Would Miss Manners Approve? Meals (And Behaviors) To Avoid During The Lunch Interview

Someone finally invited you to lunch! Unfortunately, it’s a hiring manager, and it’s a lunch interview – a series of well-designed tests to see if you are the right job candidate. A regular interview vs. a lunch interview is like the 100-meter dash vs. the 100-meter hurdles if the hurdles are food, forks, and heavy sauces. For maximum pressure, lunch interviews are typically at the end of the interview process, so you know it’s now or never. Don’t blow (or spill) it!

Employers don’t spring for lunch because they like you. They raid the petty cash to make sure you’re not a barbarian. If you can’t conduct yourself like a professional in public, hold a one-on-one conversation for an hour, or treat the people you encounter with kindness and respect, your stellar qualifications sink a notch. Everything is a hurdle. Everything is a test. Order with care. Do not make food your downfall. Here’s a list of foods to avoid during the interview.

Tip #1: Avoid Sauces

• Spaghetti and meatballs. The sadist took you to an Italian restaurant. It’s going to be the tall hurdles. Do not fall for this cruel ploy. Pasta sauces gun for your white shirt and silk tie. You don’t want to look like a Jackson Pollack painting. You will disorient the hiring manager.

• Dipping sauces. Thai peanut. Soy ginger. Pineapple lime. Buffalo Blue Cheese. Cabernet Peppercorn. It’s all fun and games until dipping sauce forms a Rorschach test on your interview clothes. Remember when the fly sat on Mike Pence’s head during the Vice Presidential Debate? It was all anyone could notice. The hiring manager will stare at your dipping sauce stains like the world stared at the Vice-Presidential fly.

Tip #2: Avoid Smells

• Herring and onion. There are over two hundred species of herring, and they all smell like shame and regret, which are the two emotions you will experience after the hiring manager returns from lunch and announces you are the finalist most likely to microwave fish in the office break room, effectively ending your candidacy.

• Brussels sprouts and cabbage soup. So healthy! Will most likely add several years to your life span. But smells like an armpit, in mid-August, with 95% humidity. Think about the aromas you want wafting up from your plate between you and a job offer. The Limburger cheese sandwich may be a culinary delight but will not do you any favors at a lunch interview. If you subject the hiring manager to unpleasant food odors, it is human nature to associate you with them. “You stink!” is not the lasting impression you want to impart.

Tip #3: Foods You Can’t (or Wouldn’t) Cut with a Fork & Knife

• Hamburger with grilled onions. Talk about finger food. If you are at a lunch interview, one ingredient can lead to your sudden irrevocable downfall (no pressure). Grilled onions are the yummy avalanche of foods. Whether they are on a classic burger or Philly Cheese Steak, grilled onions will slide off the bread and bury you. It’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when. If you apply Murphy’s Law, the grilled onions will slide onto your lap right after you say, “I am the best.” And it’s not just grilled onions. Many extras, sides, and condiments are hurdles waiting to take you down.

• Stacked Food Like a Carnegie Deli Sandwich. If you’ve ever been to a serious deli, you may know that many sandwiches are so big that they do not fit in the human mouth. If you need to dislocate your jaw to devour your prey it’s probably too big for a lunch interview. A separate but related issue is that most stacked food falls apart – on you. Forks and knives have been around since ancient Egypt and are used to cut food into easy-to-manage-and-digest pieces while reducing the amount of food you wear.

Tip #4: Do Not Order Alcohol

• Loose Lips, Sinks Ships. While there are exceptions to every tip, this one is pretty solid. Even if your lunch interview is with a panel of well-known drinkers who order their bottle of wine, stick with non-alcoholic beverages. If you want to exercise foresight and caution, make it a clear non-alcoholic drink in case of unexpected spills. Water dries and disappears. Coffee does not. (Note: If you’re interviewing with a beer, wine, or spirits company, follow the interviewer’s lead – sampling the products might be a decent choice.

• Elaborate Cocktails. Any beverage with a paper interview could be construed a poor choice.

Tip #5: Do Not Order a Dish That Creates Extra Work for the Accounting Department

•  Lobster Thermidor. It’s a lunch interview, not a first date with the King of Money. If you believe a global Fortune 500 company that spends a million dollars a year on paper clips doesn’t care about the recruiting budget, then go right ahead and order the 10oz Japanese A5 Wagyu Beef Ribeye Steak, Almas caviar, a side of Bonnotte potatoes, and a brick of Alba white truffles. If you want the job, order a dish that is the same price or less than your lunch companion’s order. If the interviewer insists you order first, choose something that is mid-priced. Exercise sound judgment, or it may seem like you’re taking advantage of the company’s generosity.

• Tuna eyeballs. Chances are your lunch interview will not take place at the Tuna Eyeballs Café, but sometimes adventurous diners can’t resist the one esoteric item on a menu, especially when the King of Money is paying the bill. Keep it simple. Don’t let the conversation be about black pudding and hákarl instead of what makes you a super genius who will increase your new
  company’s profit margin by 50% on day one.

Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.