<p>1) It doesn’t matter. Your interview will not write in the report: “lol dude didn’t even pay for his own ****; reject him.” It won’t even set first impressions because an experienced interviewer has probably faced every response to his/her offer to buy the drink. You are only one interviewee out of many.
If you’re good at interviews, the cost of one measly drink on an interviewee will be the last thought on your interviewer’s mind.</p>
<p>2) Every interviewer I’ve had has offered to pay for my drink. The first time this occurred, I said that I would pay myself, only to have my interviewer insist relentlessly that I put my wallet away. From then on, I have never gone against an interviewer’s offer.</p>
<p>all right smartypants, what happens if the interviewer doesn’t offer to pay? what if the interviewer doesn’t know that it’s his/her role to pay the bill, what if he/she actually expects a split? </p>
<p>It’s unlikely, but interviewers can be clueless or misinformed. are you going to sit there staring at the bill, risk being rude by not offering, the interviewer could view it as such. The interviewer is clearly wrong here, but you don’t give two shts and neither does s/he, you want the interviewer to like you regardless. offering to split if it isn’t immediately clear that the interviewer’s paying has no disadvantage, at worst the interviewer will say “I’ll take care of it”.</p>
<p>Your black and white, under-all-circumstance conclusions are counter-productive, you need a safety net if your interviewer is an idiot.</p>
<p>This is America. If my interviewee tried to get me food, I would reject it because I wouldn’t feel comfortable accepting free stuff from an interviewee. It obviously wouldn’t influence my review of the candidate, but it’s all about avoiding the appearance of impropriety.</p>
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<p>They’re not random. Monster is a well-known job site.</p>
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<p>I would stick to first principles even in this case. I wouldn’t alter my behavior as to what’s correct to protect against the rare chance that the interviewer is an idiot. This is a red herring, and as you admit, it’s “unlikely.” The interviewer won’t ask for your money. This is unrealistic.</p>
<p>are you being dumb on purpose this morning? I’m saying that you stick to first principles, and I’m providing a safety net which has no disadvantage. We’re proposing the same behavior until your interviewer starts to possibly be an idiot, at which point I say ‘bite the bullet and air on the side of caution’, you stubbornly say ‘stick to first principles’ which has disadvantages, as I have explained. It doesn’t matter who’s right about the check, the ultimate criterion is whether the interviewer likes you on leaving. No red herring anywhere.</p>
<p>Monster is a job-seeking site, not a college-admittance site. Big difference. For a job, the interviewer is representing a company that pays for the meal. And even if you blow the interview, the whole idea of it is to woo you on the chance that they will want to hire you. </p>
<p>For a college interview, the interviewer is not representing any company (so it’s strictly their dough) and while they want to make a good impression for their school, there’s no cut and dry rule for every college and every interviewer. If the OP is really concerned, go to a place like Starbucks and get yourself a coffee before the interviewer even gets there. Or, if you’re at a sit-down place, you can always ask, “What is my share?” and hope the interviewer says “It’s on me.” Really, it’s not that big a deal. Focus on more important things.</p>
<p>well I had my interview a couple of weeks back and I got to say that I am inclined to agree with C02 about the interviewers always picking up the tab. My interviewer said right at the start [while we were buying stuff at Starbucks] that he was going to pick up the tab and it seemed like such a natural thing to do I didn’t waste my time offering to split or pay full. Why would I? Most interviewers are likely to be working jobs which pay well enough for a $5 coffee to not really matter to them much. If you do offer to pay or split you’re risking the interviewer thinking his position was demeaned. </p>
<p>Note: This wasn’t true for just my interview, as a whole all my friends said that the interviewers always picked up the tab in all their interviews.</p>
<p>Hmmm. Well In all my (4 interviews) none have picked up the tab. and this also true for all my friends. So I guess it’s just different customs. Where were you interviewed Columbia2002?</p>
<p>oh btw, just because it’s the US doesn’t mean we have a homogenized culture. Customs change between all the states and cities. If you go to South Carolina, they would probably start throwing insults at two guys holding hands. If you go to New York, people wouldn’t bat an eye.</p>
<p>holy hell this argument has been dragging on for way too long! to be honest, it lost its respectable nature when you guys called each other dumb. since then, the argument has been merely a hostile conversation between two disrespectful parties.</p>
<p>Hey, I have a radical idea. Don’t buy anything!</p>
<p>My Columbia interviewer just bought something for himself. My MIT interviewer offered me something, but I declined. Neither my Cornell interviewer nor I bought any food. If you don’t buy anything, you have nothing to worry about</p>
<p>Uh, I think the bottom line here is that it’s standard practice for the interviewer to pay for stuff. If they don’t, that’s weird. Really weird, in fact.</p>
<p>And before Cali or anyone else jumps down my throat, I interview Columbia applicant. In India. And I always pay for things.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s just because I’m in California. Customs get blurred, but I have always paid for my own drinks and same goes for all my friends. so (50+ interviews) O.o</p>
<p>hmm, maybe I’m a rare case, but for my columbia interview, my interviewer bought a drink himself and said to me: “you don’t have to buy one if you think it’s too expensive” and sat down to wait for me… (I got a soda)</p>
<p>I’d get there like 15min earlier, buy a drink, and sit down to wait for your interviewer. or as sara said, don’t get anything. though I wouldn’t suggest that – your mouth gets pretty dry, and it’s embarassing choking on air =/</p>
<p>50 interviews? Either you suck at getting jobs or you’re filing way too many applications :-P</p>
<p>I was taught that even in situations when it’s expected that someone else will pay for something (a meal, a coffee, hookers and blow…), the polite thing to do is to offer to pay… ONCE. You say “let me help out with my share of that” or say “how much do I owe?”, and they say “oh no, put that away”, meaning your wallet, and things move on.</p>
<p>you show that you’re not being presumptuous that someone else should/must pay for you, but that you also know how to accept a favor and don’t make a scene out of it.</p>
<p>and as has been said, by various parties, you also don’t have to get anything.</p>
<p>As an interviewer in my 4th season, I often interview at Starbucks and will usually ask the kid if he’d like anything as I go up to get a cup of tea or something. One time a kid accepted a cup of tea, another time they asked for a cup of water, everyone else politely declined. that’s how the decorum works here.</p>
<p>I have been in (non-college-interviewing) situations where, for example, a parent of a friend invited me out to brunch with them and my friend, and when I made my (token) offer to pay, it was accepted. Although surprising, you gotta follow through with your offer at that point.</p>
<p>exactly! denzera wins the thread and gets extra points for the “hookers and blow” part</p>
<p>…i want to add that offering to pay doesn’t even have to be anything verbal…for instance if you’re sitting down to eat and the check comes you can reach for it or pull out your wallet …that would usually trigger the other person to tell you to “put that away” without you having to say anything. i think offering is a polite thing to do… even if you are just a highschool student… however as a HS student insisting (as in continuing to offer after you are told to “put that away” or saying “i insist” and being persistent) is rude and insulting…also offering to pay for the WHOLE check by saying something like “i got it” or “it’s on me” would be spectacularly insulting. </p>
<p>to respond to C02…yes, in the “real world” there are many instances where it is known who will pay and you dont need to bother offering…and job interviews are a good example but i dont think it is so clear cut in a college interview that you shouldn’t bother making the gesture of offering to pay for your portion. </p>
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<p>do people also wear their underwear above their pants in california? or might you just be someone who finds it difficult to accept that you’re wrong even when people who are 5-10 years older than you and have more experience than you tell you that you are wrong repeatedly</p>
<p>Holy smokes, are you folks still arguing about this? Columbia2002 is right: never offer to pay the bill. What applies to job interviews applies equally to college interviews. Plus, you are a high school student, and the interviewer will not assume that you have a part-time job or that your parents give you pocket money.</p>
<p>If the interviewer is socially ■■■■■■■■ and asks for the bill to be split, then politely pay your portion. Afterwords, call Columbia College and file a complaint against the interviewer for being so ignorant. It’s pretty simple.</p>