Etiquette Dinner helps students prepare for job interviews, professional dinner settings

Every fall, Ohio University’s College of Business students gather for a night of networking and good food with one major rule: keep your elbows off the table.

The Walter Center for Strategic Leadership’s annual Etiquette Dinner teaches students how to conduct themselves in a professional dinner setting, whether for an interview or a work outing. The event is also a valuable opportunity for students to network with professionals in the industry.

The dinner, held this year on Sept. 16, was sponsored for the second year by IGS Energy, a large sustainable energy retailer based out of Dublin, Ohio. Nine IGS employees served as table leads, facilitating conversation with their tables and showing the students how to properly interact with their place settings. There were 16 tables of students, and Walter Center staff served as table leads for the remaining seven tables.

As students sat down, co-hosts Luke Edwards and Katie Thomson from the Business Academic Advising and Career Services office walked the room through the rules of dining etiquette. Edwards and Thomson touched on everything from where to put napkins to how to pass the salt.

“There are so many new things that students learn during that event,” Edwards said. “Don't get me wrong — some etiquette is way over the top. But we'd much rather students be fully prepared for the most extreme of situations and then be able to use their emotional intelligence to figure out what seems suitable for their environment.”

This is the third year that Edwards and Thomson have facilitated the dinner. They said they really enjoy being able to make such a rigid topic into a fun and light-hearted event for the students. The dinner is unique in its structure, allowing students to immerse themselves in the professional environment and network, while also allowing for trial and error.

“It's an opportunity to build confidence,” Thomson said. “I think there's a natural anxiety that comes with a more formal event or environment, and it's probably best if their first encounter of that more formal environment isn't the real deal, and instead, it can be a practice run.”

Lindsay LaSala, a talent relationship partner at IGS, and Tetta Hubbard, a talent acquisition partner, attended the dinner for the second year as representatives of the event’s sponsor.

It's my favorite campus event that I do all season,” Tetta Hubbard said. “I think it's neat what the Walter Center is doing for the students, giving them that real-life advice.

"This year was a little different when they practiced mingling with mocktails — that is a real situation that students are going to find themselves in,” Hubbard said

Connecting with students is more valuable than just gaining brand awareness and internship applications, LaSala and Hubbard said. They stressed the importance of being professional resources and friendly faces for every student they meet, whether that means reviewing resumes, checking in or talking through career paths.

“I love building relationships with students and thinking about how we can help them, whether they end up coming to IGS or not,” LaSala said. “I remember being that age and how exciting yet scary it can be. I get a lot of personal fulfillment out of connecting with students”

Attending the Etiquette Dinner can help students land internships and find professional connections. Tate Scarborough, a senior with a business analytics and strategic leadership and management double major, connected with LaSala at the dinner last year and interned for IGS over the summer as a part of the Office of Strategy Management team. Scarborough participated in a panel of IGS employees at the event this year, sharing his experience with the attendees.

“It was cool to get to be on the panel, answer questions, explain my experience and push IGS to other students, because it is such an amazing company and I loved my experience with them,” Scarborough said.

Having attended the Etiquette Dinner for three years in a row, Scarborough is no stranger to fancy table settings and five different forks. He used this year’s dinner to practice etiquette and network with new business students as the vice president of recruitment for Wandell Leadership Fellows. He said networking can be awkward at first, but it is a valuable skill to master.

As for senior Mollie Goon, studying strategic leadership and management and business analytics, this dinner was her first. Goon is the president of the Society for Human Resource Management, and said this event “definitely exceeded expectations,” and was a great way for her to meet students from other Walter Center programs.

“We have so much technical learning and classroom work, but it’s important to have a more socially aware etiquette style,” Goon said. “I’m definitely sad I don't get to go to another one, but I’ll be encouraging my organization to continue showing up.”

Although the meticulous nature of the etiquette rules can be overwhelming, Goon said the event was an overall positive experience and hopes to attend events like this one in her professional future.  

Image

Scarborough also applauded the interactivity of the dinner. He said that with events like these, showing up is not enough — the real learning and development only happens with practice and a willingness to participate.

“College is what you put into it,” Scarborough said. “If you do the bare minimum, you're going to get the bare minimum returned. That's why I think the Walter Center is so special, because you don't have to be involved; you choose to be. When you are, you're surrounded by a lot of like-minded individuals who support one another’s professional growth. And you're all going to be more successful because of it.”

The Walter Center was thrilled when IGS Energy stepped up to sponsor the Etiquette Dinner and help create such a meaningful experience for students. Organizations interested in supporting one of the Walter Center’s many other signature events and experiences can contact Jen Traxler, executive director of the Walter Center, at traxlerj@ohio.edu to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.