As someone whose caffeine addiction dates back to the 90s and who has been in the work world for nearly two decades, I don’t much care for the hot take about iced coffee and interviews. In fact, my entire corporate identity is part Diet Coke, part digital marketing.
At a high level, I can appreciate that a sweaty, actively condensating cup of iced coffee might not always be appropriate in an interview. I'm also fighting back the Curb Your Enthusiasm consideration of whether or not the candidate respects wood.
I suppose in short, I don't see this as a valid flag, nor do I think it's fair to make a sweeping statement about an entire generation without acknowledging the corporate climate they've inherited. We have so many incredible accelerators, and yet we're still following the etiquette guidance of the "smile more" and "dress to impress" crowds.
Ultimately, interviews are a two-way experience, and the recruiter and candidate share a mutual responsibility to vet each other on chemistry and culture in addition to qualifications.
The Today Show's pickup of the TikTok hot topic almost annoyed me more than the original post from the creator. It landed to me as ableist. They fixated on behaviors like fidgeting, which present in people who manage things like ADHD. Perfectly capable candidates who may need to occupy their hands, particularly during a high-stress moment like a job interview. Jenna Bush Hager likened the behavior to babies who needed pacifiers. I don't know if the world needed that POV from a likable day show host who likely didn't have to put up much of a fight for access to career opportunities.
I've conditioned myself to make space for choices I may not personally make in my career, and this is probably one of them. I can't see myself bringing my iced Americano with me into an interview setting. And in the spirit of two things being true, I also probably wouldn’t want to work for a company that had such a binary view of that decision, taking it from a casual choice to critical error.