Young adults learn business etiquette dos and don’ts, how to socialize after graduation – ABC7 Los Angeles

IRVINE (KABC) — Teenagers who have become young adults during Covid face particular challenges as they enter the workforce.

“We find that students coming out of college and going into internships and jobs are a little nervous about that face-to-face communication,” explains Teresa Thomas, Business Etiquette Consultant and Trainer.

For young people who needed phones or zoom for school, where to learn the etiquette that many companies ask of their employees?

“At RSM, we serve clients globally and when they’re out there serving clients, we need them to represent us at their best… so having that professional etiquette, knowing good techniques and how to talk to people … talking to clients in a professional manner is so, so critical and key,” says Andrea Jew of RSM Accounting Services.

At Irvine Valley College, Business Etiquette is an actual course offered through the School of Accounting. Students learn that you can be too loud when you’re sitting at your desk… the exercises are designed to show that it’s rude to talk on your phone during meetings. Even things that most people take for granted are taught…like the proper handshake.

“In the business arena, when we want to have a nice firm handshake … that means we’re meeting network to network,” Thomas explains to his students.

“What we’re trying to do is expose them to that world that young people today often don’t have that exposure to.” And regardless of your background, people are often very casual or really don’t know how to behave in a more formal business situation,” says Tracy Fahimi, dean of business and social behavioral sciences at Irvine Valley College.

IVC student Jesse Martinez says, “Usually no one will want to work with you if they don’t like you… it doesn’t matter what you know.”

In many cases, companies send their employees to courses like those taught at Irvine Valley College. Whether it is to restore interpersonal skills lost during Covid or to give young professionals skills they would have learned at some level pre-Covid.

Kiana Lavasani has taken the class and sees its value: “If I can make a professional or anyone I interact with feel comfortable, welcomed and respected…then I know I’m building those good relationships along the way, and I can use those tools wherever I am.” Kai Washida agrees: “The skills I learned through the training are transferable and I can hold a conversation much easier and be much more respectful. I think these skills that I’ve learned just go a long way, and not just in accounting, but in other aspects of my life as well.”

Much of what is taught was learned organically in previous eras, but the need for it goes beyond people’s comfort in the workplace, says Thomas. “It is very important that students know and understand that from the moment they meet with this prospective employer, judgments are being made. And anything we can do to help them make the right impression will help them get that job.”