College graduates learn to mind their manners

updated 6:12 p.m. ET May 31, 2005

GLENSIDE, Pa. - You've just graduated from college. You've got a new interview suit, a typo-free resume, and ready answers to just about any question that might come your way.

But if you talk to prospective employers while slurping your soup and slouching over your salad, that preparation might not mean much. So a college in this Philadelphia suburb has started a "job search boot camp" that includes soup-to-nuts lessons in table manners for a generation raised on grab-and-go meals.

Newly minted Arcadia University graduates test their interview skills in simulated office and restaurant settings, as in last week's "Lunch for Success" session _ held in an ornate dining room of the school's castle-like main building, once the mansion of sugar baron William Welsh Harrison.

The job market for recent college grads is brighter than it has been in several years _ a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that companies expect to hire 13 percent more college grads in 2004-05 than in 2003-04. But that doesn't mean plum positions will go to those lacking in polish.

"By the time you're having your second or third interview, when these lunches or dinners frequently happen, you're being looked at as a whole person and not just for your technical or interviewing skills," said Sheila Spisak, associate director of the career center at Ball State University in Indiana. The university has offered a career prep course for eight years.

"We drive home to our students that even after a candidate has left the corporate office and is in a restaurant, they're not home free," Spisak said. "The evaluation process is continuing."

At Arcadia, a private liberal arts college serving 3,500 students, the career boot camp is held the week after commencement. The program is in its second year.

As students worked their way through a four-course meal last week, etiquette instructor Gail Madison circulated through the room _ checking posture (back against the chair) and position (hold your soup spoon like a pencil).

"I can't stop leaning forward," Nicole Heisner said as she practiced the proper form for eating soup _ spoon it away from you to avoid dribbles and drips.

Madison sought to reassure the students as they practiced the right way to fold their napkins and butter their bread. "It feels strange because you're not used to eating this way," she told them. "Keep practicing at home and you'll get more comfortable."

MORE FROM U.S. BUSINESS

U.S. business Section Front

Geithner: Stimulus is on the right path Obama considers bailout for small business States scramble for slice of Boeing's business Lawmakers argue over billions left in TARP Madoff won't appeal 150-year sentence SEC to call for Calif. IOUs treated as securities Latest Buffett lunch auctions for $1.7 million Ron Paul’s bipartisan attack on the Fed Banks draw line over accepting Calif. IOUs Ad pushes legal pot as solution to Calif. deficit U.S. business Section Front   Add U.S. business headlines to your news reader: