June 23, 2022

15 Important Questions You Should Ask During An Interview To Assess Cultural Fit

Cultural fit is crucial. Determining whether or not a top-performing candidate is the right cultural fit for your team and company will ultimately help you grow your business. Hiring people who can fit in from day 1 will improve happiness levels, decrease turnover, make a good impression on customers and partners, and increase their performance. So how can you make sure that your cultural fit assessment properly evaluates your candidates’ culture fit?

First, you have to be clear about the core cultural elements in your team/company you want the candidates to fit with. Here is a list of possible questions you can ask during a cultural fit interview:

1. About the role

What about this role appeals to you most?
How will this role challenge you?

2. About the work environment and team

Describe the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.
What are the positive aspects of your current job and work environment, or the last position you held before coming to this interview?
What is the single most important factor that must be present in your work environment for you to be successfully and happily employed?
What is your preferred work style? Do you prefer working alone or as part of a team? What percentage of your time would you allocate to each, given a choice?
How would your co-workers describe your work style and contributions to your former job?
When you work with a team, describe the role that you are most likely to play on the team.
A workplace may have had a process in place for years. If you feel there is a better way to approach the situation, what would you do?

3. About management

Describe the management style that brings forth your best work and efforts.
How could a manager best support you?

4. About the company

Which of our company values resonates the most with you?
What would you bring to our company that’s unique?

5. About clients and customers

Tell us about an occasion when you believe that you delighted a customer?
Tell us about a decision that you made that was made based primarily on customer needs and input

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photo by Lucie Greiner