A career expert has diagnosed the entire job market as broken because someone somewhere got mad about iced coffee during an interview.
The hiring debate exists online. Exists is generous. Three people argued on LinkedIn. One of them sells resume templates. Another runs a TikTok account about workplace trauma. The third person was just there.
The iced coffee incident involves a job candidate who brought iced coffee to an interview and got rejected for it. Or maybe they didn't bring it and got rejected. Or they brought it and didn't get rejected but someone else got mad. The details shift depending on which engagement farmer is telling the story.
This reflects everything wrong with hiring right now according to the career expert. Not the fact that entry-level positions require five years of experience. Not the AI resume scanners that filter out qualified candidates because they used Arial instead of Calibri. Not the four-round interview processes for jobs that pay $42,000 a year.
No. Iced coffee.
The intergenerational component stems from older people thinking bringing beverages to interviews shows disrespect while younger people think it shows they're hydrated and ready to work. Both groups have built entire identity frameworks around this position. Both groups have monetized their takes into LinkedIn courses.
The career expert did not specify whether hot coffee would have fixed the job market. Presumably that data is behind a paywall.
Meanwhile some guy named Derek just got hired at a Fortune 500 company after showing up twenty minutes late with visibly bloodshot eyes and a resume that listed League of Legends under special skills. He brought nothing to drink. He starts Monday. They're giving him equity.
The iced coffee stays unemployed.
Photo by Demi DeHerrera on Unsplash
Leave a Comment