IN RECENT WEEKS, there was an intergenerational war regarding whether it’s “professional” to bring an iced coffee along to a job interview.

It has been a lucrative time for career coaches and recruitment consultants, who were invited to weigh in on the conversation in outlets like Forbes, BBC and the New York Times. Here on TheJournal.ie, readers were polled on their take – with an overwhelming number of them expressing disapproval of the idea.

If you must know my feelings on the matter, I simply don’t care.

Throughout the years, I have conducted many job interviews and let me tell you: I’ve seen much worse. Something strange has been developing in the post-pandemic years and the idea of what is permissible in an interview, never mind a workplace, has been completely warped.

The role of “vibes” in employment

To be fair, it’s harder to know what you’re getting yourself into when you do a job interview these days. Tech companies take the blame here, for rebranding their offices as “campuses” and gutting out all the formalities previously associated with high-paying jobs.

The result is that people can dress more casually for work. There’s a new ethos of “high trust” in many roles, which makes life easier for those of us who are allergic to micromanagement. On the flip side, office ping pong tables now inspire eye-rolling.

Social media offers an aspirational glimpse into this work-as-a-lifestyle culture. Young people are shown benefits like on-site gyms, international company off-sites, in-office childcare facilities and office baristas........

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