their introduction to the world of work

I'm sure that this is a valuable lesson to learn right at the start of one's working life ... Today the Career Fair had taken over campus: long lines of students standing - resumes in hand - to talk to recruiters behind tables.  The instructions for budding bankers, or whatever, seem very specific, at least as set out online:

What to Wear

Wear professional attire in accordance with your gender expression. Overall suggestions:

Dress in a dark or neutral color matching business suit.

Wear freshly pressed clothing and polished dress shoes.

Keep makeup as natural as possible. Avoid flashy or bright nail polish.

Minimize jewelry: leave out the nose ring and tongue jewelry.

Grooming is important: hair and nails should be neat and clean.

What to Bring

Copies of your resume

Your elevator pitch

Your Action Plan (see below)

The elevator pitch!!  I'm sure it was a foreshadowing metaphor - like the food sign - that the doors in the elevator in the parking lot didn't fully open when I was trying to exit yesterday morning, so I walked thuddingly into what should have been a gap.  I am so very glad that I never tried to join the corporate world, even if my father advised me, when I was about 24, to think about a career in merchant banking.  His rationale was that I'd make enough money to retire when I was 45 and then spend the rest of my life doing things that I actually wanted to do - but he left out any consideration of whether I would have any actual ability in that sphere...