At a glance…
- We put the question to our team, with… heated results. Turns out a lot of us were very passionate about the subject.
- The viral trend has sparked debate across the internet from Sydney to New York and everywhere in between.
- We speak with an expert, Dr Jo Winchester, to get her insight on the perceived professionalism slight.
This whole thing started when a recruiter gave her followers advice on showing up to an interview with a coffee in hand. US-based Caitlin Wehniainen, who has over 16 years of experience in recruitment, posted a video on her TikTok to discuss a trend she was noticing with candidates.
“My Gen Z candidates are showing up to their interviews with iced coffee, an iced latte in hand,” she opened her initial video. “When you show up with an iced coffee or an iced latte, that this interview is just like a stop on your list of errands for the day…It looks a little too casual to me…it looks like you didn’t have time to finish your coffee beforehand.”
Responses to that video were… heated.
“Honestly, if showing up with a beverage like a coffee is an issue….that’s not a company I want to work for,” one commenter wrote.
“I would never show up with a drink in my hand. Not even just for aesthetic purposes, but I require my hands to open doors, shake hands, take any notes. The sweet treat is for after the interview,” another commented.
“Good manners never goes out of style. Allow the person interviewing the opportunity to offer a beverage to set the tone. As a candidate, you’re the guest. At no time should a candidate bring iced coffee.”
The comment section was pretty much split on the topic. But it piqued our interest, so we decided to ask our team.
“Absolutely 100 per cent not,” said our News & Features Editor Samantha Trenoweth. “I think it makes you look too relaxed.”
“While I personally wouldn’t, if someone did bring one into an interview, I probably wouldn’t judge them,” said yours truly. I personally wouldn’t myself, as I always leave the door open for someone to give me a cup of coffee. I was raised on Lorelai Gilmore, after all.
“It’s not a dealbreaker,” said our Health Editor Melody Teh. “I do think it is a bit disrespectful and not entirely professional.”
“You don’t bring a drink of any kind into a job interview,” said the fiercely opinionated Tiffany Dunk, host of the Love Stories podcast and Deputy Editor of The Weekly. “I feel like it’s disrespectful, dare I say.”
Watch our video below:
The divide does seem to be along the generation lines. Our younger team members (our Head of Lifestyle excluded) appear to mostly forgive the perceived professional slight. The more mature members of our team deem it unprofessional. Furthermore, there were many others who were not included in our video who essentially said it would cost the candidate the role. Yikes.
And so, I decided to consult the experts. Dr Jo Winchester specialises in helping bridge the gap between different generations when it comes to the world of work. As this debate has a clear generational divide, she’s the best person I could think of to ask.
“This younger generation really values authenticity,” she tells me as we talk on the phone after I catch her up on the viral debate. “They believe that turning up as yourself is the best approach, as they want someone to hire them for how they are.”
However, the older generations tend to value presentation and qualifications more than personality. So, she isn’t surprised that there’s a clear generational divide.
“There’s a different value in what Gen Z thinks makes a good employee and what Gen X thinks. And then you’ve got the millennials in the middle going, ‘I can see both sides!'”
Truly the middle child of the generations. As Dr Jo deals mostly with younger generations, she has advice specifically for them.
“You are totally allowed to have your own values. But you also have to understand that you are going to be interviewed by somebody who is of a different generation, and you need to have some understanding and respect for that,” she tells me. “So if you think, ‘Oh, I’m gonna dress a bit more casually, my hair might be out and a bit free-flowing, or I might have the iced coffee’. You’re allowed, but you also have to appreciate the consequences.”
The consequences, of course, could be that you don’t secure the job, even if you have all the necessary qualifications and/or experience.
“If you’re someone’s ideal candidate, all those things won’t matter to them. Your skills and everything are so perfect for us; we’re going to hire you anyway. But if you’re one of two or three candidates and they’re looking at all three of you, that might be the thing that might not get you the job,” she warns.
And it’s not about limiting your personality or how you like to present yourself. For instance, Jo has tattoos, but when she’s going into a school setting to give a talk, she might wear a long-sleeve top to err on the side of professionalism.
However, her advice isn’t just for the younger generations.
“I do think the older generation needs to be a bit more, say, open to the change in values,” she advises. “The younger generations tend to value mental health more, and they’re not going to work 12 hours a day for you for nothing. I think that’s a good thing and I think the older generation respects that. But the job market is really tough at the moment. So, be realistic, and realise that both generations might have to compromise a little bit.”
And that extends beyond the job interview stage. Once you’re successful in securing the job, you don’t need to bring your entire self to your workplace. Sometimes, Jo says people want it all; they want work boundaries, but they also want to be their authentic selves all the time.
“When I’m at work, I’m working, and when I’m at home, I’m at home,” she tells me. “ Workers want that divide, and they want a real life; they don’t want to spend all their time at work. But then at the same time, there’s this desire that work is your family or your friends.”
But they aren’t; you are all paid to be there. It’s fantastic when you get along with your workmates and managers or employees, but at the same time, just because you are working for the same employer, it doesn’t mean that they are your family.
“When you leave the office, you can have your iced coffee and wear your leopard-print boots; in your social settings, you can be free. But in a workplace, there are different standards, and you need to adjust some of those things because it is a workplace,” she advises. “If you want the boundary between work and social life, then you have to respect that boundary too and say, ‘Okay, I’m not going to wear my leopard boots; I’m going to wear my black flats because this is the workplace.’”
“In a way, it protects you because it’s kind of like having a little bit of a mask or a uniform,” she adds.
So if you’re getting ready for an interview, maybe leave the coffee for afterwards (and give your potential employer the chance to offer you a coffee).
“It’s about setting yourself up for the best opportunity,” Dr Jo ends.
So, leave the leopard print boots and your iced coffee outside the interview space.
