Iced coffee has become the unlikely subject of workplace controversy.
A TikTok video from Florida-based corporate recruiter Caitlin Wehniainen has sparked a debate over whether showing up to a job interview with an iced coffee or latte is a harmless caffeine fix, or a sign that a candidate isn’t taking the interview seriously.
Wehniainen, who says she has 16 years of recruiting experience and primarily works with Fortune 500 companies, said in the video that arriving with a cold drink can make an interview seem like just another stop in a busy day of errands.
“It looks like you went to Target, then you went to Starbucks. Now you’re stopping by your interview, then you’re on to the next thing,” she said in the viral post. “It looks a little too casual to me.”
The video prompted plenty of reactions, with some questioning why a drink should have any bearing on a hiring decision. Wehniainen, however, says the point wasn’t to suggest that an iced coffee should determine whether someone gets a job.
“I think if you’re so convinced in your own skills, and you have worked really hard for something, I think that you carry with you some pride in that,” she said in an interview with CTVNews.ca.
“In a job interview, I want that to be the focus of the conversation. I don’t necessarily want the focus of the conversation to be any other distraction from that fact of what I do, and me being good at what I do, and you should hire me.”
Wehniainen added that the broader workplace is already changing, and expectations around professional behaviour may continue to evolve as younger generations, specifically generation Z, enter the workforce.
“Maybe we are seeing some opinion here that things could change or maybe could be changing over the next five to 10 years as we see it,” she said.
Cal Jungwirth, director of permanent placement services at Robert Half, a Canadian-based recruitment agency, said employers are looking for candidates who are engaged and professional.
“If there is something, i.e. an iced coffee, that may not make the best first impression, my advice is: leave it at home,” he said in an interview with CTVNews.ca.
Jungwirth also pointed to the changing nature of the workplace and that for some younger professionals, job interviews and work environments have been entirely virtual. This means they’re encountering the intricacies of an in-person interview for the first time.
‘Looking beyond the job requirement’
Career and resume strategist Sweta Regmi, founder and CEO of Teachndo, takes a different view of what the viral video reveals about the hiring process.
Regmi said recruiters need to be careful about allowing personal biases to influence their assessment of candidates.
“We are told how to do the interviews. There’s a structure to it, but sometimes those kind of biases kick in, and this is where the organizations have to be very careful on looking beyond the job requirement,” she said.
Regmi said the focus should remain on whether a candidate can perform the job, rather than on a personal judgment about how they present themselves.
“That’s totally the perception bias, right? Opinion bias as well. The opinion should never have a place in hiring. Otherwise, the hiring system is totally broken,” she said.
Jungwirth agreed that workplace expectations are changing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean traditional ideas around professionalism have disappeared.
He noted that expectations around clothing, for example, have shifted over time and can vary significantly between workplaces.
“I think the key word to all of that is just having awareness, and it’s good to have your eyes wide open and emulate. If you expect to have an interview with an organization and they tend to dress up a little bit more than others, then you wanna make sure that you meet them where they’re at,” he said.
“Put your best foot forward. You only get one chance.”
Wehniainen said the larger lesson is about understanding the environment a candidate is entering and putting the focus on the interview itself.
“For me, it’s just commonplace knowledge, but for someone else, it might be jarring to understand that you’re being evaluated during an interview process for your skills, and minimizing distractions is only going to help you,” she said.
“The point is showing up well prepared and showing up ready.”
