Coffee Chat
Introduction
Coffee Chat is a networking feature within the Eightfold Mentorship module that enables employees to connect for one-off, informal conversations — without a formal mentorship commitment. This article covers the full Coffee Chat experience: how it works, employee preferences, notifications, and icon customization.
Overview
Coffee Chat allows any employee to reach out to another for a brief, one-time conversation — ideal for career advice, informal introductions, or cross-team networking. Unlike formal mentorships, Coffee Chats are single interactions with no ongoing obligations.
Coffee Chats are accessible from multiple places in the platform:
- Career Hub Profile Page: the Coffee Chat button appears on any user profile where the person is open to chats
- Mentoring Module: the People page includes a dedicated Coffee Chats tab
- Career Hub Mobile App: employees can arrange coffee meetings from the People / Mentorship section on mobile
Employee Preferences
Employees control their own Coffee Chat availability from their Career Hub profile.
Setting availability
- Navigate to your Career Hub profile and open the Mentorship tab.
- Toggle Open for Coffee Chats on or off.
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When the toggle is off, your profile will not appear in and other employees cannot send you a Coffee Chat request.
Note:Employees who are at their formal Mentor Capacity limit can still be available for Coffee Chats. The capacity limit only applies to full mentorships — Coffee Chat availability is controlled by its own toggle and is not affected by mentorship capacity.
Requesting a Coffee Chat
Any employee can request a Coffee Chat with a colleague who has the preference enabled.
- Open the colleague's profile or find them via People Search.
- Click the Coffee Chat button.
- Complete the in-modal request form — add a short message to introduce yourself and explain what you'd like to discuss.
- Submit the request. The other person receives an email notification immediately.
The recipient can accept or decline from the notification email or directly within the platform. Both parties are notified of the outcome.
Notifications
The following email notifications are sent automatically throughout the Coffee Chat lifecycle:
| Notification | Trigger | Recipient | Purpose / Contains |
| Coffee Chat Request | Request submitted | Recipient | Notifies the recipient of a new request; contains requester information and their message. |
| Coffee Chat Request Reminder | 7 days after request, if still pending | Recipient | Gentle reminder to respond to the pending request. |
| Coffee Chat Accepted | Recipient accepts the request | Requester | Confirms the request was accepted; contains the other party's information and an acceptance message. |
| Coffee Chat Declined | Recipient declines the request | Requester | Notifies the requester the chat was declined; contains a decline message and the other party's information. |
Customizing the Coffee Chat Icon
Admins can replace the default coffee mug icon with any custom SVG icon via Theme Builder. This is useful when your organization has renamed the Coffee Chat feature (for example, to 'Experience Days' or 'Networking Sessions') and the default icon no longer fits your branding.
How to configure
- *Open Theme Builder: *Navigate to your Eightfold Career Hub and ensure Theme Builder is active. Access it via the Admin Console or by adding the theme builder parameter to your URL.
- *Open Customize tab: *In the Theme Builder panel on the right side of the screen, click the Customize tab.
- *Expand Asset Overrides: *Scroll down the list of customizable elements and expand the Asset Overrides section.
- *Prepare your SVG: *Obtain a Single Path SVG code for your desired icon. Resources such as Material Design Icons or FontAwesome are recommended. The SVG must be a clean, single-path file for best rendering.
- *Paste the SVG: *Find the field labeled Coffee Chat Icon Single Path (SVG) and paste your SVG code into the text box.
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*Preview and Publish: *The Live Preview reflects the change immediately. If satisfied, click Publish at the bottom of the Theme Builder and confirm in the pop-up window.
*💡 Pro Tip: *To revert to the default Eightfold branding at any time, click the Reset button next to the SVG input field.
What happens after publishing
Once the admin clicks Publish, the new icon takes effect globally:
- The coffee mug icon is replaced across all instances where Coffee Chats are referenced — including the Career Hub Profile Page, Mentoring Module, and People Search results.
- The change is saved as part of the active theme and persists across all user sessions until updated or reset by an administrator.
Related Articles
- Mentorship Overview
- Mentorship Notifications Guide
- Mentor Capacity
- Eightfold System Notifications