Vicky Oliver - 301 Smart Answers to Tough Business Etiquette Questions

Vicky Olivers savvy career advice has been featured in over 300 media outlets, including The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal , the New York Post , LA Times , Chicago Tribune , Esquire magazine, Essence magazine, and Bloomberg TV.

Her first book, 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions , a national bestseller now in its third U.S. printing, won the 2010 Eric Hoffer award in the Business category. The book has been translated four times and is sold in twelve countries.

Her second book is called Power Sales Words: How to Write It, Say It, and Sell It with Sizzle. Her third book, titled Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots , won the National Best Books 2009 Award for Best Business Careers Book and was a 2010 International Book Award finalist in the Business Careers category, a 2010 International Book Award winner in the Business Reference category, and won an Honorable Mention in the 2010 San Francisco Book Festival. Its now in its second printing.

She also gives seminars on job-hunting, networking, and business etiquette for groups of 50200.

Vicky Oliver is ever true to her schools. She is currently Chair of the Communications & Marketing Committee of the Brown University Alumni Association (BAA) Board of Governors, President Emeritus and an executive board member of the Brown University Club in New York, co-chair of the Career & Networking Committee of the Brown University Club in New York and its past Secretary, and Vice President of her class at Brown.

Vicky Oliver lives in Manhattan, where she helps people turn around their careers and their lives.

E mily Post once said, Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.

One way to retain that sensitivity is to consider etiquette as a system based on four key facets. The facets are easy to remember because each starts with the letter C, just like the 4 Cs of buying a diamond. The 4 Cs of proper etiquette are: courtesy, consideration, camaraderie, and class.

Courtesy involves listening over talking, not interrupting someone, not trumping someones story or stepping on his lines, being especially sensitive to the needs of the elderly, standing when someone enters a room or your workspace if possible, and using phrases such as Please, Thank you, and Pardon me.

Consideration acknowledges that there are many other people sharing a limited amount of space on planet. Whenever possible, you dont want to grate on their nerves. Consideration covers keeping your voice down, not cutting people off in lines or on highways, not making ones space untenable either by allowing loud noises into it or by keeping it so messy that its unbearable to work in.

Camaraderie means thinking of yourself as a team player and not always trying to angle to get ahead or promote your own achievements. Do your best not to keep a meticulous accounting of every favor you are ever owed, or you will feel miserable. Know that when you feel like you are part of a team, everyone will enjoy working with you, and that this benefit far outweighs the benefits of constant self-promotion and horn-tooting.

Class concerns your demeanor, which should aim for cordial rather than dour. It also involves tempering your sarcasm, especially if the humor is at someone elses expense. Be pleasant and do your best to please, even when others are unpleasant or direct their foul moods at you.

Etiquette is based on a system. Over time, the system will work for youif you can only get out of your own way long enough to allow it to.