A seemingly innocuous TikTok video has sparked a global generational debate over professionalism centred on a simple question: is it appropriate to bring an iced latte to a job interview?

It all started with a TikTok post by American recruiter Caitlin Wehniainen.

In the video, Wehniainen said that some of her younger candidates were showing up to job interviews with beverages in hand, and that this was making them seem “too casual”.

“My Gen Z candidates are showing up to their interviews with iced coffee, iced latte in hand,” Wehniainen said in the post

“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 on the day.

“Don’t waltz into your interview all casual with an iced coffee, it just looks like you didn’t have time to finish your coffee beforehand.”

The great debate

The post quickly sparked what she later dubbed the “Great Iced Coffee Debate of 2026”.

Commenters from around the world were divided on the contentious issue, with some labelling it out of touch and an arbitrary way to judge a prospective hire, while others saying that bringing a drink to an interview is clearly unprofessional.

The debate seemed to be largely split along generational boundaries, with younger Gen Z workers critical of what they labelled an overly judgemental take.

“Are you expecting my whole day to revolve around a 30 min meeting?” one commenter said.

“As a millennial, can we please let go of the weird rules Boomers and Gen X imposed on us? Interviews are stressful enough,” another said.

Other commenters criticised many supporters of the post for holding “outdated, ridiculous views”.

“If anything, it exposes Boomer takes on what should and should not be done with assumptions about bringing a beverage to an interview,” they said.

“If the company is that offended by someone bringing an iced coffee to an interview, you probably don’t really want to work there,” yet another posted.

‘Respect decorum’

But there are many in support of the notion that it’s unprofessional and just plain rude to bring an iced latte to a job interview, and that it immediately puts you at a disadvantage in the hiring process.

“When did it become controversial to have standards and respect decorum,” one person posted.

“It’s simple manners.”

“It’s pretty rude…shows you can’t survive an hour without your coveted coffee,” another said.

“Suck it up, folks.”

One person commented on Wehniainen’s post saying they had interviewed someone who brought a coffee with them and that this had made them look “tired”.

“The coffee signified an emotional security blanket,” they said.

Wehniainen later posted a follow-up on LinkedIn, saying that she had “accidentally started a national debate about bringing iced coffee into a job interview”, and that the comment section had become a “battlefield”.

Her original post was “never saying that bringing coffee makes someone a bad candidate”, but rather it was about “avoiding distractions”, she said.

“Candidates hear, ‘be perfect, don’t be human’. Employers hear, ‘be prepared, take this seriously’,” Wehniainen said.

“Both sides are convinced that the other doesn’t understand them.”

While they may be bringing coffee to job interviews, Gen Z candidates are also seemingly gaining a reputation for ghosting workplaces before they have even landed a job.

According to a report from last year, HR managers are reporting that younger people are regularly disappearing during the interview process, even after being offered a job.

Younger workers are also increasingly more likely to list flexibility as their most important consideration when it comes to taking a new job, although this likely relates to working from home rather than taking coffees into job interviews.