Four courses. Three forks. Two spoons. One knife.
Geared toward juniors and seniors who will soon be entering the workforce, “Recipe for Success” is an informational event that presented attendees with a simulation dinner interview. Attendees were served a free four-course meal while listening to step-by-step directions on how to properly eat soup, kindly ask for the salt and other pieces of advice on how to act professionally at a meal with a potential employer.
Mary Mahoney, Career Services assistant director, organized the event to “prepare students for the job search and all that entails.”
“I think when we’re in that business, professional setting we’re not realizing things are a little bit different and things are being observed,” Mahoney said after the event Wednesday evening at the UC Hermitage Room. “(At home) we’re just eating too fast so we’re not thinking about eating our bread slowly, cutting, conversing and realizing that we need to pace ourselves.
“We’re just trying to prepare (students) so they can make a good impression.”
In addition to the meal, the approximately 75 students in attendance also received a resume folder and were offered the chance to have a formal headshot photo taken for online career profiles, like LinkedIn.
Eddie Rich, sales manager at Ferguson Enterprises’ Knoxville office, a contracting company that partnered with Career Services and Aramark to host the event, spoke to attendees before the meal was served. Stressing that good impressions are just as memorable as bad impressions, Rich advised students to feel confident in interviews with potential employers.
“Tell the person you’re talking to about all the things you’ve done, all your accomplishments,” Rich said. “Now’s the chance, bragging is okay.”
Winston Smith, junior in accounting, wanted to attend the event after attending a formal meeting with representatives from large accounting firms over the summer. It was there he realized he wanted to improve his table manners.
“I was expecting to learn a lot of basic table manners and such, and I feel like (the event) exceeded my expectations,” Smith said. “I do expect to at some point be able to go to dinners or lunches with potential employers and essentially be in interview type settings, and I believe being able to present myself well would make me more marketable.”
William Taylor, senior in finance, shared the same sentiment. Admitting he was initially drawn to the event for the free food, he said he left better understanding etiquette beyond the basic “outside to in” utensil rule.
“The best thing you could do is not make yourself look dumb; you want to seem like you know what you’re doing, even if you don’t,” Taylor said. “This definitely helps because now I have more of an idea of what I’m supposed to do.”
Pointing out the formal setting adds a lot of pressure on the interviewee, Taylor said he thought some of the rules were tedious and numerous. But he also mentioned he’ll always remember his bread will be on the left side of his plate and his drinks will always be on the right.
Throughout the meal, students were able to ask Mahoney questions while she presented proper etiquette for a formal meal. Whether it was about business casual and generally conservative attire, properly pointing out dietary restrictions by quietly asking restaurant servers to outline ingredients in a dish or handling the check – if the employer invited you, they’ll pay but always offer to pay your part and carry cash or credit just in case – all questions were welcome throughout the course of the meal.
Ultimately, Mahoney said she hopes every student walked out of the event with a better understanding of proper etiquette in a professional setting.
“I hope that at least every student learns something tonight that they didn’t know about and that can help them better understand why dining etiquette is important,” Mahoney said.
Publicized through the Hire-A-Vol website, the spring “Recipe for Success” event will take place in late February or early March. The date has not been announced.
For more information on Career Services and/or the Recipe for Success event, visit career.utk.edu.
