It was the iced latte that broke the internet: In a now-infamous TikTok, recruiter Caitlin Wehniainen, said she’s noticed Gen Z job candidates showing up to interviews with an iced latte in hand—which, she argued, made it seem less like a professional career moment and more like stop No. 5 on the candidate’s errand list, somewhere between Starbucks and Target.
The internet, naturally, lost its mind over this anecdote. The debate split pretty cleanly along generational lines. Older people saw the drink and thought, Pshaw! We used to go to interviews in our best suits, with our résumés printed on actual paper. Younger people saw the same coffee and thought, OK? And? Others pointed out that maybe the bigger story wasn’t the beverage but the job market, where getting an entry-level job increasingly feels like applying to become an astronaut.
All of which raises the question: Is it actually rude to bring an iced coffee—or tea or water bottle—into a job interview?
Admit it: You had an immediate gut reaction the second you read that question. As did I. There’s something about the image of an artfully poured coffee in an interview that feels either inappropriately bougie or completely innocuous, depending on how many years you’ve spent being told to “dress for the job you want.”
But as a Millennial, I have the rare privilege of being able to be in this generational battle with very low stakes. I’m just glad that for once no one is yelling at us. I’m not here to referee TikTok, settle the beverage wars between Gen Z vs. everyone else, or confiscate anyone’s Stanley. I’m here to render an etiquette verdict. So let’s do it.
Get Reader’s Digest’s Read Up newsletter for more etiquette, career, humor, cleaning, travel, tech and fun facts all week long.
The case for bringing your cold brew
“It’s taking care of a basic need. I don’t see what the big deal is,” says Rebecca M., a former hiring manager for several large companies who has sat in on hundreds of job interviews. And really, that’s the basis of most of the “go for it” arguments: Humans drink things. “Am I allowed to admit this? I always bring my water bottle. Hydration is very important!” she says. “So maybe I need extra water to be my best self, and maybe they need extra caffeine.”
Plus, for many people, holding a coffee calms their nerves and gives them something to do with their hands. “It’s one reason why we so often offer a drink to candidates,” she adds. “We want them to feel comfortable.”
And, most importantly, it does not say anything about the person’s ability to do the job. Unless the job is making coffee. Then I suppose it could be gauche to bring in a rival barista’s work.
But there is a more subtle reason some people are doing this: a tiny bit of rebellion. Older generations have set the workplace norms for decades, and some of these norms have made basic human needs considerably more complicated than necessary. Think: high heels for walking, three-piece suits in the summer and a devotion to email that feels almost cultlike.
Norms change. That’s how norms work. “I have heard of this, but mostly as a ‘haha, boomers are so sensitive’ thing,” says Nav A., a Gen Zer who graduated in May and just landed his first job. (Congrats!) Did he bring a drink to his interview? “I always bring a water bottle. It never occurred to me not to,” he says. “For me, it’s such a small thing that if the interviewer has an issue with it, that’s a big red flag that maybe this isn’t somewhere I want to work.”
The case against bringing your emotional support cup
It’s less about the iced latte and more about what the iced latte communicates. Are you taking this seriously? Do you really want this job? Or is this just something to check off on your to-do list?
First impressions form fast. “Unfortunately, Gen Z is already seen as fragile, oblivious, self-centered and unprepared, and bringing a fancy coffee may reinforce that stereotype,” says Brandon P., a Gen X manager at a tech company who hires a lot of younger people. To be clear, he doesn’t agree with the stereotype and says some of his best workers are Gen Z. “But I’ll be honest: I would think the person was unprofessional. It’s not the worst mistake, but when every little thing counts in a first impression, I’d avoid anything that might bias the interviewer against you.”
And that’s the real issue: You have no idea who is sitting across from you. The interviewer might be completely unfazed by your almond-milk pumpkin-spice cold brew. They might even think it’s adorable! They might barely register it. Or they might spend the first five minutes of the interview wondering why you couldn’t go 45 minutes without caffeine. Some people might be enraged by it. Or, says Rebecca, they might have misophonia, a common condition that makes people extra sensitive to noises like drinking or slurping.
Then there’s logistics. While holding a cup may comfort you, spilling it all over your lap, the carpet or (heaven forbid) the interviewer is unlikely to improve your chances of getting hired. Is this common? No. But there’s zero chance of this happening if you’re just not holding a drink in the first place. Plus, those iced drinks always form condensation on the outside, which makes them wet and drippy. Then, when the interviewer goes to shake your hand, you’ll only have one hand free, and it might be … moist. Ugh.
There’s also the matter of how you drink it. “I wouldn’t say a drink itself is rude, but I sure have seen people drink it in a very rude way,” Rebecca says. Slurping. Chewing ice. Stirring it noisily. Aggressively crinkling the plastic cup. Leaving drips, napkins, stirrers or the entire beverage behind for someone else to clean up.
But at that point, the problem isn’t that the coffee is rude—it’s that you are rude.
The gray areas
Not everything is cut and dried (and then added to an herbal tea blend). A lot of good etiquette depends on how you do it. Here are a few factors to consider when deciding whether your beverage should ride along for your interview.
- The industry. Know your audience. Some offices are more casual than others. Interviewing for a social-work position? A coffee is practically part of the uniform. Walking into a law firm with a 32-ounce chocolate monstrosity covered in whipped cream? You may want to reconsider.
- The interview format. Many things that work fine over Zoom don’t translate well in real life, and a large, elaborate drink may be one of those. If your interview is in person, consider skipping the coffee or at least bringing it in a spill-proof mug.
- The drink type. A closed, spill-free water bottle is the safest beverage choice. Nav says his reusable water bottle was actually a small positive during his interview for a job in the environmental industry, where sustainability mattered. And Rebecca adds: “I think a reusable water bottle just makes you look like a more responsible human in general.” On the other hand, an open coffee or one with a weak lid may make you look careless, while an overly elaborate drink may make you look high-maintenance.
- What you do with it afterward. Under no circumstances should you leave your used beverage cup on a desk or table where someone else will have to clean it up for you. If you spill, wipe it up. Make sure all wrappers and straws also end up in the garbage.
The verdict
No, it’s not rude to bring an iced coffee to a job interview … but it’s also not risk-free. There’s an important distinction between rude and strategically smart. A drink doesn’t automatically communicate disrespect, laziness or a lack of interest in the job. Plenty of perfectly professional adults drink coffee all day long. But if you’re interviewing somewhere formal, you don’t know the interviewer or you’re already nervous about making a good impression, there’s very little to gain from arriving with a giant iced coffee.
“If you’re not sure if it’s OK, err on the side of safety,” Brandon says. “No one has ever not gotten a job because they didn’t bring in an iced latte.”
And there is a very simple solution: You don’t have to pretend your caffeine addiction doesn’t exist. You can simply finish drinking the coffee before you walk through the door.
At the end of the day, though, I suspect this whole debate may be one of those internet tempests in a teapot. Not one person I talked to had actually witnessed an iced-coffee interview scandal in the wild. And while most agreed they wouldn’t bring a specialty coffee into an interview themselves, they also said they wouldn’t be particularly offended if someone else did.
So perhaps we can all agree that the latte is not the real problem here. There are bigger etiquette questions to fight about, like whether “no problem” is an acceptable response to “thank you” and how many times you can double-text someone before it officially becomes a situation.
Have a social situation you can’t stop ruminating on? Email us at advice@tmbi.com, or message Charlotte on Instagram at @CharlotteHiltonAndersen.
Why trust us
Reader’s Digest has published hundreds of etiquette stories that help readers navigate communication in a changing world. We regularly cover topics such as the best messages to send for any occasion, polite habits that aren’t as polite as they seem, email and texting etiquette, business etiquette, tipping etiquette, travel etiquette and more. We’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
The post Is It Really Rude to Bring an Iced Coffee to a Job Interview? appeared first on Reader's Digest.
from Reader's Digest https://ift.tt/mgnq57z
Comments
Post a Comment