A candidate who salted his soup after sampling it during an interview was chosen for the job over another candidate who salted his soup immediately after receiving it because the employer viewed the first candidate as a better decision maker. Peter Post, the director of The Emily Post Institute and author of five etiquette books, used this soup faux pas to exemplify how etiquette can affect personal and professional lives every day at an etiquette dinner at the Hanover Inn on Thursday evening.
Post shared etiquette rules with a packed audience of members of the Class of 2012 and the Class of 1962 at the fifth annual Class Connections Sophomore Etiquette Dinner.
The dinner consisted of three courses punctuated by presentations by Post on various forms of etiquette, including dinner, cell phone and job interview etiquette. The dinner featured elaborate place settings in order to encourage students to practice their newly acquired dinner etiquette techniques.
Etiquette should be considered an important part of students' daily interactions, according to Post.
"Whenever two people come together and their behavior affects one another, you have etiquette," Post said, quoting his grandmother Emily Post.
Emily Post authored the famous book "Emily Post's Etiquette" and founded The Emily Post Institute, which trains etiquette experts to advise various institutions and corporations, according to the Institute's website.
The dinner was planned to prepare students to interact in formal settings and to provide them with tools to succeed in the business world, according to Catherine Roedel '12, a member of the Hill Winds Society, which co-sponsored the event.
Post taught students basic dinner etiquette and the finer points of dining, including the convention of passing the bread basket to the right, so that right-handed people can more easily serve themselves.
"Eating is an inherently gross activity," Post said. "Table manners help to keep us from grossing out the people we're with."
Good etiquette not only shows respect for other people, but also differentiates you from others in a business situation, Post said.
"It's perspective in business that matters," Post said. "Relationships are key if you build strong relationships in business, you will be successful."
After the main course, Post described standard etiquette at work and in business situations.
Post stressed the importance of a follow-up thank you note after job interviews. Although a paper note is usually preferred, an e-mail would also be appropriate depending on the situation, Post said.
Arriving to appointments on time and dressed well is also crucial for success, Post said, adding that students should "dress for the job you want, not the job you have."
Several students interviewed by The Dartmouth said they hoped the dinner would prepare them for job interviews, corporate recruiting and professional life after college.
"I'm really glad to be here," Emily Niehaus '12 said. "A woman I was just talking to told me, I really wish I had learned this stuff when I was your age trust me, you'll need it.'"
Other students said that the dinner was a good networking opportunity.
"I got the blitz about this and I thought it'd be a good opportunity to get to know the Dartmouth alumni," Brittney Frankel '12 said. "I really enjoy opportunities to interact with them."
The event was organized through Class Connections, an informal relationship between current undergraduate classes and the returning 50-year reunion class.
