If I was interviewing and somebody showed up with an iced coffee (or hot coffee, or any beverage aside from a bottle of water), my first instinct is that this person is not taking the interview seriously. Bringing that drink in wouldn't be a deal-breaker, but it's already putting that candidate down a notch in my eyes, and they'll need to make up for it in the interview.
Not sure if that is fair or reasonable, but that's probably how I would interpret it. Because why would you need to bring a drink like that in to an interview?
I think I have similar feelings to you, but there's something "unserious" about iced coffee that I don't think similarly of hot coffee. Maybe it's the straw or the condensation, but something feels different about it.
I really want to understand what makes iced coffee “a drink like that”?
I’ve never brought a drink to an interview, but I’ve always accepted when offered. It helps to sip on something while thinking of a good answer
On the flip side, I fall into the “older Gen Z that now interviews people” category and can’t see myself being put off by someone bringing a drink.
I’m looking for people who are bright, motivated and good at solving hard problems. All these arbitrary norms take time and effort that could be better spent on the actual task at hand
As a 56yo with hiring authority, a young interviewee bringing an iced coffee is a nothingburger. I am much more interested in their ability to solve problems, and that they seem to have any interest at all in getting the job
I'm sort of numb to most of these because I live in a college town and teach so many college students. I wonder how much of this is driven by people who hire fresh grads versus people with more experience.
Bringing iced coffee or any bev is unprofessional. Iced coffee specifically condenses like crazy, so you are either shaking your interviewer's hand with water beads or wiping it on your suit. When you leave, the ring left on the desk is a bad final impression.
Interesting perspective. I am Gen X, and I love the fact that students have beverages with them all the time. I have issues with my throat, so if I don't have a drink with me, I panic a little bit. In terms of a cold beverage with condensation, if you hold it by the lid, your hands stay dry. If I was at a desk that it could leave a ring on, I would set it on the floor by my feet. If I was 22 and did those two things, would you think I was being more professional since I am clearing the two objections you had?
Don't get me wrong, I love having drinks on me at all times, I just wouldn't bring one to an interview. Your points address both of my objections, and a medical need like yours is a completely different situation. My broader point is that a drink adds one more variable in a high-stakes setting. You have to find a spot for it, manage it while shaking hands, and avoid a spill or a slurp during a pause, when you should be spending that attention on the conversation.
Isn't that really the crux of it? If it gets in the way of the interview, bad, don't do it. If it's just another innocuous object, who cares. Just like a phone, or a notebook, or any other item. Assessing and managing that risk of it being intrusive is the important part. Hell, I don't even wear suits to interviews, because for the types of jobs I interview for, it would be too stiff and in the way. All about having situational awareness and reading the room.
Which, of course, is why *I* wouldn't bring anything but a plastic water buttle to an interview, because I'm too wary of spills or other opportunities to fumble. But if someone can bring a coffee and drink it without making a mess or distracting us, I really don't care.
Any company or hiring manager too preoccupied with appearances over ability is a red flag for a place I don't want to work anyway.
I'm right there with you on the dress code, but that's also because I already have a job and can be pickier. When I was going for my first job, I was definitely in a suit.
Yeah, I guess this could be a two-way filter. For a candidate, maybe they don't want to work in a company where they get discarded due to bringing an iced coffee to the interview.
Similarly, I quit wearing a suit to interviews decades ago. I decided that if I needed to a wear a suit to get the job, it's probably not the kind of place I want to work, because I don't want to wear a suit to work every day. (Though paradoxically, I kind of miss the days when people dressed up more for work.)
I really love that it's the old guys in the responses who are saying it's not a big deal to have one, and you're the future Gen Z candidate who says it's not professional!
Wait, so is it okay to bring a *hot* coffee to a job interview? Are we saying it's bad to bring a beverage into an interview? One with a straw? How about water? What if it was water in one of those big Stanley water bottles?
I've been interviewing people for jobs for almost 20 years (including at Fortune 500 companies), and I'm racking my brain to remember a time a beverage made a candidate seem unprofessional. The only time I can think of was the guy that was drinking from a bottle of grape juice and left the partially full bottle in the conference room when he left, so I had to throw it away. I think if he had taken the bottle with him, it would have been fine, though.
It would be a little weird, but just that alone wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.
I admit, I've been with 100% remote organizations since 2019, so it's been a long time since I interviewed anyone IRL. It's a lot harder to be weird over Zoom.
Well, why not just turn up in your pjs, put your feet on the desk, light a cigarette, and ask the employer to give you reasons why you should work for them..🤡🤡🤡 ..
That's your choice. Personally if i wanted a job I wouldnt do anything likely to trigger a rejection. This includes taking in a drink, wearing bright socks, loud tie, etc. etc. Its minimising risk
This was a great read, I have been seeing this debate all over my feed! I think the whole point of an in person interview is to get to learn the candidate outside of their resume. In the case of an interview, first impression is everything and how you greet someone to shake their hand or continue with the interview matters. I see how Gen Z sees it as just a coffee, but they are being watched by older generations and need to be mindful for that. At the end of the day coffee is not a need and can be drank right before the interview.
I also think that the Ice coffee vs hot coffee debate is so funny. I saw someone describe ice coffee as "a bikini and flip flops" and a hot coffee as "a full suit". I think in this job market, especially for recent graduates, it is very important of how you show up and personality can be a big differentiator between you and another candidate. Personality comes from how you present yourself but also how you make the other person feel, so you want them to think you are prepared and can be seen as an adult.
I scrolled past most of the videos at first, but I wasn't prepared for so much back-and-forth on this topic. I think we share a similar approach to the debate. It probably shouldn't matter, but the fact that it does matter to some people suggests that fresh grads should avoid it.
I would personally not bring a drink to an interview—the last thing I need during an interview is a full bladder.
But as a hiring manager, I’m trying to imagine a circumstance in which a drink would be the deciding factor. If Candidate A has the best combination of education, experience, skills, and interview answers, it would be crazy to choose another candidate over them because they brought an iced coffee. So is the scenario that two candidates are exactly equal in every way, but one brings a drink and one doesn’t? I have never had that happen, but even if it did, I would try to find some additional ways to gain more info about the candidates.
The reason why education is a useful signal is that you can’t interview every candidate—you need some way to narrow down the list. Once you are at the interview stage, you shouldn’t really need to rely on signals—you should be directly asking the questions you want to know the answers to. Using “signals” rather than the answers themselves starts to look a lot like implicit bias.
I have to imagine there is some confirmation bias at play with a lot of this. I can’t imagine anyone actually turning down a better candidate because of a drink, but I can see that a negative perception about professionalism from the start would lead to interviewers finding more examples to suppor they aren’t the best choice.
Depends a lot on the job market. In the right market, the signal is "you need me more than I need this job, and I'll be making the same point when we come to discuss salary"
I know I was a shockingly more confident applicant whenever I was interviewing after a few years of experience. I went into a lot of those interviews trying to get them to convince me to join.
Showing up to an interview with a cup of iced coffee is not too unlike showing up to the interview in shorts and sandals. None of those things necessarily indicates anything about the candidate's relevant skills, but they reflect poorly on the candidate's judgment as doing either of those things is an unnecessary risk under the circumstances. It might not be a deal-killer, but why take a chance?
We once had a job candidate stop to get lunch on his way from the airport, which caused him to be late for his first meeting of the day... at a nearby restaurant.
If I was interviewing and somebody showed up with an iced coffee (or hot coffee, or any beverage aside from a bottle of water), my first instinct is that this person is not taking the interview seriously. Bringing that drink in wouldn't be a deal-breaker, but it's already putting that candidate down a notch in my eyes, and they'll need to make up for it in the interview.
Not sure if that is fair or reasonable, but that's probably how I would interpret it. Because why would you need to bring a drink like that in to an interview?
I think I have similar feelings to you, but there's something "unserious" about iced coffee that I don't think similarly of hot coffee. Maybe it's the straw or the condensation, but something feels different about it.
I really want to understand what makes iced coffee “a drink like that”?
I’ve never brought a drink to an interview, but I’ve always accepted when offered. It helps to sip on something while thinking of a good answer
On the flip side, I fall into the “older Gen Z that now interviews people” category and can’t see myself being put off by someone bringing a drink.
I’m looking for people who are bright, motivated and good at solving hard problems. All these arbitrary norms take time and effort that could be better spent on the actual task at hand
"A drink like that" is anything but water.
Right.
Still unclear about why that could be an issue
I said in my original comment that it seems like they aren't taking it seriously.
As a 56yo with hiring authority, a young interviewee bringing an iced coffee is a nothingburger. I am much more interested in their ability to solve problems, and that they seem to have any interest at all in getting the job
I'm sort of numb to most of these because I live in a college town and teach so many college students. I wonder how much of this is driven by people who hire fresh grads versus people with more experience.
Bringing iced coffee or any bev is unprofessional. Iced coffee specifically condenses like crazy, so you are either shaking your interviewer's hand with water beads or wiping it on your suit. When you leave, the ring left on the desk is a bad final impression.
Interesting perspective. I am Gen X, and I love the fact that students have beverages with them all the time. I have issues with my throat, so if I don't have a drink with me, I panic a little bit. In terms of a cold beverage with condensation, if you hold it by the lid, your hands stay dry. If I was at a desk that it could leave a ring on, I would set it on the floor by my feet. If I was 22 and did those two things, would you think I was being more professional since I am clearing the two objections you had?
Don't get me wrong, I love having drinks on me at all times, I just wouldn't bring one to an interview. Your points address both of my objections, and a medical need like yours is a completely different situation. My broader point is that a drink adds one more variable in a high-stakes setting. You have to find a spot for it, manage it while shaking hands, and avoid a spill or a slurp during a pause, when you should be spending that attention on the conversation.
Isn't that really the crux of it? If it gets in the way of the interview, bad, don't do it. If it's just another innocuous object, who cares. Just like a phone, or a notebook, or any other item. Assessing and managing that risk of it being intrusive is the important part. Hell, I don't even wear suits to interviews, because for the types of jobs I interview for, it would be too stiff and in the way. All about having situational awareness and reading the room.
Which, of course, is why *I* wouldn't bring anything but a plastic water buttle to an interview, because I'm too wary of spills or other opportunities to fumble. But if someone can bring a coffee and drink it without making a mess or distracting us, I really don't care.
Any company or hiring manager too preoccupied with appearances over ability is a red flag for a place I don't want to work anyway.
I'm right there with you on the dress code, but that's also because I already have a job and can be pickier. When I was going for my first job, I was definitely in a suit.
Yeah, I guess this could be a two-way filter. For a candidate, maybe they don't want to work in a company where they get discarded due to bringing an iced coffee to the interview.
Similarly, I quit wearing a suit to interviews decades ago. I decided that if I needed to a wear a suit to get the job, it's probably not the kind of place I want to work, because I don't want to wear a suit to work every day. (Though paradoxically, I kind of miss the days when people dressed up more for work.)
I really love that it's the old guys in the responses who are saying it's not a big deal to have one, and you're the future Gen Z candidate who says it's not professional!
Wait, so is it okay to bring a *hot* coffee to a job interview? Are we saying it's bad to bring a beverage into an interview? One with a straw? How about water? What if it was water in one of those big Stanley water bottles?
I've been interviewing people for jobs for almost 20 years (including at Fortune 500 companies), and I'm racking my brain to remember a time a beverage made a candidate seem unprofessional. The only time I can think of was the guy that was drinking from a bottle of grape juice and left the partially full bottle in the conference room when he left, so I had to throw it away. I think if he had taken the bottle with him, it would have been fine, though.
The much better test is how they deal with the mess.
I wouldn't bring an outside beverage to an interview tbh. The Redbull is finished in the car..
This feels like the classic "how do they treat the janitors" test.
It's a fair test IMO, or those restraunt interviews (goated you get a free meal too) is done with this as a part of it.
Easy way to avoid entitled people. It's better than the Zodiac tier shit they're running in the 2020s market.
I have to imagine one of the big Stanley water bottles would seem weird in an interview, no?
It would be a little weird, but just that alone wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.
I admit, I've been with 100% remote organizations since 2019, so it's been a long time since I interviewed anyone IRL. It's a lot harder to be weird over Zoom.
Students often ask for interview advice, and my usual recommendation is "don't be weird."
Well, why not just turn up in your pjs, put your feet on the desk, light a cigarette, and ask the employer to give you reasons why you should work for them..🤡🤡🤡 ..
Have you heard of the Slippery Slope fallacy?
Well i was being humourous. But its not always a fallacy. Have ypu heard of the Broken Windows theory?
The one with no empirical evidence that has been debunked more than once? Yeah
It’s crazy to me that people are hiring based on superficial assumptions. You can come naked if you can prove you’re good at your job, for all I care.
That's your choice. Personally if i wanted a job I wouldnt do anything likely to trigger a rejection. This includes taking in a drink, wearing bright socks, loud tie, etc. etc. Its minimising risk
This was a great read, I have been seeing this debate all over my feed! I think the whole point of an in person interview is to get to learn the candidate outside of their resume. In the case of an interview, first impression is everything and how you greet someone to shake their hand or continue with the interview matters. I see how Gen Z sees it as just a coffee, but they are being watched by older generations and need to be mindful for that. At the end of the day coffee is not a need and can be drank right before the interview.
I also think that the Ice coffee vs hot coffee debate is so funny. I saw someone describe ice coffee as "a bikini and flip flops" and a hot coffee as "a full suit". I think in this job market, especially for recent graduates, it is very important of how you show up and personality can be a big differentiator between you and another candidate. Personality comes from how you present yourself but also how you make the other person feel, so you want them to think you are prepared and can be seen as an adult.
I scrolled past most of the videos at first, but I wasn't prepared for so much back-and-forth on this topic. I think we share a similar approach to the debate. It probably shouldn't matter, but the fact that it does matter to some people suggests that fresh grads should avoid it.
I would personally not bring a drink to an interview—the last thing I need during an interview is a full bladder.
But as a hiring manager, I’m trying to imagine a circumstance in which a drink would be the deciding factor. If Candidate A has the best combination of education, experience, skills, and interview answers, it would be crazy to choose another candidate over them because they brought an iced coffee. So is the scenario that two candidates are exactly equal in every way, but one brings a drink and one doesn’t? I have never had that happen, but even if it did, I would try to find some additional ways to gain more info about the candidates.
The reason why education is a useful signal is that you can’t interview every candidate—you need some way to narrow down the list. Once you are at the interview stage, you shouldn’t really need to rely on signals—you should be directly asking the questions you want to know the answers to. Using “signals” rather than the answers themselves starts to look a lot like implicit bias.
I have to imagine there is some confirmation bias at play with a lot of this. I can’t imagine anyone actually turning down a better candidate because of a drink, but I can see that a negative perception about professionalism from the start would lead to interviewers finding more examples to suppor they aren’t the best choice.
Depends a lot on the job market. In the right market, the signal is "you need me more than I need this job, and I'll be making the same point when we come to discuss salary"
I know I was a shockingly more confident applicant whenever I was interviewing after a few years of experience. I went into a lot of those interviews trying to get them to convince me to join.
Showing up to an interview with a cup of iced coffee is not too unlike showing up to the interview in shorts and sandals. None of those things necessarily indicates anything about the candidate's relevant skills, but they reflect poorly on the candidate's judgment as doing either of those things is an unnecessary risk under the circumstances. It might not be a deal-killer, but why take a chance?
We once had a job candidate stop to get lunch on his way from the airport, which caused him to be late for his first meeting of the day... at a nearby restaurant.
great article mr wooten