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How to Start a Professional Conversation

Tuesday Oct 7, 2014

We will soon have HEB night here at TAMUSA. And there will be several managers from HEB on campus.

Several students have attended SA IIA meetings and or the SA CPA Career Night.

What to say on those occasions. Mark Goldman a professional accounting recruiter, has some suggestions.

As always, just talk about the other person, it will be his or her favorite subject.

Ask open ended questions, never a yes or no question.

Ask, how did you become a cpa, or internal auditor, or whatever?

Rather than, what is the minimum gpa you look for?

See our post, Working the Room a Primer

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2 responses to “How to Start a Professional Conversation”

  1. Larochelle Avatar
    Larochelle

    Professor, I find your advice on how to communicate proper during a professional conversation very helpful. I never consider asking opened ended questions. I tend to avoid question regarding GPA or salaries, bur rather ask question such as what part of the profession the person finds most interesting, what past experience have they most learn from, and how di these experiences help them to better themselves, in similar future situations.

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  2. Dennis Elam Avatar
    Dennis Elam

    In a perfect world I would be working with our very capable Richard Jenkins teaching public speaking, my first real passion. In working a room we are trying to get the other person to open up to us. The way to do that is asking about them, and phrasing the question in such a way that it leads to an expansive answer, not a yes or no.
    We should spend more time on this. Or I am thinking of a series of tips on video,

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