AIBU to think takeaway iced coffee at interviews is unprofessional?

Anyone I know whos in those roles would call themselves assistants. Not support workers. Or they specify "im tech support". Not "Im a support worker"

All I get from 16 pages on this thread is that the OP has poor reading comprehension, is the queen of passive aggression and is taking a hypothetical Tik Tok conversation far too seriously.

No, they don't. They say they work in IT or in tech.

I've worked in tech support for 30 years, and have never said I'm a support worker. Support workers are supporting stuff like health care or SEN.

This.

If someone says they are a support worker, I immediately think of a healthcare professional.

Nobody in IT support would all themselves a "support worker".

Good point I guess it depends what sector you’re in but you could always cut the interview “short” I guess?

I’m nhs I interviewed someone on teams once who was eating an apple which was weird - they weren’t suitable anyway but why would someone do that.

Is the benefit of passing judgment on a candidate for something as minor as bringing a drink to an interview worth the risk of overlooking someone who could potentially be valuable to the company?

Many things are contentious! I suspect if you put a poll up about tattoos or nose piercings, you'd get a hefty proportion of MNers saying they were inappropriate. I personally have neither, but if I did I'd be well aware that some interviewers would find them off-putting. And yet it wouldn't matter, because I would find that attitude off-putting and wouldn't want to work at that company.

You know what the most off-putting attitude in a job interview is? Interviewers who think that the need to impress only goes one way.

If the interviewer offers ice coffee, or tea or water, thats fine. Wandering in with a Starbucks is a no. And I work in a very relaxed creative sector. Gen X

Well I wouldn't want to work somewhere with closed-minded staff making decisions, so I might need to bring an iced coffee to interviews in the future.

I would say that the biggest takeaway from this thread is that the person who most needs to concentrate on their manners is you. Never mind the interviewees.

Your disingenuous and rude comments to other posters re 'support workers' derailed your own thread.

It's the rattling ice cubes and the straw based sipping. Absolutely no way.

No, someone in the care sector would say "I'm a support worker" because that's the norm. Why don't you understand this business norm?

If they do that shake shake clink the ice thing with it then I’d not hire them for being annoying. But I’m less bothered by the idea of it than most people seem to be.

You can't discuss candidate behaviour without taking interviewer behaviour into account. They're symbiotic factors when it comes to what's considered appropriate in an interview.

I feel the root of the objection to this isn't actually the fussy concerns about condensation or ice cubes - it's the Gen Z attitude that a job interview is for them to assess you as much as it is for you to assess them. If they feel it appropriate to bring an iced coffee to an interview, then they will judge you if you're so starchy that you find it off-putting. I find their attitude commendable.

You being OK with tattoos and piercings is irrelevant given that many interviewers probably aren't.

Chewing gum? Don't care. I personally don't chew gum. I might well find it off-putting but only mildly. If the candidate was outstanding in relation to the actual job I couldn't possibly give a shit.

Nor do I. Weird that you couldn't intuit it though, as you think intuition is such an important quality for a job candidate in your sector.

I don't and have never worked in that sector either, and I imagine this is the case for many other posters too. Yet I am aware of what is a a very common norm because I don't somnambulate my way through life.

Even if I wasn't aware however, I hope I wouldn't go around parading my ignorance on a thread when repeatedly advised of something that is widely known and accuse other posters of being 'coy'.

But you do.

Do you think it's wrong to presume someone would understand something and judge them for not intuiting it?

unprofessional.

Can I ask a question to the people who don't think a drink should be brought in?

I have xerostomia and have to have a drink with me at all times because if my throat dries out I start choking (which I also need a drink for 😂). I have some medication for it that looks a bit like weird fruit gums. I wouldn't be able to just hope there was water in the room, I'd have to bring something. Tbh water isn't the best thing for it either because it doesn't stimulate salvia. Talking makes it worse.

I don't drink any kind of coffee, but what would you lot expect me to do in the interview? Completely genuine question as I'm actually not sure!