I will meet the CEO of my company together with several other randomly chosen employees. I work at a large corporation in the car industry. As a student I'm currently working on my bachelor thesis. I want to use that meeting to enhance my future career. How can I be remembered by the CEO or other attendees? What would be good questions to accomplish that? I just don't want to miss the opportunity since this is a one time event.
1 Answer
How can I be remembered by the CEO or other attendees?
Realistically you probably can't. These sorts of "Meet the CEO" events happen too frequently for anyone in the audience to really stand out. Just try to enjoy the experience and listen to what the CEO says. If you become an employee, the CEO's remarks could lead to a pleasant exchange at the coffee machine or such.
That said, your best chance at being remembered is to ask a memorable question.
What would be good questions to accomplish that?
Don't ask a personal question. Instead, ask a memorable professional question.
Perhaps something that looks to the future and anticipates where the industry is going in a way that hadn't occurred to the CEO or others.
For example, in the car industry, a question might combine driverless cars with insurance liability (which may be a stumbling block toward driverless cars). As a student, you are likely in a better position than I am to come up with something.
-
A question about driverless cars and insurance liability would be more or less a frequently asked question. I guess I just have to come up with something on my own. Sep 5, 2017 at 11:54
-
1+1 for the question, but you must try to give it some thoughts, a good question could lead to a very interesting (and memorable) debate, so be ready for it.– SclrxSep 5, 2017 at 12:03
-
1
-
4@Julian_W don't fall into the trap of thinking people who don't know you care about you, or that talking about yourself will change that.– ErikSep 6, 2017 at 8:19
-
2@Julian_W I'm sure you've been in lots of groups where everyone introduced themselves. How many of them do you remember from that alone? I'm guessing zero. Take Joe's advice and ask a professional question that's interesting, not anything personal to you or them. Either that, or if they give a talk, give a thoughtful question about something they said.– KatSep 7, 2017 at 5:38