HSU Office of Career Services hosts annual Etiquette Dinner

(ABILENE, Texas)–The HSU Career Services office works to provide students with guidance and the tools they need to thrive after their collegiate years. These skills may include writing a resume and networking with employers, but proper dinner etiquette is an often overlooked part of preparing for professional encounters.

HSU Director of Career Services Alyssa Rasco introduces speaker Clairissa Tucker at the 2019 Etiquette Dinner.

For over 10 years, students have learned dining etiquette at the annual Etiquette Dinner, where they also have the chance to mingle with local professionals and enjoy a multi-course meal. In addition, attendees received a complimentary headshot from HSU’s visual media team.

Clairissa Tucker, whose husband Dr. Robert Tucker serves as HSU’s Interim Dean of the Kelley College of Business, led the 2019 etiquette dinner. She has spent many years studying proper dining etiquette and utilized several teaching techniques during her presentation.

Tucker taught students how to properly use their napkins and cutlery, order appropriate food and drink choices, and make conversation with future employers, clients, and coworkers. During each course, Tucker spoke on various concepts and showed short videos that illustrated her points in humorous and creative ways.

New to the 2019 Etiquette Dinner was the addition of professional headshots. Here, staff writer Macee Hall poses for her headshot in front of a Hardin-Simmons backdrop.

The event also afforded students the opportunity to dine with employers and working professionals from the Abilene area. Among those present were representatives from Abilene ISD, Abilene Regional Medical Center, First Financial Bank, Condley & Company, Eide Bailly, Edward Jones Investment Services, and BCFS Health & Human Services.

Lunch and dinner meetings are common in the professional world and often serve as a way for an employer to observe a potential employee’s behavior outside of the workplace, Tucker explained.

She went on to explain that a formal interview will allow an employer to learn about a potential employee’s qualifications and skills, while a second lunch interview will enable the employer to gain a sense of how the employee would fit into the culture of the company. By learning proper dining etiquette, potential employees can focus more on portraying themselves as reliable candidates, rather than on which fork to use.