Business Etiquette 101: Making a Good First Impression

By Calvin Bruce

Receiving appealing job offers depends on a number of factors, including making a good first impression with campus recruiters, corporate Human Resources personnel and hiring managers. The fact is, you have one opportunity to present yourself – in person and through correspondence – as a distinguished young professional and favorable candidate for hiring consideration. The challenge is to “put your best foot forward” by observing business etiquette when communicating with prospective employers in writing and in person.

Dennis Lindsay, a career counselor at Spelman College, comments: “Practicing proper business etiquette is significantly important for a number of reasons. First, it is critically important for making a great ‘first impression,’ but more importantly, it demonstrates to a potential employer your abilities to positively represent their company in business scenarios should you be hired.

“Displaying proper etiquette speaks volumes about your level of professional development and preparedness far beyond the specific and technical skills expressed on your resume. And in some cases, it may be the most important factor to the potential employer in their decision making,” he adds.

Initial Contact: Cover Letters

Undoubtedly, the first formal contact with a prospective employer will be through submission of your resume in response to job postings in the college career center, in professional magazines, or online.

Competition for the top jobs is keen. Eye-catching employment ads and job postings often garner hundreds of responses. When sifting through them all, staffing specialists search for resumes and cover letters that “stand out from the pack.”

For over 35 years, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN has published numerous articles related to the development of a “winning resume.” Specific titles are archived at www.blackcollegian.com. Along with creating an appealing resume, take care in writing the kind of cover letter that will invite the reader to peruse your resume with great interest and pass it along to other appropriate parties.

Certain rules concerning business etiquette apply to written correspondence in support of your candidacy.

To begin with, select a quality paper stock (white or off-white) for both resume and cover letter. Both should look business-like and include content in an attractive font (such as 12-point Arial) that is free of spelling or grammatical errors. When it comes to proofreading, two sets of eyes are always better than one. Having someone with good writing/ editing skills look over your resume and letters is always beneficial. After all, glaring errors are a turnoff, if not an actual strike-out factor in the minds of most interviewers.

Make sure you address the cover letter (and any subsequent correspondence) to the right person—with the correct spelling of name and title. Addressing it “to whom it may concern” or to a nameless “corporate recruiter” or “human resource director” shows lack of initiative. It only takes a little research to identify the proper individuals for submitting your credentials.

“Submitting a personalized, customized and tailored letter offers the assurance to the organization that you are genuinely interested in their specific company and immersed in their line of business—versus arbitrarily sending out bunches of resumes and letters in the hope that someone will respond,” says Lindsay.

Another helpful guideline is to stick to business. Composing a cover letter is not the time to wax poetic or ramble on and on concerning some pet cause or area of interest unrelated to business matters. Be specific as to how you can make a contribution to the organization, indicating that you have done your research and carefully thought about what you can offer the firm.

The body of the cover letter should highlight your academic accomplishments, work experience, leadership roles, and other facets of your background that will impress the reader. In appropriately worded fashion, mention your eagerness to pursue opportunities by making yourself available for telephone and face-to-face interviewing. If the company has a campus recruiter slated to visit your school, by all means respectfully request a meeting with that individual.

Overall, the tone of the letter should be cordial and highly professional. Assume the letter will be read by numerous persons who will make a decision concerning your future with the organization. Again, first impressions are lasting.

Personal Contact: On-site Interviews

Landing the job you really want typically involves a series of face-to-face interviews. Often, an initial campus interview is followed by an interview at company headquarters lasting perhaps a whole day. When interviewing on-site, you will speak with numerous persons who will give their opinion of you: human resources personnel, hiring manager, and future co-workers.

If you aren’t too experienced in interviewing, it’s beneficial to role play with someone who can objectively critique your performance.

Lindsay advises, “Getting a friend to pose questions and listen to your responses helps tremendously. Friends can also call your attention to little things like your tone of voice, annoying mannerisms, facial expressions and body language. Using an audio recorder or video camera to tape yourself also goes a long way in honing your interview skills.”

In any actual interview context, it’s vitally important to sell yourself as a viable candidate and valuable potential employee. One aspect of selling yourself is to observe proper etiquette throughout your visit.

For starters, time your arrival at the company at least 20-30 minutes before the scheduled interview. This will give you time to double check your appearance in the restroom, relax and mentally prepare to discuss your background and career aspirations.

Your appearance should convey a neat, professional, conservative look suited to the business you wish to join. Wardrobe, hair style and other grooming accents should depict you as a serious job seeker who can comfortably fit in with current employees.

Make sure you are cordial to everyone you meet—including persons in the elevator, the receptionist and anyone who greets you along the way. After all, the person you chitchat with in the elevator might be your prospective boss’s boss. That individual will draw some impression of you even through brief contact and pass along personal observations at the appropriate time to your prospective boss.

Another tip: For sales and marketing positions, it’s crucial to be able to establish rapport with “the gate keepers” – receptionists and decision makers’ secretaries. For that reason, some companies specifically ask for their feedback as they greet and observe interviewees.  Key questions: Was the candidate friendly and relaxed? Did she enunciate clearly and display professionalism and poise? Did she appear irritated if the wait seemed excessive? Do you think she would represent our company well?

When introduced to everyone, by all means stand, offer a firm handshake, smile, and greet the person by name. Maintaining good eye contact during the greeting and in subsequent conversation is also a mannerly thing to do.

Another important point: Allow the interviewer to steer the conversation. Overly ambitious, or excessively nervous, students sometimes make the mistake of talking excessively about their background, campus accomplishments, and career goals. It’s important to cover these areas, but inadvisable to be a “chatty Cathy” and dominate the conversation.

When answering direct questions, mentally envision an hour-glass egg timer. In three minutes or less you should be able to make salient points enticing the interviewer to want to hear more, not less, about your background and career interests.

As the interview winds down, let the interviewer know of your interest in the opportunity. Without sounding too eager, mention your availability to meet with other decision makers, even if this involves another on-site visit. Conclude with a firm handshake, thanks for the interviewer’s time and interest, and a cordial good-bye.

Final Contact: Thank-you Letter

Writing timely thank-you letters is the final order of business. To follow proper etiquette, mail the letters within 48 hours of the personal meeting. Again, pay attention to details: the exact spelling and titles of individuals whom you address.

Suppose you were involved in panel or “round robin” interviewing with numerous corporate personnel. If so, it’s not necessary to send a thank-you letter to every one. However, in your thank-you letter you can mention how pleasurable and informative it was speaking with all the individuals with whom you made acquaintance.

Thank-your letters need not be lengthy. The important thing is to cordially express appreciation for the time spent and interest shown regarding your career aspirations. If you’re definitely interested in pursuing opportunities with the company, let that be clearly known. Furthermore, indicate your availability for further conversation--including another on-site interview, if required.

However, if you’re strongly leaning toward other potential offers, at least keep the door of communication open. Your first “real job” out of college won’t be your last, and you never know when circumstances will bring you into contact with individuals whom you’ve met during this corporate visit.

Should you have a strong interest in the position that you interviewed for and don’t receive any further communication from the company follow up sending the thank-you letter. It doesn’t violate business etiquette to phone the key contact person within the organization. It’s fitting to ask if they received your letter and inquire about the status of your candidacy. Even a brief conversation will provide clues as to where you stand vis-à-vis other interviewees.

Communicating with the proper tone is important. While it’s appropriate to ask certain questions, you don’t want to overstep boundaries of proper etiquette and appear to be too inquisitive or “pushy” regarding your candidacy and interest in the opportunity. Such behavior is viewed negatively by corporate personnel.

Keep this in mind: Companies like to “court” highly desirable candidates. If your words or actions demonstrate that you are chasing them, your chances of receiving an offer are greatly reduced.

Observing old-fashioned manners and adhering to business etiquette will help you make the best impression with a prospective employer. Hopefully, that will lead to your receiving an offer that is too good to refuse. Good luck!

Calvin Bruce, a freelancer based in Atlanta, has written frequently for TBC during his 23 career in recruitment.