thank you."
7 - Modify your voice so that only your tablemates
can hear you.
8 - Don't place elbows on table (unless all dishes
are removed following the meal).
9 - Excuse yourself to people on each side of
you if you must leave the table.
10 - Place used silverware on a plate, not on
the tablecloth.
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