Making the most of corporate visits

2012-09-18

This past August, I headed to The Big Apple to start college. New York University, however, is a bit different than other colleges. Rather than having its students start classes immediately after they move in, NYU students celebrate Welcome Week, a week of workshops, receptions and fun events designed to welcome and introduce students to the university, its programs and services, and of course New York City. Like a true DECA member, I signed up for every site visit the NYU career center had to offer. After visiting The New York Times, Bloomberg L.P., and Google, I picked up a few tips on how to make the most of corporate visits:

Research, Research, Research! Be sure to do research on the company you plan on visiting. On every visit our tour guide asked us trivia about their company. Not only can being knowledgeable help you win prizes (I won a New York Times notebook, Google glasses, and a nifty Android keychain), it helps you stand out from the crowd. Standing out is especially helpful considering how competitive it is to land internships at popular companies.

Dress To Impress. Just like how you dress to impress for your DECA competitive event, you should wear your best professional dress when you go on a corporate visit. As much as we’d all like to believe that image isn’t everything, 55% of communication is visual. If you want to show a business that you’re a motivated hard worker, communicate that in the way you dress! Don’t forget the finishing details like pearls or a pressed tie.

Give A Nice, Firm Handshake. At the end of the New York Times visit, my peers and I went up to shake hands with the education manager who showed us around. After watching a countless number of students give what is commonly referred to as “dead fish handshakes,” I went up to the education manager and gave him a handshake so nice and firm that he seriously said, “Nice handshake. It shows you’re confident.”

Show Some Gratitude. Write Thank You Cards! Another lesson I picked up both from my former hospitality teacher and the New York Times education manager is to always, always write thank you cards after a corporate visit. Email thank you’s are perfectly fine, but nothing compares to a good old-fashioned handwritten thank you card.