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Cultural-fit

Use cultural fit questions to pinpoint candidates who love your company values and will fit in with ease.

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.

Start optimizing your recruiting process today.

Start optimizing your recruiting process today.

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