As a hiring manager, boss, or CEO, it’s your responsibility to assess what qualifies as a good cultural fit for your organization. Ideally, you’ll find candidates whose values, behaviours, qualifications, and ethics align with your organization’s priorities. The most successful hires will fit both the job and the workplace culture.
First, what are some examples of cultural fit in the workplace?
- An employee who prefers to work alone on projects won’t be able to excel in a workplace that values collaboration.
- A candidate who requires direction and guidance may not be suited to a fast-paced startup where employees are expected to take more initiative.
- A leader who emphasizes command and control over decision-making might have issues in a holacratic management environment where all employees get a say.
Luckily one can find a wealth of advice online about culture fit assessment. Let’s get down to the interview questions to assess culture fit.
Here are 50 of the best interview questions to assess culture fit:
- What gets you excited about coming to work?
- What surprises people about you?
- If you were going to start your own business, what would it be?
- What’s the biggest problem in most offices today?
- What did you like most/least about your last company?
- Where/when/how do you do your best work?
- When was the last time you made a big mistake at work?
- How could a manager best support you?
- Describe the best/worst team-building exercise you have ever participated in.
- How do you handle stress or tight deadlines?
- What are your plans for the next five years?
- What three things do you need to succeed in this position?
- What blogs or websites do you visit regularly?
- How have you changed over the last five years?
- What motivates you to do your best work?
- How do you prefer to communicate with coworkers?
- What has been the most valuable lesson of your professional career?
- Describe your dream job.
- What does a successful company culture look like to you?
- What most appeals to you about this role?
- How will this role challenge you?
- Who inspires you and why?
- How would you describe our company culture?
- What superpower will you bring to our company?
- How do you give/respond to critique?
- What three words would a current manager/colleague/direct report use to describe you?
- What tools or apps allow you to work more efficiently?
- Which of our company’s core values do you most/least identify with?
- What does work-life balance mean to you?
- How do you manage conflict with coworkers?
- Describe a time when you exceeded people’s expectations.
- What role does kindness/empathy/humour play at work?
- What does your decision-making process look like?
- When was the last time you took a risk professionally?
- Would you rather work alone or with a team?
- How would you describe your leadership style?
- What would be your ideal work schedule?
- How do you stay organized?
- What would you change about our office/website/hiring process/business model?
- Why did you choose to apply here?
- Would you describe yourself as an introvert or extrovert? Why?
- Can you describe a time you faced a challenge at work and how you handled it?
- What type of learner are you? (visual, kinesthetic, etc.)
- Do you prefer to be looped-in for every step of the decision making process or only once a decision is made?
- What’s your secret to productivity?
- Would you describe yourself as a leader or a follower?
- Can you tell us about a leader you’ve worked with that you really admire and why?
- What advice would you give to someone starting out in your career?
- At this stage in your career, do you see yourself as more of a mentee or a mentor?
- What management style motivates you to do your best work?
There you have it, 50 of the best interview questions to assess culture fit for your new candidates. Use these questions to drill down into the way a candidate works. The perfect candidate will not only fulfill the job qualifications but will meld with the rest of the team as well.
