Does bringing an iced coffee to a job interview signal to recruiters that you're "unprofessional?" One on TikTok says so, but many online disagree.
On Wednesday, Sept. 16, Caitlin Wehniainen uploaded a TikTok in which she said that her "Gen Z candidates are showing up to their interviews with iced coffee in hand," and as a recruiter with over 16 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies, it signals to her that "it's a stop on your list of errands to do for the day." She adds that it reads as "casual" and urged people not to bring one to their interviews.
@caitlinrecruiter Coffee & interviews … finish it beforehand 😅
♬ Rain on the Spool - Jazz Rocks Triangle
The comments section of her video was split, with people who supported what she said ("Y'all are complaining, but there’s absolutely no
reason to bring your coffee into a 30 min to one-hour interview") and more who were strongly opposed ("But an interview IS just a stop in my day. It’s not my whole day").
Another person replied to the video saying, "I just know y'all don’t pay NEARLY enough to be this strict," and someone else added, "Are you expecting my whole day to revolve around a 30 min meeting?"
Creators took to making their own videos about the discourse and shared their opinions, most of which agreed with Wehniainen.
"When people say it's unprofessional, the answer isn't usually, 'I think that it's professional so it should be what I think,'" said Josh Lora, known as @tellthebees, a sociologist and content creator who makes videos about the intersection of sociology, books and culture, adding, "You guys are willing to die on the hill that the iced coffee is a symbol of your rebellion and you should be allowed to do whatever you want and never face any consequences for it. That is not the way that the world works."
@tellthebeees #discourse #genz #millennial #professional #tellthebeees iced coffee discourse, social, norms, professionalism
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Franchesca Ramsey, a content creator and actress, made a video of her own calling the discourse "the perfect example of the literacy crisis." She explains that literacy is not just about the ability to read, but also about understanding the target audience for a piece of information, pointing out that Wehniainen mentioned that she recruits for Fortune 500 companies, and not everyone applies for jobs at those companies.
@franchesca_leigh The iced coffee job interview discourse is the literacy crisis on full display
♬ original sound - Franchesca Ramsey
"Most of y'all are not the audience for this content," she argued. "She wants [the Gen Z clients] to get hired because then she makes money. She's not telling you guys this to say that Gen Z are stupid or lazy or unemployable … she's saying if you want to be hired by one of the biggest companies in the world … you have to perform a certain way."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Can you bring iced coffee to a job interview? TikTok ignites debate
