Update: mission complete. Thanks to everyone who offered help!
I'm currently interning at a bank, just a little in over my head with the work I'm tackling (though I'm crunching through 40-page documents on the hour, and learning more intensively than I ever have in school). I'm on the bus there on the verge of being late (first time) and I'm throwing a line to see if someone can answer my question:
My boss (vice president) and the founder/CEO of the bank are taking me and the two other interns to lunch , with two stock brokers/mutual fund managers from UBS. It's an opportunity to ask questions and hopefully make them remember my name, face, or tie.
So: I have done a LOT of research on both brokers, and it is now apparent to me how outright strange and profoundly creepy it is to meet someone with their entire career path memorized to the present. Is it appropriate to let on that I've done research on them while we're talking? Do they expect that or will I come off as a stalker (which I absolutely am in this case,) and what's the perfect balance? Lastly, any important advice for getting thr most out of this sort of scenario? I have numerous other meetings similar and I would like to be on my game. Cheers, hubsquad.
PS we're eating at per se. fuck me.
Edit: joking of course but the most significant advice here is that community tag. Downtown metro was totaled this morning and I was already running late. I ran 20 blocks in a suit in 5 minutes. I was more sweat than man.
Be genuine. A VP and a CEO are going to be much better at being disingenuous than you are and as a consequence, much better and smelling out disingenuousness. You're young: you won't be expected to have your head wrapped completely around everything and you are not going to be held to the same standard as a colleague. Your best move is to ask them questions you really want answers for. Bonus points if they're related to the banking industry. Smile, pay attention and maintain eye contact will count for far more than you realize. The fancy restaurant thing is a nice trick. Pay scrupulous attention to table manners and to what is ordered. If their elbows are off the table, so are yours. If their elbows are on..., well, still better to keep 'em off. Napkin goes into the lap when their napkins go into the lap. It is perfectly acceptable to eat the same order, but not at all mandatory. Be scrupulously polite to the staff and don't be afraid to ask their advice between, say, two entrees. Your boss and the founder may engage in discussions that you can't follow along with. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Attempt to understand the subject at hand: they brought you along for a reason. Finally, remember that you are not a peer at this engagement, so you don't have to act like one. You are expected to be an eager and naive acolyte to the process, so play the part. Your goal isn't competence, it's potential. Good luck, and have fun. $40 mac'n'cheese. I'll bet that's damn good.
Good point, thank you. I have no problem asking questions, in fact my flaw may lean to the opposite extreme of being an annoying prick. I'll try to limit my engagement to the most significant/valuable opportunities. That mac better be good, I'll also bet the portion size is a trendy spoonful.Your boss and the founder may engage in discussions that you can't follow along with. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Attempt to understand the subject at hand: they brought you along for a reason.
Let them guide the conversation. Ask a lot of questions. So many questions. Tng has good advice - "walk away knowing way more about then that they know about you." You don't have to say the word "I did" etc to be able to show you are intelligent, eager to learn,ambitions, passionate, etc. Don't be too over zealous. Slooooooow down. Let them talk. Let them talk to each other. Let them hit on the waitress. Whatever. omw. :Pfuck me
I don't think I'll have a problem staying natural. However, it becomes quickly apparent that all these big shots are fucked up in the head some way or another, so staying on the same page as them is an eruption of Mt. Awkward, and you're running down a hill that twitches and refers to ex wives as values on a scale of 10.
Everyone's fucked in the head. That's normal. They just have less fear about hiding that fear bc they're successful. I've heard exec from huge brands speak as you would expect a racist entitled 17 year old. I've also had a lively debate regarding game of thrones with their bosses. Find that common ground and if you have nothing to say on a subject, just nod and smile and when the conversation lulls ask them how they got into this field of work or what they do for fun or whatever.
I would try and allow the conversation to flow naturally. If they have wikipedia pages, it is perfectly acceptable to mention anything on that page (well leave personal/family stuff out - "So is it true you and your wife divorced in 1993 and then re-married in 1998? Wow!" that will not get you far). Anything that you could've read in the paper, you know, I think you can mention too - "I read an article about your new initiative to do x. I thought it was interesting but had a question or two about the concept, would you mind talking about it?" A lunch meeting is kind of hard because sometimes people don't want to talk about work at lunch, it's your mid-day break, so I would see how the mood and intent is feeling. I would just not go overboard. Don't show your hand. You know their entire history, that's like let's say 5 cards (we're playing poker). If you're going to do anything show one card, one fact, one question, whatever. See how it goes. DON'T rush in there with a million questions and clearly displaying "Hahaha I know everything about you!" Once I met the wife of a poet and I said "Oh yes you! I stalked you on Facebook!" I wasn't interested in the poet; he wasn't cute or anything, I just meant I'd seen him posting about her because they hang out a lot and I was mildly curious. I thought it would be funny. She clearly thought I was weird. So...don't make it obvious. I mean, important people in my organization, I'm at least supposed to have an awareness of their work history - how long they've been in the company, where they were before this, etc. First thing higher-ups do is tell you a history of how they got to where they are basically, read off a resume. So I don't think it's TOO unusual.
Yo, how'd this turn out, anyhow? Also, how was per se?
a) It went awesome, thank you. Got a card from one of the brokers and have been e-mailing back and forth actually. Blowing my mind. b) $40 salad. edit: b) tiny $40 salad.
Hah, thanks for making me feel better re. the prospect of never getting to eat at per se. Glad it went well! First step in becoming Hubski's first (openly acknowledged) multimillionaire investment banking wunderkind.
If it ever happens, I'll take you and everyone else out for lunch at per se ;) Owe it to y'all anyway. Race you to a million!
+1 to all of ref's advice. One thing I might just add is if they straight up ask you if you have any questions, you might want to ask them what they think of working there. I've found that it's a) a pretty unique question that they sometimes don't expect, which can be good and b) shows that you're both interested in them and their opinion of the place they've been working at for a very long time. I at least know that's what helped me get my job. Milage may very, haha.
I think having intelligent questions at the end of a job interview is one of the best choices you can make. It's a real way to distinguish yourself. Also, always ask what the most challenging part of a job is. You're always going to want to know in the future anyway.
That's a good question to ask, I might also ask about how they got there as a way of opening up the topic on info I already know and can stay on top of in the discussion. But I'm getting sneaky again, I'll take it easy. thanks man
lol whoops are my "anonymous" community tags not-so-anonymous? good thing they're usually kind-hearted. and I swear flagamuffin does them too. Or someone
i'm just as guilty, great way to sneak a laugh in. Seriously though, it's good advice. or handkerchiefs instead I guess. edit: you may even come a cross a very anonymous community tag on your recent post(s) as well :s