Should you bring iced coffee to a job interview? Question brews generational debate

What started as a conversation about job interview tips online escalated into a generational debate over whether it’s taboo to show up with an iced coffee to talk to a potential employer.The discourse over the caffeinated beverage gained momentum on TikTok this week after a creator, who goes by @caitlinrecruiter on the platform, shared a video in which she said she believes “when you show up with an iced coffee or an iced latte that this interview is just a stop on your list of errands for the day.”“It looks a little too casual to me,” she said in the video, which she posted Sept.

16.Caitlin Wehniainen, whose profile states she has 16 years of recruiting experience, has just over 1,000 followers on TikTok.

But in the last week, her video has been clipped and recirculated by dozens of creators online, who engaged in a heated back-and-forth about whether she’s right.Wehniainen did not respond to request for comment.

The divide seemed to primarily be between younger and older users — with the former group suggesting Wehniainen’s tip “makes no sense at all” and that such a perspective is archaic.Others, many who identified as Gen Xers in comments, agreed with Wehniainen, writing that “arguing against this is insane” and telling applicants that they should “save the iced coffee for when you actually get hired.” By Monday, even the coffee giant Starbucks had taken a side, alluding to the debate in an Instagram post that featured an image of someone holding an iced coffee in one hand and sunglasses and their handbag in the other.

“Pulling up to the interview like,” the caption read.Meanwhile, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, another coffee chain, commented on Wehniainen’s video: “We’d hire them on spot...”The timing of the conversation coincides with a tough job market: Recent college graduates are facing higher unemployment rates than other age groups as it’s becoming more difficult to obtain entry-level jobs, NBC News reported...