The iced coffee debate reflects 'everything wrong with hiring right now,' says career expert

Would you reject a job candidate who brought an iced coffee to an interview? Your answer may not matter: Either way, someone on the internet thinks you're wrong. And a career expert says she's over it.

The iced coffee debate, currently taking place on social media platforms across the web, reflects "everything wrong with hiring right now," says Phoebe Gavin, a Washington, D.C.-based career and leadership coach.

The conversation started with a corporate recruiter's Sept. 16 TikTok video post about Gen Z candidates bringing iced coffees to job interviews. Her take: Drinking an iced coffee in an interview "looks a little too casual" and could hurt your chances of landing the role.

The video, which has over 465,000 views on TikTok as of Friday afternoon, sparked a fierce discussion that quickly spread to other platforms. Some commenters on the original video argued that bringing an iced coffee has no bearing on a candidate's qualifications: "What does that have to do with their work ethic, experience, or intelligence?"

Others agreed with the recruiter: "It's not about coffee, it's about professionalism."

The conversation is reflective of a broken job market because it shows how "the power dynamic is so, so, so skewed toward the employer," Gavin says.

In her view, it's "wildly unfair" for hirers to prioritize something as trivial as a beverage over a candidate's qualifications. "You've spent hours and hours and hours on these [job] applications," she says. "You have 10 years of work experience and a master's degree. And a coffee is the reason why you don't get that job?"

A 'battle' of workplace norms

In one sense, the iced coffee debate is really about the "injustice of the hiring process," says Gavin.

Many job seekers feel desperate and exhausted after months of searching: Over a quarter of unemployed workers, 27%, have been looking for a role for over half a year, according to August data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For someone struggling to land a job right now, "the idea of being rejected because you were thirsty is just enraging," Gavin says.

In another sense, the iced coffee debate represents a "battle of the generations" between Gen Z and older workers, says Catherine Fisher, vice president of communications and career expert at LinkedIn.

"Gen Z has brought in a different perspective on work," Fisher says: They bring "a little bit more of their personality" to the office, and they're more likely to "challenge some of these corporate norms."

Despite the online furor, there's no hard evidence that Gen Zers are more or less likely to bring an iced coffee to an interview than anyone else. They may simply be more likely to push back against workplace rules or standards that seem arbitrary or outdated to them, says Fisher.

But what Gen Z sees as reasonable pushback can seem unprofessional to older workers, says Jamie Close, a corporate recruiter at staffing and recruiting company HireQuest.

For some hirers, Close says, seeing a young candidate bring an iced coffee to an interview reinforces some workplace stereotypes: "They're going to have that Gen Z mentality. They're going to be lazy. They're not going to fit in."

What experts say to do

From Close's perspective, whether a candidate brings in a beverage is "not what sticks with me as a recruiter at the end of the day."

"If they're a great candidate, I don't care if they brought an iced coffee," she says.

But since other hirers may have different opinions, you might as well leave your iced coffee in the car, says Close. "You don't want any distractions. You don't want to spill. You don't want to have all that noise," she says. "We just want to focus on you and your interest in the job."

Fisher agrees: It's "kind of ridiculous" that an iced coffee could be a deciding factor in whether a candidate gets an offer, but "in such a competitive job market, you actually do need to think about these things."

Setting yourself up for success means keeping the focus on your skills and experience, and avoiding anything that could detract from your interview performance, she says. You wouldn't want to show up late or mispronounce your interviewer's name, for example.

In short: "Just don't risk it," says Fisher.

Look for 'the right place for you'

In Gavin's view, rejecting an applicant for bringing an iced coffee says more about the interviewer — and the workplace environment they represent — than it does about the candidate. For one, it could indicate that they're uptight or overly focused on appearances, she says.

If you're able to be choosy about your next opportunity, take it as a sign that their company wasn't a good fit for you, Gavin says. "Be glad that they pulled you out of the process for showing up with a beverage."

If you're in a position where you have to consider every opportunity — which many job seekers are, Gavin says — make sure to ask plenty of questions about the workplace culture. "You may or may not be able to use that information to say 'no' to a position, but at the very least, you'd be able to go in with eyes wide open," she says.

Keep in mind that a job interview goes both ways, Fisher notes: You're evaluating the company just as much as they're evaluating you. Job seekers should walk into each interview with a clear idea of what kind of work environment they're looking for, she says, whether that's a buttoned-up, traditional office with a formal dress code or a laid-back one that welcomes hoodies and jeans. Maybe you're trying to strike a good balance between those two ends of the spectrum.

But "if you feel like you really have to like play a certain role, and that doesn't feel comfortable for you, it might not be the right place for you," says Fisher.

As for the interviewers, they should give job seekers "a bit of grace," she adds. "They're probably really nervous. They've been going through it. It's a hard job market out there, so try to look beyond those kind of superficial things and really focus on, 'Is this person going to be successful in this role?'"