[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by MaryPoppins

Those ^^^ things could indeed trump all the other good things about you. Still you will never know unless you try, and you must make some effort at preparation, including developing a way to present yourself quickly at those first parties. It needs to positive and memorable. You expect to be rushed, well rush right back. Sparkle and wear your inner tiara! Learn the questions you can expect to be asked (whole thread here on that.)

When visiting Paris, I just enter every interaction with Parisians as if I do not expect them to be anything other than professional and pleasant. I am calm, serene, and not nervous or negatively anticipating. After my first week there ever, only two people had been rude, one was a Pakistani Taxi Drive who thought women were vermin, and the other was obviously an impoverished aristocrat.

Go into this recruitment without expecting rainbows and unicorns, but also without expecting rejection and dismissal. If you go looking to make new acquaintances, new friends, and possibly become a sister, I think you'll strike the right note. And mind your manners. Good manners go a long way to help create a great first impression.

This is fabulous advice.