Ha, I’ve been following this whole thing and it’s just so funny to me. It’s such a younger generation thing, maybe I’m older and so I’ve just “played the game” a lot. The whole thing is should you be able to take your drink of choice? Of course! However, would I do that? Hell freaking no I wouldn’t.
Going into an interview from the first glance they’re judging you to see if you’re a good fit. Granted you’re also judging them but let’s be honest, it’s pretty lopsided. If I go in I want them to see my best foot forward, it means I’m putting on a show for the next hour (or more nowadays) so that you want to hire me. I’m not bringing in anything that alters that view of me. Iced coffee, hot coffee, nothing. Maybe a neat folder of a couple spare resumes and a notebook I can take notes in. I plan ahead, I’ll usually be at a coffee shop before the interview anyway (it helps make sure I’m there on time, get there 30-60 mins ahead of time and chill at a coffee shop), and then walk over for the interview.
Bringing a drink or anything extra is just something that now they’re thinking about, and you don’t want them thinking about you in that way. It’s something else that you put on the table, you’re taking sips of, for cold drinks it’s condensing and leaving a ring, and then you have to ask for a trash. All benign things but again, you’re in their house and why would you want to bring any negative attention at all to them? I’ve had interviewers who were obviously just having bad days say no to me for arbitrary bullshit already, why add to that? It all seems like an unnecessary gamble for no reason at all.
Now if they offer coffee or a drink when you get there (hopefully they do) I’m all for it. They offered, it’s free game. Go wild. Just don’t get picky.
I know this is a wall of text but I’ll also say that as an interviewer I don’t care at all if they do, as long as they’re professional and it doesn’t get in the way. If it’s distracting, you’re shaking the ice, or slurping out the last bits, or whatever, yeah it’s going to distract me. I’m not going to be annoyed because you brought coffee, but I will be annoyed if you aren’t appearing to take an interview seriously.
And now unfortunately bringing it after this whole social media thing is basically wearing a target on your… front? face? that says “I’m making a statement” and will absolutely label you a troublemaker to any HR person (because you know every HR person has seen this). It’s also probably tainted it for 5-10 years as they’ll keep remembering this.
I am a hiring manager for a small engineering team. I don’t think I would notice as long as there wasn’t extra attention drawn to the drink for some reason.
It’s a stupid reason to not hire someone, it’s a stupid reason to not get hired. Best to avoid the whole thing. People are so worried about how they should be able to do whatever they want, but people have been passed over for less. If you can afford to miss out on a job, go nuts.
Having needed to hire for engineering teams, I think the iced coffee would be a big deal if the position was client facing and wouldn’t be if it was internal.
The answer for me of “who defines professionalism” is the client. If the effective end client is me, I don’t care. I’m pretty lax and chill.
However, if I’m hiring for a client facing role and you bring an iced coffee, you are saying that you don’t know or don’t care about client expectations and that is a red flag. I work in an industry where it is still the expectation to wear a suit and tie to certain client meetings. If you can’t play the game with me, how can I trust you to play the game with the client?
You mean the client expectations which were created last week over a fake social media controversy by people who literally have nothing better to do than shitpost on LinkedIn? Sorry we do enough actual work that we aren’t up on LinkedIn meta.
Brother, I promise you I can sell a customer on the idea that we are just that fucking good, that our iced coffee rebellion is exactly what they are looking for. Because we actually are very fucking good at what we do.
You mean the client expectations which were created last week over a fake social media controversy by people who literally have nothing better to do than shitpost on LinkedIn?
No. I just know to not being a drink into a client meeting. Throw it out beforehand.
I have been working professionally, at a high level for 20 years and have never heard any commentary about bringing drinks to meetings until literally this week. Get off of it. It’s not a thing.
Never said I defended it, in fact first thing I said was that you should be able to. I said I’ve played the game for a long time and have learned the arbitrary rules, and honestly do pretty well in interviews. Feel free to do whatever you want, as I said to others, it’s your job prospects, not mine.
I agree with all that, but I’d say a hot coffee avoids all of that. It won’t leave a ring, there’s no noisy ice you might chew on, and it’s sipped slowly, so it’s not very distracting. Just don’t slurp, or leave it behind.
I legitimately cannot conceive of any situation where I would care what kind of drink a candidate brought with them. All I care about is that you make the right shapes on the white board and don’t give Trump supporter.
I get recruited a lot and occasionally agree to do an interview just to stay on my toes, and I am 100% going to bring a mega-gulp sized ice coffee, and wear a tshirt that says “Iced coffee fan” the next time I do this.
Actually I might order catered iced coffee for the entire office.
Ha, I’ve been following this whole thing and it’s just so funny to me. It’s such a younger generation thing, maybe I’m older and so I’ve just “played the game” a lot. The whole thing is should you be able to take your drink of choice? Of course! However, would I do that? Hell freaking no I wouldn’t.
Going into an interview from the first glance they’re judging you to see if you’re a good fit. Granted you’re also judging them but let’s be honest, it’s pretty lopsided. If I go in I want them to see my best foot forward, it means I’m putting on a show for the next hour (or more nowadays) so that you want to hire me. I’m not bringing in anything that alters that view of me. Iced coffee, hot coffee, nothing. Maybe a neat folder of a couple spare resumes and a notebook I can take notes in. I plan ahead, I’ll usually be at a coffee shop before the interview anyway (it helps make sure I’m there on time, get there 30-60 mins ahead of time and chill at a coffee shop), and then walk over for the interview.
Bringing a drink or anything extra is just something that now they’re thinking about, and you don’t want them thinking about you in that way. It’s something else that you put on the table, you’re taking sips of, for cold drinks it’s condensing and leaving a ring, and then you have to ask for a trash. All benign things but again, you’re in their house and why would you want to bring any negative attention at all to them? I’ve had interviewers who were obviously just having bad days say no to me for arbitrary bullshit already, why add to that? It all seems like an unnecessary gamble for no reason at all.
Now if they offer coffee or a drink when you get there (hopefully they do) I’m all for it. They offered, it’s free game. Go wild. Just don’t get picky.
I know this is a wall of text but I’ll also say that as an interviewer I don’t care at all if they do, as long as they’re professional and it doesn’t get in the way. If it’s distracting, you’re shaking the ice, or slurping out the last bits, or whatever, yeah it’s going to distract me. I’m not going to be annoyed because you brought coffee, but I will be annoyed if you aren’t appearing to take an interview seriously.
And now unfortunately bringing it after this whole social media thing is basically wearing a target on your… front? face? that says “I’m making a statement” and will absolutely label you a troublemaker to any HR person (because you know every HR person has seen this). It’s also probably tainted it for 5-10 years as they’ll keep remembering this.
I am a hiring manager for a small engineering team. I don’t think I would notice as long as there wasn’t extra attention drawn to the drink for some reason.
It’s a stupid reason to not hire someone, it’s a stupid reason to not get hired. Best to avoid the whole thing. People are so worried about how they should be able to do whatever they want, but people have been passed over for less. If you can afford to miss out on a job, go nuts.
If you accidentally spill coffee everywhere, you’ve just brought a lot of extra attention to it. Best not to risk it.
as someone who has also been involved hiring for engi roles
i would give zero shits, long as the person was pleasant in resolving the accident
if anything being able to see their behaivor under stress is a good thing
Having needed to hire for engineering teams, I think the iced coffee would be a big deal if the position was client facing and wouldn’t be if it was internal.
The answer for me of “who defines professionalism” is the client. If the effective end client is me, I don’t care. I’m pretty lax and chill.
However, if I’m hiring for a client facing role and you bring an iced coffee, you are saying that you don’t know or don’t care about client expectations and that is a red flag. I work in an industry where it is still the expectation to wear a suit and tie to certain client meetings. If you can’t play the game with me, how can I trust you to play the game with the client?
You mean the client expectations which were created last week over a fake social media controversy by people who literally have nothing better to do than shitpost on LinkedIn? Sorry we do enough actual work that we aren’t up on LinkedIn meta.
Brother, I promise you I can sell a customer on the idea that we are just that fucking good, that our iced coffee rebellion is exactly what they are looking for. Because we actually are very fucking good at what we do.
No. I just know to not being a drink into a client meeting. Throw it out beforehand.
People promise things all the time.
I have been working professionally, at a high level for 20 years and have never heard any commentary about bringing drinks to meetings until literally this week. Get off of it. It’s not a thing.
Could be different professions, different markets, different cultures. You also came to me.
it’s because you want a talented individual
this shits from fortune 500 hr gits hiring warm bodies
Same. I am going to start talking about how much I fucking love iced coffee in phone screens from now on.
If some HR fuckwit wants to make this a thing then I will allocate a solid portion of my smug to it.
It’s wild to say that drinking something will make you look bad to an interviewer. It’s even more wild to write paragraphs of text defending it.
Never said I defended it, in fact first thing I said was that you should be able to. I said I’ve played the game for a long time and have learned the arbitrary rules, and honestly do pretty well in interviews. Feel free to do whatever you want, as I said to others, it’s your job prospects, not mine.
I have twelve years of experience working at a bunch of different companies. I’ll be okay.
I agree with all that, but I’d say a hot coffee avoids all of that. It won’t leave a ring, there’s no noisy ice you might chew on, and it’s sipped slowly, so it’s not very distracting. Just don’t slurp, or leave it behind.
I legitimately cannot conceive of any situation where I would care what kind of drink a candidate brought with them. All I care about is that you make the right shapes on the white board and don’t give Trump supporter.
I get recruited a lot and occasionally agree to do an interview just to stay on my toes, and I am 100% going to bring a mega-gulp sized ice coffee, and wear a tshirt that says “Iced coffee fan” the next time I do this.
Actually I might order catered iced coffee for the entire office.