Who pays for breakfast/lunch for First Interview?
Hey guys,
Just wondering who should pay for the meal when you haven't met the interviewer and you have only talked by phone or email. The interviewer is a partner and not in human resources if this matters. Also is a suit appropriate?
Its a formal interview? (ie not a informational interview) If so, they will pay
Suit: always
even if it was an informational, usually its the professional.
whenever i get a call to meet a student for coffee, drinks, lunc, etc., i pay.
but if i was networking with other professionals, i take them out and i pay.
They pay. Why? Because--as a student--you are poor. And any professional (especially a partner) isn't going to want a student paying for their food.
Perhaps offer to go 'halfsies' if it bothers you, but that's going to be seen largely as a gratuitous gesture.
During a past interview with a life insurer, I offered to pay for my portion during the scheduled lunch.
They looked at me like I was silly. The lead guy said something along the lines of "nah man, this is getting expensed"
Haha this reminds me of one of my interview bluders. This MD and VP were in my town for a few hours in between flights and asked to meet with me for lunch at the airport. So when the bill comes, I just put my credit card in the holder. Well, the MD abruptly stopped talking and told me, "take your card out of there" in a very firm serious voice. After I got the SA offer, he told me that that was nearly the end of my candidacy
Really? That makes no sense to me. I thought it was polite to offer to pay, not something that will get you dinged.
It's understood that a senior person such as an MD will always pay for a student so offering to pay is viewed as insulting.
Just out of curiousity, what other common but unspoken rules are there?
This^^^
Haven't you ever watched the Sopranos? The one where Tony loses his shit b/c Meadow's boyfriend tries to pay for dinner?
For the less sophisticated, it's perfectly fine to offer to pay, and I've never heard of anyone at the BB (albeit mostly traders and capital markets folks) I work for getting insulted by it In fact, to some people, it looks classy that you offered- at least if you suggested the lunch.
while one should expect a senior person to pay, one should try not to be obvious about it.
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