Guest Blogger!! MiWaFl (pronounced: Me-Waffle)

Attention readers!!

Today we have a submission from a guest blogger, MiWaFl, (thoroughly vetted by me of course.) His narrative is a true testament to the power of snacks in the workplace and the WORLD.

With out further ado:

The Role of Snacks in 21^st Century MBA Recruiting

By miwafl

“Are you going to Lehman’s presentation?”

“No, Amazon has burritos.”

It all began one crisp fall afternoon – the arrival of recruiters to campus, each trying her best to sway first year MBA students to join the ranks of her company for 10-12 weeks during the summer. The persuasion techniques were various: logic, scarcity, confidence, and sometimes a hint of deception. However, in order to use these myriad methods, the students had first to be in attendance, hence the snacks. Initially, pizza was the norm, but recruiters smartly adapted. “Non-pizza lunch will be served” became a common footnote at the bottom of invitations, small in font but large in worth.

With the various classes of snacks, a correlation became apparent and begot wonderment. Did we get shrimp, crab cakes and access to a full bar because this is the #1 consulting firm, or was this the #1 consulting firm because they offered shrimp, crab cakes, and access to a full bar? From bananas and water (not sparkling) to oysters and grey goose, students were treated to a wide array of delicacies. The number of resumes sent to each firm represented customer satisfaction.

In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle categorized friendship as of utility, pleasure, or virtue. Snacks can be similarly classified, at least by utility and pleasure. The aforementioned examples represented pleasure, but after resumes were sent, the snacks became of utility. With the dawn of interviews, students were required to balance the risks of borborygmi (stomach growling) with halitosis (bad breath). As second round interviews can often last three hours or more, the importance of the right snack cannot be underestimated.

Throughout the entire recruiting process, from initial informational presentation through final round interviews, snacks play a vastly underrated role.