What the Great Iced Coffee Debate says about job hunting in 2026

To avoid getting iced out by hiring managers, you might want to leave your iced coffee at home.

In a viral TikTok video, recruiter Caitlin Wehniainen discussed Gen Z candidates arriving at interviews with iced coffees and lattes. She thinks this comes across too casually, as though the interview is "a stop on your list of errands for the day."

The video prompted plenty of reactions. Some questioned why an iced coffee should factor into a hiring decision at all.

"I wanna vomit watching this take and seeing this kind of stuff," one TikToker said. "This is why I left the corporate world three and a half years ago and have never looked back."

Others said the debate plays into perceptions of Gen Z as entitled, arguing that younger workers may disagree with corporate America's unspoken rules but still have to navigate them. One TikToker said that candidates who believe things unrelated to job performance shouldn't matter should try showing up to an interview with a plate of chicken wings.

"If you want the job, you do have to kind of play the game," another TikToker said.

The debate highlights the reality of today's tough job market. Slower hiring has allowed many employers to be more selective as they sift through candidates. For struggling job seekers who often don't know why they were rejected, every little choice can feel consequential.

Maybe an iced coffee didn't cost someone a job, but it's easy to wonder whether some other small misstep did.

Have you changed how you approach job interviews in today's tough market? Reach out to mhoff@businessinsider.com and jzinkula@businessinsider.com.

The job market has been as frozen as a Zoomer job candidate's ill-advised latte. Both hiring and firing have been low for the last couple of years. There are 1.1 job openings per unemployed person, up slightly in recent months, but well below the 2022 peak of 2.0.

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That ratio doesn't include people who have given up looking for work. Labor force participation has tumbled from the November 2025 rate of 62.5%, partly due to an aging population.