Earlier, I mentioned all of the fun and interesting viral stories happening all at once this week. It’s like the fun old days of 2015 Twitter, before everything went to hell in a handbasket. For the past week or so, there’s been a generational battle on social media over Gen Z’s job interview habits. I’m not here to bash Gen Z, generally considered to be in their 20s (birth years: 1997-2010ish), but I fear that they are picking the wrong hills to die on. So, the big conversation started when a corporate recruiter made a TikTok full of advice for Gen Z job-seekers. She suggested that they should not turn up to a job interview with an iced coffee in hand. All hell has broken loose.
In today’s brutal job market, Gen Z is bringing their absolute A-game to interviews. But they’re also bringing their emotional support iced lattes. A generational debate has erupted online over a dead-simple question: Is waltzing into a job interview clutching an iced coffee completely unprofessional, or totally fine?
The clash kicked off when TikTok corporate recruiter @caitlinrecruiter called out Gen Z candidates for arriving to interviews with iced lattes in hand. Drawing on her 16 years of experience placing candidates at Fortune 500 companies, she warned job seekers against the casual habit.
“When you show up with an iced coffee or an iced latte, it is perceived — from my opinion and a hiring standpoint—that this interview is just a stop on your list of errands for the day,” she alleged in the viral clip. “It looks like you went to Target, went to Starbucks, and now you’re stopping by your interview before moving on to the next thing.”
She stood her ground, arguing that the beverage projects a casual and unserious attitude.
Naturally, the internet picked sides and videos, posts, and comments flooded in as hiring managers and job seekers debated the iced coffee conundrum. Another creator chimed in, calling it “diabolical” to bring a “wet, plastic, condensation cup” into an interview room.” Putting it on a table leaves a messy water ring, they noted and called out the bad-look of taking loud slurps while trying to make a good first impression.Gen Z job seekers and their supporters are defending their right to stay caffeinated, and arguing they wouldn’t want to work anywhere where their choices are judged.
“I don’t want to f–king work for you if you don’t want to hire me because I bring an iced coffee,” one Gen Z TikToker ranted, dismissing “traditional etiquette” as corporate brainwashing.
Weighing in on the debate, LinkedIn News highlighted advice from professionals. Benjamin Chipman, a Gen Zer who works in marketing, advised interviewees who want to bring a drink to hold it in their left hand so their right hand remains dry for a handshake. He also said to avoid shaking the ice around and refrain from slurping the final drops.
“Is this a generational thing?” asked communications manager Adam Raider. “I would NEVER bring an iced coffee… or a hot coffee… or tea, soda, juice, sangria… or any other beverage into a job interview. I WOULD accept water, if it was offered.”
One Gen Z TikToker explained the fight isn’t about the lattes, but about rejecting “arbitrary standards of professionalism” that have nothing to do with whether someone can actually do the job. Critics counter that clutching a fresh cold brew signals poor time management—proof you couldn’t even finish your morning coffee before rolling into the office.
With US job postings for young adults aged 22 to 25 plunging 13% since 2022 across AI-exposed industries, Gen Z is already fighting an uphill battle. According to resumetemplates.com, about 4 in 10 hiring managers (41%) say Gen Z candidates show a general lack of professionalism, while 30% flag distraction.
The nicest thing I can say is that I can understand both perspectives – bringing your own iced coffee into a job interview should not be a dealbreaker in an ideal world, but… corporations have every right to judge candidates on an array of factors, including professionalism, social skills and their overall presentation. And yes, “presentation” means everything, from the way an applicant dresses to whether they’re slurping an iced beverage in the middle of a job interview. I also think that the Gen Z backlash to this completely normal job-interview advice says something about them. Can they not understand that sometimes, you have to just get through some minor inconveniences to achieve a bigger goal? “Getting a job” is more important than “I need an emotional-support beverage in my hand at all times.” You have to actually get the job to let your work speak for itself!!!
My last take on this story is that Gen X, Xennials and Millennials simply need to stop giving unsolicited advice to Gen Z. If they want to know something, they’ll ask. When they’re complaining about their lives, just give them a thumbs-up and keep it moving.
Photos courtesy of Ryan Kowk on Unsplash, Toni Ferreira and iam hogir on Pexels.
As a Gen X woman who’s worked her whole career in Big Tech (Microsoft, Amazon, etc) and can’t even get an acknowledgement of her existence in this market, I say if you get an interview, suck it up, Buttercup. If a Gen Z-er doesn’t want to work somewhere that won’t let them have an emotional-support iced coffee, I’d be more than happy to take their place.
came here to say the exact same thing @Wally. I’ve been in corporate America for 25 years and I am appalled. I love the youths and while I think they have great boundaries that my sad Gen X a$$ has struggled with, this is a bridge too far. This is entitlement.
An extremely high profile person in my industry works for my company and agreed to mentor a 20-something employee because she saw her potential. The 20-something blew up the relationship because her mentor “talked like a GenXer.” It was so self destructive. I still don’t get it.
I think it’s weird so many Americans are constantly carrying around drinks 24-7. Everywhere you go is going to have those things.
As for an interview – show up neatly dressed, research the company/job, and be prepared to ask/answer questions and take notes. You’re going to be offered water, tea or coffee in 99% of American offices anyways. Leave the dripping iced coffee as a reward afterwards. I can’t imagine trying to contain condensation while interviewing haha
Iced coffee is my crack. I drink it in the rain and snow. If I was interviewing a promising young person who brought an iced coffee, I’d think two things: 1. They like to start the day on the right foot. They celebrate the small joys in life. 2. They won’t mind doing a coffee run for me in the future.
A Gen Z TikToker had a good take on this – don’t think you’re the only person being interviewed. There could be a dozen more out there without iced lattes.
Absolutely.
Just bring your pacifier.
Bwahahaha!!! Exactly!!
@Constance – You win.
Seriously. You can’t do without a sip of something for an hour? Maybe on your list of things to do is make an appointment with your doctor, something’s wrong.
love the advice at the end!
This reminds me of a millennial, actually, who used to roll into work 10-15 mins late every day with an iced coffee in hand. If you couldn’t guess, she no longer works at our company.
Additionally, the idea that an interview for a job ISN’T your whole day doesn’t compute to me. Maybe it’s because I’m a millennial or because I’m anxious, but I prepare and think about interviews for days/weeks before, the idea of it “just being one small part of my whole day” is not how I see it, so that’s really interesting.
Also prefer the idea of getting that iced coffee is a treat after you complete an interview 🙂
Decades-ling business owner. Regularly interview. The point of the process is finding the best fit for the company and position. Sometimes choices can be close – and the one without the coffe wins. Don’t judge you? That’s what an interview is. If being evaluated (aka judged) is beyond your comfort zone, you already don’t have the base skills. Also, not for nothing, it’s just rude. How about when you walk in and sit down, I say hey I’ll be right back, going to grab myself a coffee – and don’t offer you one? Rude. Same thing.
Exactly this. An interview is by its very nature a “judgy” process. I expect professionalism and best behaviour, not slurping, clinking ice, wet drink rings and possible spills, and coffee breath. Treat me as if meeting me was an extremely important part of your day and I will absolutely do the same for you. Treat me like I am an item on your to do list and I can guarantee you that you will have simply oodles of time to complete the rest of your list because I will blast through my questions at breathtaking speed, to move on to someone who appears to give a damn about the job.
Once you get hired, bring in all the coffees you want.
The old adage is true – you only get one chance to make a first impression. Some people seem to think that “spoiled and entitled” is what they want to project for that first impression. Wouldn’t be my choice, but hey…
These kids are the ones paying for trillions in debt run up by our political parties. The kids that grew up with shooter drills being the norm. The kids who can’t afford houses and maybe even children of their own in an environment that is breaking down before their very eyes. Spare me. They love Luigi for a reason.
Eh, can’t help noticing I seem to preface every comment now with the disclaimer that I am old (almost 50!), but I have had many, many Gen-Z interns and interact with a fair number from other organizations, AND I teach at a law school. I am in NGO land, not corporate, so take it for what you will. But, I will say that whether if it’s for a competitive (paid) internship or an entry position, no one cares about your iced or hot drinks in meetings, online or in person, or at work. No one. I can’t tell you the number of UN panels I’ve been on where all of us (me included!) get up to refill our coffee cup lol.
I personally don’t care about drinks during interviews, can’t say I remember seeing it. But, I do think just as a very practical matter to treat an interview as exactly what it is – you are trying to pitch yourself to the people talking to you. So, best behavior in all respects. If for no other reason than to try to get good marks all around. A job interview is a competition. So, all the things that you wouldn’t otherwise do- turn off your phone, arrive/log on 5 minutes early, have a notebook (jot down names during quick intros! Refer to individual questionnaire if multiple when responding “as Lisa pointed out, I think this is an important aspect…”). Iced coffee or drinks generally are just one of many things that you should refrain from, not because there’s anything special about them in themselves, but why risk leaving a water mark or whatever?
Interviews are not meant to replicate your working environment. My boss is one of the most funny people I know (she’s Dutch and extremely blunt in a hilarious way). She and I laugh and text constantly. Not in my interview. No no. I was not making jokes or trying to get a smile. Again, can’t speak for corporate jobs, but leaving your iced coffee behind doesn’t mean you can’t bring one into work every day. Not the same thing.
@LadyE yes I think your last paragraph is exactly the nuance that the Gen Zers are missing. It’s not that you can never drink an iced coffee again if you work for a fortune 500 company. It’s not that people who work there are miserable and hate good things like a delicious iced coffee. it’s that for this one thing – the interview – leave it at home. Stop and get one on your way home if you need to.
Also, depending on who is interviewing you – some might not care. But some might. And no one is going to care if you DON’T bring that iced coffee with you.
One of my main jobs is to interview at my agency and good lord we offer them water, tea, and coffee beforehand. What a dumb thing to be mad about. I drink during interviews with my team, they do too. If they brought food that would be one thing.
I think the idea is, in part, that you don’t bring something because most places will offer you water or coffee, so its not like you’re going to dehydrate while you’re in there.
Yeah that’s one thing but some of the commenters on that article acted like sipping water is rude. Like what are we doing here?
It’s rude plus I’d really need to pee like every 5 minutes so nooooo.
Practice delayed gratification, its a good life skill.
Gosh, I remember when people could smoke in interviews and it was considered rude and unprofessional back then even. (early 1980s)
oh I’ve been following this and the Gen Z responses are nuts. Some are calling it ableism, some are saying that the discussion is traumatic for them, etc.
The original comment was based on recruiting for Fortune 500 companies. The rules are going to be different for that type of company than, say, the local graphic design company that has four employees or something (I’m trying to think of a local more indie business lol.) And many Gen Zers will say “I dont want to work somewhere that hates iced coffee” and that’s fine, but then don’t complain when you’re not hired. Those little things at an interview can make a big first impression and you want to make sure its the right impression.
(also its not about hating iced coffee in itself lol.)
Ha, I wish I could say I am surprised by those responses, but I’m not. I was just thinking back to my very first real job interview. I had been a campaign staffer (super low level) for a mayoral candidate and basically made it my life- I was also 19 at the time. He won and I was invited to an interview for I think an “assistant” role to a deputy or under-deputy can’t remember. Man, I bought a suit, got a haircut, went a half an hour early and found the restroom on the floor where the interview was at and did a last check before going into the office. Haha. The people interviewing me knew me quite well and had seen me in all types of ridiculous campaign situations- midnight envelope stuffing, staffing the county fair booth, door to door voter reg. They certainly knew that I usually had my hair in a messy bun, would be in jeans and a t-shirt and drank Diet Coke like it was water (I stopped that!). That was not the LadyE they saw that day. I dunno, maybe it is really generational and just a different attitude. But, not trying to put forward your very best impression during an interview is a very weird approach and mindset to me.
Okay that’s insane. It’s not ableism. I want people to start only using correct words for things. If the culture is no iced coffee during interviews, but you need it, don’t work there then. They probably are way too rigid.
There is no disability per the ADA that would require constant hydration with an iced beverage. Anything requiring constant hydration would likely be via IV. Gad, do these kids want the job or not?
Two words: Coffee Breath. Does anybody remember Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada? She ate a bagel on the way to her interview, and then Nigel commented that it smelled like an “onion bagel” in the room. If you are interviewing for a job, be cognizant of the fact that smells such as breath and overdone perfume can be so distracting that they hit interviewers negatively. A shower so you don’t smell is a yes; marinating yourself in perfume is a no. The old adage, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression” rings true, whether you accept it or not. With a tight job market, you need to be on your A game for every person you might meet during the course of an interview, and they will be in a range of ages and expectations. It’s a couple of hours — reward yourself with an emotional-support coffee after the interview. And pop a breath mint as you enter the building.
I mean, you usually get offered coffee or water at an interview anyway. They are saving the company money by bringing their own.
🙄
Gen X here. I think a lot of people missed the point. Large corporations usually use outside agencies to screen potential applicants. She was not bashing them. She was trying to give them tips about professionalism. She didn’t say that you were automatically eliminated. I experienced this years ago. I applied for a position that I felt I was qualified for. The recruiter reached out to me to say that although I was in the healthcare field, I didn’t have all the requirements for the job. He also told me they get a bonus if they found the applicant that checked all the boxes. I say all this to say, she gets paid if you get hired.
I’m an old but I get tired of the Gen Z-bashing. These kids (who include my kids) have been THROUGH it. And are still going through it.
That said, the recruiter was just offering helpful advice. You’re judged on so many things during an interview. She was just advising that you eliminate one variable on which you’ll be judged.
But I’m not going to make sweeping generalizations about a whole generation based on the replies of some.
Every generation goes through it. What they go through changes. It seems rather feeble if someone can’t wait an hour for an iced coffee.
We’re all going through it, every generation, throughout time.
completely agree on Pajiba’s take re: Lizzie Borden. thought the Wornous subplot was awful, and completely ruined the ending.
Well, let them go to interviews with their sloppy iced coffee and get judged and rejected. One day the unsolicited advice might ring a bell and they might get a hint as of why they can’t get a job.
The slightest “SACRIFICE” (wow, an ice coffee sacrifice) is too much. Me me me, me myself and I. If you’re getting an interview at starbucks, you can brings your starbucks ice cap. Just so you know, my advice is that you don’t bring one from dunkin donuts.
Even the unsolicited advice about how we shouldn’t be giving any triggers me. My friend gives me advise I didnt ask for, I give advice people dont specifically ask for. It’s called a conversation. Lots of things can be said during a conversation, why are we trying to control what we can or cannot say to each other when it’s all done in peace and or love and or friendship and or just filling up silence with no harm done and or intended
I really wouldn’t care about anybody bringing iced coffee to an interview. However, I wouldn’t recommend it because the odds of spilling it accidentally on your interview clothes is pretty high. That’s why people usually have water only.
I wouldn’t care but I would totally judge.
Also as a GenX in Big Tech since 1992, I am now routinely having to have conversations with GenZ and younger Millennials about things like – please comb your hair before coming on camera and joining a call, please make your bed before coming on camera (none of the other call attendees want to see where you literally just rolled out of), please eat your morning cereal BEFORE you start work (slurping your lucky charms while on camera during a meeting is no bueno). I have also had these GenZers call out sick because a thumb hurt, a foot is cramping, and needing to take the remainder of the day off because a meeting impacted their aura. These are young engineers and project managers who cannot manage their day to day life, I have no idea how they think they can manage complex issues and projects. It’s mind-blowing.
I don’t understand how something as bland as “professional interview tips” could become a generational trigger. I don’t care when you were born, walking into an interview with a drink is unprofessional. As has been commented a few times, this IS NOT THE JOB. This is the interview, and jobs are hard to come by for entry-level workers. This is your chance to seem better than anyone else the interviewer will see; don’t take any chances. Seem eager to impress them; once you have the job, you can drink coffee, slouch at your desk, log in a few minutes late, whatever you need to do to get through the day.
I wish we could stop framing this as “kids today suck,” which is what I fought constantly as a Millenial enry-lever worker. They are no dumber than we are, but they were raised in a different world. Every generation was raised in an entirely different universe to the one before it. Some will be up to the challenge, put down the coffee, and do what they need to do. Some won’t, and they will learn the lesson or not. And then they will scream about their own kids being unprepared in turn.
Yes to everything you said.
It really depends on who has the power. Who’s dong the hiring. It always does. So if the people in power don’t like an interviewee to bring in a beverage and you want the job … don’t bring in the beverage.
A job is work. It’s a four-letter word. It’s bending to someone else’s rules, not making up your own.
Is it not super rude to swan in with your own coffee to meet someone for the first time anyway? Very socially inept. Generally, you don’t eat and drink when you go to meet someone unless you’ve brought something for the person you’re meeting or plan to at least offer to share.
If I were an interviewer, I would wonder whether they have any understanding of socially apt behaviour.
Yeah no. Don’t bring an iced coffee into an interview. It makes you seem unserious. Not that drinking iced coffee in and of itself makes you unserious or less than qualified. People can function perfectly well at work with a coffee or other drink or food item in their hand, depending on the job. But that’s something you do on your own time, or after you have the gig. You should be fully focused on that interview and the person or people on the other side of it. And you can’t be fully focused or presenting your best self when you are clutching your Starbucks.
I would also say, as a Gen Xer whose husband has to interview a lot of younger people for legal jobs? Listen to the people who are doing the hiring. Don’t challenge or mock them about stuff like this. They make the rules here. They get to decide if they want you to have that job. When they’re giving you free, well-intentioned advice? Keep your ears and your minds open instead of being defensive. Especially about trivial stuff like iced coffee.
I still remember an article about potential employees ratting out their dumb interviewers for various faux pas (is there a plural for this French phrase?). The one I liked the best was the interviewer eating an ice cream cone the whole time, apologizing to the would-be employee, saying, “Sorry, this cone is too good to pass up.”
Wild how the kids are having a bleep-fit over their little sippy cup-and-straw drink.
If only they fought for higher pay (etc…) with the same passion.
I mean… you’re going to a company for an interview; their turf, their rules. Put the smart clothes on. Bring water if you must have something, but leave it in the bag. They’ll likely offer you a cup of water or coffee anyway.
It’s been a good +10 years since I last had to fill graduate positions, but even then, I remember a few doozies like the guy who kept spinning around in his chair, or the girl who kept asking about whether we’d pay for her to go to our Montreal office because her brother was in Toronto. We were in Ireland and that job required absolutely no travel.
Tarte au Citron, your last paragraph knocked me out. The young woman wanting to be paid to see her brother was great. But, of course, the other side of the coin is dumb interviewers. I once waited over an hour on Spring Street in Manhattan for an interview. When I showed up, I was told the guy had left hours ago. Never a phone call or apology. So people can be jerks on both sides of the desk.
Yikes! This: ‘“I don’t want to f–king work for you if you don’t want to hire me because I bring an iced coffee,” one Gen Z TikToker ranted, dismissing “traditional etiquette” as corporate brainwashing.’
Not a good way to respond to criticism in the workplace, although it looks like you’re not getting in the front door with that attitude.
And this: ;Weighing in on the debate, LinkedIn News highlighted advice from professionals. Benjamin Chipman, a Gen Zer who works in marketing, advised interviewees who want to bring a drink to hold it in their left hand so their right hand remains dry for a handshake. He also said to avoid shaking the ice around and refrain from slurping the final drops.’
No, leave it in the car, outside on the steps, anywhere, just don’t bring it in. Bring something to take notes with, but that’s it.