Dec
17

13 comments

The Top 10 Things NOT To Eat During A Lunch Interview

I think we all struggle with this question. We have an important day of interviews with a key company and to our dismay, one of them falls during the lunch hour. And the pressure is on. What do you order that will make you look healthy and thoughtful without leaving an embarrassing stain on your fine interview outfit?

Now you may be saying that a lunch interview sounds kind of nice. A chance to unwind, get a free meal and get out of a stuffy office environment.

Think again. Lunch interviews are evil.

Don’t ever assume that the person taking you to lunch is just a nice person who had nothing else to do. It is still an interview, even if it feels more casual. Although every once in a while, an email will go out saying: “Can anyone take (candidate) to lunch?”.

To the untrained job seeker, this lunch interview can be the trojan horse of job search. The big test. And you don’t want to be known as the guy or gal who fell on their sword based on a poor decision with menu in hand.

So I’m here to help. In the most light-hearted way I can.

Before we get to the list, here are some key considerations for the menu selection:

How Much To Order? A delicate balance because you don’t want to be perceived as a “big eater”. And too little may have your interviewer thinking you are changing your eating patterns just because of the interview. Which, of course, you probably are.

Healthy or Indulgent? Of course a leaning toward the healthy doesn’t hurt – especially if you know your interviewer looks fit. But try to avoid asking the waiter for seven variations on the menu to suit your needs.

Who Orders First? You probably won’t have a choice here as most interviewers will defer to you as their guest. So you have to make a gut call. Perhaps your first big decision.

Now to the most important part. The vital list.

Here are my top 10 things NOT to eat during a lunch interview.

10. A Cheeseburger. Unless you are taken to a famous burger joint with nothing else on the menu, avoid the cheeseburger. It is indulgent, hard to eat and messy. A job interview is no time to test whether you can fit a certain food in your mouth.

9. French Fries. Or any other food that requires your using your hands to eat (see cheeseburger above). Not cool. Plus you end up with greasy fingers and a napkin that looks like it was put through a paper shredder.

8. Steak. No one eats steak for lunch anymore though, right? The problem is two-fold. Steak takes a long time to chew and it is a bit pricey. Add to this anything that needs to be cut. Too much work.

7. Soup. Soup falls under the “potentially too hot” category. You don’t want to be blowing on your food or quickly grabbing your water glass to put out the fire. Soup also tends to build up on the bottom of the spoon allowing possible bombs dropping on your lap on the way to your mouth.

6. Any Hard Breads. If it crumbles or explodes when you try to eat it, you must avoid it. These are also “loud foods” that make big noises when consumed. We want quiet foods when interviewing, right? Keeps the focus on the conversation . . .

5. Traditional Salads. Now you might shudder at this one. It’s the solid choice, right? Safe and healthy. Well here’s the problem. Most salads come with greens that are too big and getting them in your mouth without a three point turn is next to impossible. Also, salads don’t tend to stay on the fork very well. So unless you like building a rain forest between you and the table, be careful.

4. Appetizers. While this seems like a safe, easy to eat choice, most appetizers are not healthy, fall under the “finger food” category and may have your interviewer thinking you are not confident enough to order a main plate.

3. Pizza. Remember, you are not out with your kids watching a ball game. You are trying to get a job. So pizza loses out for a number of reasons. You have to either pick it up or cut it. You will likely not be able to finish it all (or suffer the consequences later in the day if you do). And you have no idea how big it will be – you don’t want the waiter bringing out a huge pizza tin on a rack that takes up half the table.

2. Dessert. The odds are you won’t have time. And you don’t need to over-eat, especially sweets, if you have two or three interviews left in the day.

1. Spaghetti and Meatballs. Yes, it is the classic one to avoid. Red sauce makes big, splashy stains that are impossible to get out. Plus, there is no elegant way to ingest a four foot long piece of pasta without it slapping you in the eyeball on the way in. Think Indiana Jones.

So now that I’ve reduced your options to just about zero. You are all asking: so what do I order that won’t make me look silly, overly-healthy, indulgent, littered with food parts, over-heated, rosy-cheeked or face-painted?

Is that what you are asking? Well, I have no clue. All foods have their issues. But here’s a few that seem to avoid violating the assortment of problems identified above.

Cooked Fish: generally really easy to cut and fork. Perceived healthy (assuming it is not drowned in sauce) and easy to chew.

A Chopped Salad: unlike the traditional salad above, easy to eat in small bites, usually light on the dressing and perceived as a safe choice.

Penne Pasta: or any other “easy to fork and transport” pasta. Easy to find on most menus. The cleanest of the pastas.

OK, now it’s your turn. Can you share your best or worst menu selections for a lunch interview? Made a menu mistake that you’d like to share? I’m sure I missed something above, but I can’t think of it.

Maybe you can . . .

Comments

Al Garcia December 17, 2009 @ 7:43 am

I was in a lunch interview once and thought ordering a club sandwich was a good choice. I forgot that most of these are double decker high rises and you pretty much have to unhinge your jaw like a python to eat them. My interviewer had a buffalo wing salad?! Never heard of that so I don’t think my sandwich was that bad of a choice. Anyway, the job didn’t pan out but the sandwich was a good learning experience. I would recommend you go online and look at a restaurants menu beforehand (if you know where you will be eating) so you know exactly what you are going to order. Often times you are so busy talking, you don’t want to take too much time studying a menu. Also, indecisiveness is not a good trait when on a lunch interview.
Linda December 17, 2009 @ 9:29 am

Great advice here! I’ll have the penne pasta… But I have all but given up taking any food and/or drink when offered in an interview situation. Once went to a happy hour meeting at a restaurant, I ordered an appetizer and the interviewer orders something, ate like a bird, and before I knew it, I had finished mine and looked like a pig. Once had a glass of water, and at the conclusion of interview (everything had gone really well!) picked up the cup and somehow while moving it, sprayed the last few drops across the interviewer’s pants. He was wearing khakis. He just looked down and looked at me and i knew that was it. sigh. At least it was water! But I never got a call back from that one!
Sharon Morgan December 17, 2009 @ 10:27 am

I like stir-fry (like chicken & vegetables). It’s tasty, usually healthy (unless they drown it in oil) and is typically bite-size pieces. And it’s pretty readily available (or can easily be made in the kitchen). But I’m also a big fan of salad, too. I’ll cut it up into small bites if it’s not chopped, but the dressing is definitely something to watch for.
Marie.read@verizon.net December 17, 2009 @ 11:28 am

I have been in this situation a couple of times, and it helps to ask the person you are with if they recommend anything on the menu, then you have some idea how they will order, or ask them what are they considering for the same reason. I ordered Buffalo Wings(which we shared) yesterday on a networking lunch, old friend, but I was not comfortable eating them and regretted it afterwards.
Black Tiger December 17, 2009 @ 1:21 pm

Short Answer: I WOULDN’T – except in dire emergency!
Long Answer: The idea in an interview is to get someone to LIKE YOU, right? That means accepting, like it or not, that people have differences of opinion on what “looks good” or is “proper.” Since we all have “pet peeves” about what is and is not correct at table, and since you want to avoid ANYTHING that can make you look bad (dripping, food malfunction, something caught in your front teeth…), the safe bet is to have an afternoon appointment you need to prepare for (even if you DON’T have an afternoon appointment – get it?). Thank them Very Much for the invite – then casually mention that you WOULD like to have Lunch with them at a later date, say, one month after you’ve joined the team…
Jeff Maxwell December 17, 2009 @ 5:07 pm

Ask the server about what they recommend, and often you can learn a lot. You may not know that the reason you were brought to a given place was to find out the obvious. One of my clients invites potential clients to a bowling alley for lunch to see how they react. Interested in keeping costs down, they seek to find what they can observe. The fact is the fried chicken there is to kill for, and a huge meal (1/2 a chicken) costs $4.99 with all the trimmings. It’s a special, but you don’t really want anything else. So the place itself can be part of the interview, as things are not always what they seem, and there are some very good specials to be discovered!
Tim Tyrell-Smith December 17, 2009 @ 8:03 pm

OK. So now I know that food is an interesting topic.
@JeffMaxwell told us about a hot deal (1/2 chicken for $4.99), @BlackTiger shared the details of “dripping, food malfunction, something caught in your front teeth…”, @Marie regrets eating Buffalo Wings, @Sharon prefers stir fry and salad (likes chopped), @Linda likes the penne but is now nervous around water glasses (understandably) and @Al will need to unhinge his python-like jaws after digging into an unusually large club sandwich.
Got it? All caught up?
Thanks for all the great contributions!
Rick Neff December 21, 2009 @ 7:58 am

Looking back on a 30 year career in sales with hundreds of customer meals, one of the first lunch interviews I ever had was with a VP of a foutune 500 company in the executive dining room. The waitress asked what I wanted and a club sandwich showed up in front of me in less than 30 seconds. It was a lot of food and the interviewer kept peppering me with open ended questions just as I unhinged my jaw and filled my mouth with sandwich. Of course, by the time I swollowed and got out an answer he had another great question.
First thing is, no mater how much you are tempted to get out an answer, do not talk with your mouth full! Use the chewing time to come up with a good answer.
Besides ordering something easier to eat I should have been prepared with my own open ended questions to hear what the company had to offer me.
An interview is just a sales call, selling the product you know best. You need to find out what the customer/employer is looking for before you can properly frame your answers to maximize your chances at landing the job.
I got the job…
Tim Tyrell-Smith December 22, 2009 @ 6:28 am

Thanks Rick.
Your comment reminds me of a statement I made to my oldest son a number of years back (that my kids won’t let me forget). My son was talking with his mouth full (as kids do), driving me nuts and I exclaimed “Don’t CHEW with your mouth full!”. Of course I meant to say something different . . .
Yes, sometimes lunch interviews should avoid food altogether. Especially if you are getting peppered with questions!
Suzy Ubry January 3, 2010 @ 7:16 pm

When I first read this one, I cracked up because I remember trying to have conversations over lunch with a friend while enjoying some of the NOT to eat items! Usually ended up taking at least half of the meal home.
Not sure I’ll ever be invited to a lunch interview, but if I do, I would go for ravioli. Easy to cut into small bites and not too messy. But if not available, my next top choice would be the penne pasta … yum.
Tim Tyrell-Smith January 3, 2010 @ 8:31 pm

Thanks Suzy – Ravioli sounds like a good choice. The small, bite-sized ones sound good. Just light on the sauce . . .
Mike February 13, 2010 @ 4:23 pm

As an aside, I was cautioned at my former place of employment that you should NEVER season your food before tasting it. It was said that this was a simple test used to determine if you take actions out of habit or verify the current situation before acting. Something as simple as salting your food before tasting to see if it actually needs salted may tell them you act out of habit.
Tim February 13, 2010 @ 4:42 pm

Whole I would never pull this on someone, it is an interesting peek into possible connections between personal and workstyle habits. Hmmm.

The Top 10 Things NOT To Eat During A Lunch Interview

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