Cultural-fit

Why cultural fit interview questions are awesome

Your company culture goes hand-in-hand with your values and mission. It shapes how your employees work, connect and have fun (or not). 

There’s no right or wrong here, but hiring great culture-fits makes achieving business goals and retaining employees that much easier. 

Important note: Hiring for culture fit is all about finding people who will boost your teams and thrive—and diversity is a big part of that. Avoid bias and think about your team as a whole when you hire.

Before you start, you need to define your company’s values and long-term objectives so you can identify those values in your candidates. 

Top tips: 

• Make sure you think about departmental sub-culture when you interview for culture-fit.
• Let candidates make their own mind up by offering a quick tour of the office and an opportunity to meet potential teammates.

Cultural fit interview questions

• Are you a lone wolf or a social butterfly? Why?
• What’s your ultimate working environment?
• Formal performance reviews v regular informal meetings: What do you prefer and why? 
• What are your goals for the first six months in this role? 
• What would make you quit a job in the first month?
• What are your favorite ways to motivate your team?
• Name one thing you love about your current role and hope to have here too?
• What’s the worst company policy you’ve come across? Why was it so bad and how did you overcome it?
• How would you cope if you’re given unfair last minute deadlines?
• How would you change traditional systems if you had a better idea?

Candidates to look for

• They embody company culture: If you’ve already got an awesome company culture, look for candidates who get it.
• They’re great leaders: Look for candidates who are awesome influencers and can help nudge your teams towards the right culture and help hit challenging targets.
• They’re polite: Friendly candidates are always a winner, but don’t reject introverts who struggle with small talk.

Candidates to avoid

• Dishonesty: If you can tell a candidate is lying or you spot inaccuracies in their answers, they’re not the pro you’re looking for.
• Value mismatch: If your candidate doesn’t share the same goals, or if you can’t offer what they need, the relationship will suffer. 
• Bad-fit leadership skills: Authoritarian styles won’t work in a team that’s used to being independent. Check in for their leadership styles and dig deeper if you need to. 
• Inflexible candidates: Bossy or arrogant candidates won’t be able to balance current work culture with offering new ideas of how to do things.
• Disrespectful: We all love out-of-the-box thinkers, but outright disrespect of company policies isn’t ok.