<p>This might sound stupid, but if i'm in a starbucks should i just get there early and buy the coffee myself? lol this sounds like a dumb quest. but i keep on thinking about it for some reason.</p>
<p>I’d definitely get there a few minutes early and wait for your interviewer, though he might get there early as well! If you arrive and your interviewer’s not there yet, it’s perfectly reasonable to get a cup of coffee, sit down, and wait. Interviews at Starbucks are relatively informal (compared to, say, interviews at an office), so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Just be polite and intelligent.</p>
<p>Not a dumb question as this is often a young person’s first encounter with an interview/meeting w/some social protocols in place. This is applicable to other business mtgs as well.</p>
<p>1) if you arrive early, get yourself a drink. When the interviewer (clearly your senior) arrives, he/she may or may not get a drink. you do not need to offer to buy them one.</p>
<p>2) you both arrive simultaneously or the interviewer is there already. He/she will likely offer you a drink. If so, accept if you wish to do so. If not, you can delince politely. If he/she does not offer you a drink and you want one, ask if you can excuse yourself to get one. Again, you don’t offer to buy them one.</p>
<p>This is the typical situation when a junior and a senior meet (interviewee & interviewer, student & professor, job applicant & hiring person, etc.) – the senior knows to offer drink to junior or at least allow junior to buy himself/herself a drink; the junior does not offer to buy a drink for senior.</p>
<p>If both parties are more equal (say classmates or student & grad assistant), then the mutual offering of drinks is more common.</p>