Mind your manners Interview etiquette for a mealtime meeting

Mind your manners Interview etiquette for a mealtime meetingMind your manners Interview etiquette for a mealtime meetingAce any interview in a restaurant setting by practicing proper decorum.These days, job interviews can take any form. Dont be surprised if your next interview lands you in the hot seat across from your interviewer with two plates of food between you. Generally the final round in a series of hurdles youve had to clear, these business lunches or dinners are less about assessing your business acumen this has been solid enough to get you to the final round than about seeing how you are able to interact with others in collegial and social situations. In short, this is where the smallest of small details are what separate those who receive a job offer from those who get a phone call saying, Im so sorry to have to tell you this it welches a really tough decision but weve decided to go with someone else.Over the years Ive been in business, Ive realized there are many pit falls large, small or unforeseen that can knock you out of the running.Since I would hate to have any etiquette misstep undermine your hard work, heres a quick-and-dirty list of things to know before your next lunch or dinner meeting. While some are likely self-evident, its my hope that some surprise you. And if Im lucky a few might even make you laugh.Your napkin goes in your lap immediately after sitting down.If you are offered a roll, break it in pieces and butter each piece individually just before eating it. Do not cut it in half and butter it like a sandwich.Check in with the other party about what he or she might be ordering. If its just an entre, follow that lead. You dont want to be tucking into a fois ganja appetizer followed by a whole, de-boned fish when your host only ordered a salad.Please do not discuss your feelings about carbohydrates, white flour, white sugar, eating fats, the use of bovine growth hormone, the conditions under which chickens are raised, or your latest diet plan, should you be on one. If you are a lactose-intolerant, wheat-intolerant, or have too much candida, keep it to yourself. If you are a vegetarian, pescetarian, vegan, fruitarian, raw foodist, dont bring it up unless directly asked. If you are asked, respond and move on. Unless your eating plan is the focus of the meal, this is not the time or place to discuss those habits.Order food thats easy to manage. For example, if you have the choice between vegetable or onion soup, order the vegetable soup. No one wants to see you playing cats cradle with the cheese on top of the onion soup. If you have a choice between a green salad and a frise salad, get the green salad. No one wants to see the frise hanging out of your mouth like calamari legs.Dont forget to use please and thank you with the wait staff as they take your order and bring your food.For multiple courses, choose the fork or spoon farthest from your plate for your first course and work your way inward.Sit up str aight. Again, are you sitting up straight?Should you need to go to the bathroom, excuse yourself to use the ladies or mens room. You arent going to the john, the restroom, or the powder room. You are definitely not going to hit the head. Leave your napkin on your chair when you go, not on the table.Aside from the fact that my mother always told me that salting your food before tasting it was an insult to the chef, Ive heard that those in the business world view it as indicative of poor impulse control- you may make judgments without having all the facts.Dont drink alcohol, even if they do.Nobody and I repeat nobody is so important they need to check their phone during an interview. The people with whom youre talking need to have 100 percent of your focus. If you cant give them this when youre sitting in front of them, why would they believe you will give them this when you arent? (I would also request that you refrain from looking at it in between standing up from your table in th e restaurant and exiting the door, or until youve left the building in which your meeting took place. You need to give your goodbyes the same attention you did your hellos.)Your host will handle the bill. Do not feel the need to chatter as he or she does so.A simple, Thank you so much for a lovely lunch, will suffice, since you will be following up with a handwritten thank-you note.If you can keep all of the above in mind (and still enjoy your meal) I guarantee you will wow them.