Gen-Z Workers Who Show Up To Job Interviews With Iced Coffee Often Make 7 Other Bad First Impressions
Roman Samborskyi | Shutterstock It's no secret that Gen-Zers have an incredibly bad reputation in the working world (see: #icedcoffeegate), and a lot of it is unfair, stereotypical rhetoric that has become conventional wisdom simply through sheer repetition.
However, a recent study finds a handful of things employers say Gen-Z candidates tend to do, especially in interviews, that reinforce these stereotypes. Fair or not, they offer a sort of "cheat code" for how to counterprogram against these perceptions and make yourself stand out in the job market.
Workforce researchers at Intelligent conducted the study, surveying 1,000 U.S. managers whose work regularly involves hiring recent graduates for entry-level positions. Their findings are … well, kind of bleak, though certainly not anything new.
Respondents' attitudes were exactly what you'd expect: one-third said Gen-Z candidates "lack work ethic," and 55% said they had to fire a recent college grad in the past year. Probably most staggering of all is that 8%, nearly 1 in 10, said they will avoid hiring Gen-Z candidates in 2025.
To be fair, none of the following seven things cracked the 50% mark, which means most Gen-Z workers aren't making these slip-ups. Even Intelligent's Chief Education and Career Development Advisor Huy Nguyen called these "stereotypes" and urged employers to "adopt more proactive and nuanced approaches to identifying promising candidates" rather than simply not hiring them.
Still, the information offers valuable insight into the skills and details young workers can focus on to push back against these perceptions.
Gen-Z workers often make these interview mistakes that hurt a first impression:
1. Difficulty with eye contact
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Whether this is due to Gen-Z's well-known struggles with anxiety or how much of their lives has shifted to the digital space compared to previous generations, this was far and away the biggest problem managers noticed, with 49%, nearly half, saying they'd experienced this.
Eye contact conveys warmth and confidence, whereas a lack of it not only telegraphs the opposite; it makes people feel like you're not engaged or listening. Being aware of this, or even practicing it, could go a long way toward shifting perceptions.
2. Wearing inappropriately casual outfits
You have to dress for the job you want, as the saying goes. Dress norms, both inside and outside the workplace, have changed a lot in recent years, but 42% of managers said Gen-Zers have taken it too far toward casual. For interviews, stay as professional as possible.
3. Making unreasonable compensation demands
We get it. Everyone wants (and needs) to make more, and it's important to know and assert your worth, especially in a working world that will take advantage of you whenever it can. But candidates must still ground their salary requests in reality. Do your research to make sure your request is within the average, and maybe add a bit to the range for jumping-off purposes. But stay grounded.
4. Using inappropriate language
One of Gen-Zers' greatest attributes is their candor and lack of formality, but it's important to remember the workplace is the workplace, and casting aside these mores only reinforces stereotypes about being "unprofessional."
Caroline Goyder, a London-based communications and speech consultant, told the BBC that Gen-Z has developed unique speech patterns from consuming social media. She noted, "Influencers tend to use warm, friendly tones and informal, high-energy speech patterns, such as bouncy-up talk, to make themselves seem more approachable." That style of talking is not "the buttoned-up vernacular" of most management.
5. Reading directly from their notes
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This is surely related to another common perception of Gen-Z: that they often can't complete a task without using ChatGPT and don't have actual skills. Your notes should just be reminders, not a script, so practice your interviews beforehand so that you can speak confidently off-the-cuff; or at least appear like you are.
6. Refusing to turn on their camera during virtual interviews
There's not much to say about this one. Leaving your camera off in class or in informal meetings is one thing, but this is a job interview where an employer is trying to suss out who you are as a person in addition to your qualifications on paper. Hard to do that when they're just staring at a black box!
7. Bringing a parent to an interview
Here again, we come to another common perception of Gen-Z: that they're basically tiny children in adult bodies. There's perhaps no better way to live up to that charge than this! Thankfully, only 8% of managers reported experiencing this, but still, that's nearly 10%. Stop it!
To be clear, nobody's saying any of these stereotypes are fair, but you can't push back against them unless you know what they are. As Nguyen put it, "By understanding what frustrates managers the most and taking an intentional approach to interviewing, candidates can increase their chances of making a good impression and standing out among the sea of other applicants."
For now, the working world is still ruled by people from a much different time than the one in which Gen-Z has come of age. You'll be ahead of many of your peers if you play their game; and then you can rise through the ranks and change it.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
