You’re on your way to a job interview and have your water bottle or coffee with you. Do you walk into the interview carrying it, given that most office workers carry one anyway?
It might seem like a small detail but, on TikTok, a recruiter expressed her dismay at GenZs showing up to interviews with a takeout drink.
HR and etiquette experts say that while it may seem like a minor detail, it can contribute to the overall first impression a candidate makes.
‘If two candidates are closely matched, softer factors such as communication, interpersonal skills and professional etiquette could become relevant,’ he adds.
‘The interview starts from the moment a candidate enters the room. Yes, recruiters may notice a candidate carrying a beverage, but it would not influence their assessment on one’s qualifications and attributes such as communication, teamwork and leadership,’ says Tuesday Chege, a global HR and leadership coach with experience in life, leadership, career and transition coaching.
However, he advises candidates not to carry a drink into an interview to avoid any distraction or misinterpretation.
‘An interviewer could choose to assess the candidate again without the beverage to remove any doubt,’ he says.
For Nthenya Macharia, an etiquette and personal branding consultant at Nthenya Consultancy, the drink may signal how seriously a candidate has approached the interview.
‘The cup does tell me something about how they have approached the moment,’ she says.
Nthenya says candidates should consider whether they have thought about the setting or simply carried their everyday routine into an important meeting.
‘Etiquette is about making choices that fit the occasion and put others at ease,’ she says. ‘The question is less ‘Are drinks allowed?’ and more ‘Does this feel appropriate here, with these people, at this moment?”
Holding a cup throughout the conversation can make a candidate appear preoccupied, while placing it on an interviewer’s desk without invitation can come across as presumptuous and creates the risk of a spill.
‘If a drink is appropriate, keep it discreet and out of the way,’ she says. ‘The conversation should have your full attention.’
Context matters. A candidate meeting a prospective employer in a café is in a different situation from one attending a panel interview in a boardroom. A creative workplace where colleagues routinely meet over coffee may also have different expectations from a traditional corporate office.
But a relaxed workplace does not necessarily mean a relaxed interview.
‘A casual dress code is not automatically an invitation to treat the interview casually,’ Nthenya says. ‘You still need to show that you understand the occasion.’
Chege adds despite workplace cultures becoming more relaxed, candidates should research the organisation and present themselves appropriately rather than assume that every interview follows the same conventions.
Nthenya points to other small behaviours that can shape an interaction, including checking a phone while waiting, wearing sunglasses while indoors, arriving with food to finish, speaking dismissively to reception staff, or opening an interview by complaining about traffic or a former employer.
She pays particular attention to how candidates treat people outside the interview panel.
‘Courtesy should not begin only when the person with the hiring decision walks in,’ she says.
Her simplest test is to ask: ‘Will this help me be present for the conversation, or will it compete for attention?’
If the answer is the latter, she suggests leaving the coffee or water bottle outside.
‘Bring your preparation, your curiosity and your courtesy,’ she says. ‘The coffee or water can wait.’