You can always count on Gen Z to be utterly unbothered by pretty much anything. Apparently, anxiety is for millennials and complaining about the current generation is for Gen X. When it comes to Gen Z, though, even the difficult job market can’t get them down. Because, according to a recruiter on TikTok, Caitlin, Gen Z candidates are bringing their cold and noisy iced coffees to interviews and it just isn’t a good look.
Caitlin explains in her video that she believes Gen Z applicants should leave iced coffees and iced lattes out of the equation because of how they look. I can’t imagine bringing any drink into an interview, let alone one that is historically noisy with its ice. Surprisingly, though, users in the comments came to the immediate defense of the Gen Z babies.
A recruiter shared some sage advice for Gen Z candidates.
@caitlinrecruiter Coffee & interviews … finish it beforehand 😅
♬ Rain on the Spool – Jazz Rocks Triangle
In her video, Caitlin explains the trend, or pattern, she has seen with many of her Gen Z candidates. According to her, they are showing up to interviews with an iced coffee in one hand and their resume in another. Well, maybe the resume part, but the iced coffee or latte is definitely a thing, it seems, when it comes to a younger generation of applicants. And Caitlin is warning against following that trend.
“Here’s how I perceive that as a recruiter with 16 years of experience that deals with mostly Fortune 500, super buttoned-up corporations,” Caitlin says in her TikTok. “It is perceived, from my opinion, my hiring standpoint, that when you show up with an iced coffee or an iced latte, that this interview is just, like, a stop on your list of errands for the day.”
She adds that the vibe she gets as a recruiter, and what some employers might infer, is that the applicant is just stopping at their interviews and then they are “on to the next thing.” According to Caitlin, it is “too casual.” She says that applicants should save their iced beverage for before or after the interview.
Some comments disagreed with her warnings about bringing iced coffee to interviews.
@caitlinrecruiter The great iced coffee debate! Leave the coffee, bring the focus. It’s an employers market which means high competition. My own observations, 16 years of experience in recruiting.
♬ Green love (Lofi) – Prodbyecho
Caitlin also says in her video that Gen Z applicants should not “waltz” into their interview with an iced coffee, appearing casual. However, according to comments under the TikTok, Caitlin is missing the perspective of these applicants.
“But an interview IS just a stop in my day,” a user pointed out in the comments. “It’s not my whole day.”
Another person wrote, “I hate corporate. Omfg why do we have to pretend we aren’t human???”
Someone else joked, “Noted, I’ll bring a Busch Light next time.”
“How is it different than walking into the interview with the coffee/water/tea that the receptionist/secretary offered you while waiting?” A TikTok user questioned.
A user who is most definitely part of Gen Z added, “We’re on a floating rock who cares, like genuinely.”
Someone also pointed to Caitlin’s other comments about the rest of a candidate’s day before and after the interview. They wrote, “Yes…so if I book an interview I should clear my whole day for that 30 mins…I can’t stop anywhere before? Or go anywhere after? This is sooooooo ridiculous.”
There are high unemployment rates in some metropolitan areas of the U.S.
hate to agree with the millennials but why is gen z literally addicted to resisting job advice… they’re on tiktok having meltdowns about authority because they’re being told they shouldn’t bring iced coffee to an interview
— ✩ (@slowslumbers02) September 18, 2026
Maybe Gen Z needs to take things more seriously. Or, Caitlin needs to understand how a certain generation of applicants sees things through a different lens. Clearly, according to plenty of applicants, they are tired of putting all of their energy into an interview that might not even lead to something in their future.
It might also depend on where an applicant is located. According to Forbes, the unemployment rate in El Centro, Calif. is 19.7%. In Sioux Falls, S.D., however, it is much lower at 1.9%. Depending on where a Gen Z applicant is from, they might feel less inclined to put all of their energy and time into an interview.
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