Business Etiquette Dinner Hones Good Manners, Professionalism
Contact: Omar Khan, 581-1949; George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO – Usually, it is parents who badger the kids about good table manners, but at UMaine, a student group in the Maine Business School is asking for a little help with etiquette.
They know they’ll soon be swapping cut-offs, flip flops and Frisbees for more formal attire and job interviews that most likely will include a meal.
Members of the UMaine chapter of the American Marketing Association are holding their annual business etiquette dinner Monday, April 10, at 5 p.m. at Stodder Commons, a four-course event that starts with a before-dinner reception and covers business etiquette, table manners and a range of discussions about the dos and don’ts of a business lunch or dinner.
Begun a year or two ago, business etiquette dinner experiences on campus are gaining in popularity and attendance. The UMaine Career Center in conjunction with the Alumni Association and Crisanne Blackie, who advises students in pre-law and health professions programs, organized formal dinners for future lawyers and healthcare professionals. The business school students decided to hold their own business etiquette dinner last year.
Shuja Masood, vice president of the campus AMA organization, and Courtney Hagenaars, vice-president-elect, say they would like to offer their annual etiquette dinner to the entire campus in the future.
“It’s a really valuable experience for the students,” Hagenaars says. “So many times we focus on other aspects of business, but so many times we also find ourselves doing business or in some other situation in a restaurant or dining setting. Obviously, even in an interview situation or at a business meeting, people are not just listening to what you’re saying; they’re going to be looking at how you present yourself.”
Good or bad table manners can reveal a lot about a prospective employee, employer or business associate, says Anastasia Harper, cafeteria supervisor for catering in Dining Services at UMaine. “Employers want someone who can present themselves well with clients,” she says.
When facing a dinner setting with six to eight different knives, forks, spoons and plates, multiple courses, students should be able to concentrate on conversation rather than worrying about which fork to use, Harper says.
The dinners are good practice. Students may be aware of formal rules of etiquette, but they don’t necessarily follow them in their casual daily lives, adds Cathy Marquez, assistant director of employer relations at the UMaine Career.
Harper and Marquez will make etiquette presentations to the 35 or so students who will attend Monday’s dinner.
“We’ll talk about how to leave the table gracefully and topics of conversation that are appropriate and what to order to make your dinner less eventful,” Marquez says. “You probably wouldn’t want to order shellfish while someone is evaluating you for potential employment. It’s best to order something that’s simple and easy to eat.”
Elizabeth Duran, president of the campus AMA chapter, recalls last year’s etiquette dinner as being “awesome.”
Many students know their manners, but some, she notes, still “ask where do I put my knife, where do I put my fork? Last year we learned that you’re not supposed to season your steak until you’ve tried it, because it shows that you’re not a big risk-taker,” she says.
The AMA etiquette dinner “became an instant hit with students and faculty, providing a fun lesson in first impressions, attire, dining, table manners and socializing in a formal setting,” says Omar Khan, assistant professor of marketing and co-advisor of the UMaine AMA chapter. “With so much of business activity today being conducted outside of the office in such social settings, I think this type of lesson is invaluable.
“It’s amazing how far just presentation of your person and personality can take you up the corporate ladder, and skills in etiquette are not something we intend on forgetting while we instill substance in our graduates through rigorous academics,” he says. “It is both substance and presentation that make an employee or manager stand out in the competitive business world.”
For students and others who want to learn more about dining etiquette, the Career Center has provided this PowerPoint presentation.