Coffee interviews

[Bannanachair]

I have an interview for college admissions officers tomorrow and the next day at coffee shops. I can not drink coffee or tea. My dad said that it would be bad for me in the interview not to order coffee or tea if the other person does, and when I asked him why he called me stupid. He also forced me to order some disgusting drink and to take a sip of it and I felt like vomiting. (Yay for healthy family dynamics).

Basically, if you were conducting an interview, would you care if the other person was drinking anything? Why? Would drinking water be good enough? How about ordering a hot chocolate instead of coffee?

[Tikobe]

Hmm... To answer your question:

Yes, I would care. I mean, if I'm having an interview with you what I'm trying to see is your personality and your habits. If you don't drink anything it would seem like you were a pompous bastard who may not even want to be there, or at the very least that you may be trying to appear as something you're not and that would raise suspicion. I'm not sure if water is a good idea, but at the very least it's better than nothing since it shows interest, but at the same time if I invited you to a cafe I would like to see you take advantage of that. It's kinda like eating cheeseburgers at a Mexican restaurant, it's weird and out of place and I mean you went there for Mexican and not fucking cheeseburgers. Hot chocolate should be fine. That's a pretty good cafe drink.

Of course, this is my perspective and others may disagree.

[Benzo]

Adding my two cents, but is the cafe meeting covered by the interviewer? If that's the case, don't feel pressured to order anything if you don't want to. I've sat in on a few ExxonMobil meetings and they didn't seem to care if you ordered very little or nothing at all.

Your main concern should be price. If you'd feel more comfortable getting something, try to aim in the middle; Too high and you're a freeloader (Even though someone may give you $500 for dinner, there'll be frowns aplenty if you hit that limit or get too close.) But go too low and you may be considered too meak/timid. Other than that, anything on the menu is fair-game, and you shouldn't feel odd ordering hot cocoa. If nothing else, just explain your taste preference if questioned.

[Tikobe]

Sept 15, 2018 19:51:21 GMT -4 Benzo said:

Adding my two cents, but is the cafe meeting covered by the interviewer? If that's the case, don't feel pressured to order anything if you don't want to. I've sat in on a few ExxonMobil meetings and they didn't seem to care if you ordered very little or nothing at all.

Your main concern should be price. If you'd feel more comfortable getting something, try to aim in the middle; Too high and you're a freeloader (Even though someone may give you $500 for dinner, there'll be frowns aplenty if you hit that limit or get too close.) But go too low and you may be considered too meak/timid. Other than that, anything on the menu is fair-game, and you shouldn't feel odd ordering hot cocoa. If nothing else, just explain your taste preference if questioned.

That being said, where do you live Benzo?

Just merely curious due to interest in cultural differences. My family (Which is Cajun and mostly based in the area around Louisiana all the way to Florida) always made sure that I eat as much as possible and to never say no whenever someone offered something, which was one of the rudest things possible.

Of course, they were also the kind of family to beat table manners into their children (And believe, it'd be a long lecture for me if I made one mistake) so... Yeah.

[Benzo]

I'm from Indiana, but my "experience" for lack of a better term comes from Houston, Texas.
Thinking about it though, 2 of the 3 times my brother was doing the interviewing, so he may just be more laid-back. Third, though, one exec literally only got booze at a really nice restaurant while everyone else ate; No one seemed to bat an eye at it.

[Bannanachair]

Sept 15, 2018 20:27:32 GMT -4 Tikobe said:

Sept 15, 2018 19:51:21 GMT -4 Benzo said:

Adding my two cents, but is the cafe meeting covered by the interviewer? If that's the case, don't feel pressured to order anything if you don't want to. I've sat in on a few ExxonMobil meetings and they didn't seem to care if you ordered very little or nothing at all.

Your main concern should be price. If you'd feel more comfortable getting something, try to aim in the middle; Too high and you're a freeloader (Even though someone may give you $500 for dinner, there'll be frowns aplenty if you hit that limit or get too close.) But go too low and you may be considered too meak/timid. Other than that, anything on the menu is fair-game, and you shouldn't feel odd ordering hot cocoa. If nothing else, just explain your taste preference if questioned.

That being said, where do you live Benzo?

Just merely curious due to interest in cultural differences. My family (Which is Cajun and mostly based in the area around Louisiana all the way to Florida) always made sure that I eat as much as possible and to never say no whenever someone offered something, which was one of the rudest things possible.

Of course, they were also the kind of family to beat table manners into their children (And believe, it'd be a long lecture for me if I made one mistake) so... Yeah.

Unless your parents were the kind to criticise you for using the wrong knife or fork ("why are you using a desert fork for the entree!") then my mother was probably worse.

[Deleted]

If a certain drink makes you want to throw up, don't ever drink it. Throwing up at an interview is generally not a good thing.

Ordering water shouldn't be that big of a deal; I don't get why it should be a problem. If the interviewer's biggest concern is what kind of drink you order, they're not doing their job. The focus is on the interview. Not the drinks.

[Deleted]

Sept 15, 2018 22:39:41 GMT -4 Bannanachair said:

using the wrong knife or fork ("why are you using a desert fork for the entree!") then my mother was probably worse.

Big forks are too big. Dessert forks are the only forks I use.

Also, you called it a desert fork and I only just noticed that. Is a desert fork from the desert? Does it make food taste like sand?

[Tikobe]

Sept 15, 2018 22:39:41 GMT -4 Bannanachair said:

Sept 15, 2018 20:27:32 GMT -4 Tikobe said:

That being said, where do you live Benzo?

Just merely curious due to interest in cultural differences. My family (Which is Cajun and mostly based in the area around Louisiana all the way to Florida) always made sure that I eat as much as possible and to never say no whenever someone offered something, which was one of the rudest things possible.

Of course, they were also the kind of family to beat table manners into their children (And believe, it'd be a long lecture for me if I made one mistake) so... Yeah.

Unless your parents were the kind to criticise you for using the wrong knife or fork ("why are you using a desert fork for the entree!") then my mother was probably worse.

Yeah, thankfully we didn't use more than one kind of silverware. That was the one area they were lax about.

However, apparently a few decades ago Mississippi had required girls to attend an etiquette class during middle school that covered all of that stuff (But not boys. Boys had to focus on PE apparently). Learned that from my mom who had to take the class and her final project was that her class had to serve the boys a meal.

Yeah, Mississippi was and still is that kind of state. Home of good ol Jefferson Davis, folks.