Faculty Fast Take: What Speaks Louder Than Your Interview Answers? Your Iced Coffee. 

Did you know all it takes is a tenth of a second to make a first impression?

In today’s fierce debate about whether it’s permissible to stroll into a job interview iced coffee in hand, it’s a figure worth remembering, shares Wendy Murphy P’30, the Edward A. Madden Distinguished Professor of Global Leadership at Babson College.

“An interview provides limited context for a hiring manager to make a decision,” Murphy says. “That means everything from the way you dress to your posture and tone of voice matters in making an impression, just as much as the content of your answers.”

Originating on social media, the debate has many in the workforce divided.

Murphy, who also is the faculty director of the Arthur M. Blank School Summer Program for High School Students, has extensive experience consulting on leadership strategy, keynoting conferences, and designing workshops for businesses ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small family businesses. While corporate culture and hiring manager expectations vary, with different norms based on role and industry, Murphy reminds younger professionals just how much communication in an interview setting is nonverbal.

“Interviewers can and will read into these signals as they assess your capacity to successfully engage in the job responsibilities and to contribute to the company,” she says.

So much so that the most qualified candidate doesn’t always get the job.

Instead, it’s often the one who’s best at communicating their value.

And, as Murphy says, “Why risk it with an iced coffee?”