So, do you want to hire by going beyond the resume? Asking the right interview questions to gauge cultural fit at your company is a must. The following interview questions will help uncover whether candidates possess teamwork skills, are forward-thinking, and will vibe with your culture.
11 Interview Questions To Gauge Cultural Fit
What aspects do you look for in a company before applying?
This is obviously a great way to quickly gauge a fit. Their answer doesn’t have to perfectly align with your business. You will, however, get a good idea of the kind of environment they’re going to thrive in.
It can also reveal whether or not they did their homework. If a candidate is really interested in the job they A: already found a few things that attract them to your business and B: actually care enough about the opportunity to learn as much as they can about it.
What can your hobbies tell me that your resume cannot?
This is one of the best interview questions to gauge cultural fit. It’s important to know what a potential new hire does outside the office. Is the candidate a reader? Traveler? Crafty? Sporty? Do they volunteer?
How do you rely on others in order to make you better?
This question gives candidates the opportunity to showcase their sense of self-awareness. The best hires know they don’t know everything. They remain aware of their strengths and limitations and can describe them with transparency. In particular, they can focus on specific areas they want to improve, grow and ultimately learn. Great candidates spend more time talking about their losses (and what they learned from them) than their wins. This demonstrates that they embrace collaboration and the development of a transparent, teamwork-oriented working environment.
What’s your leadership style like?
This is a great interview question to gauge cultural fit. It allows the interviewee to self-reflect and provides a candid synopsis of their strengths and weaknesses.
Who is your all-time favorite co-worker and why? Name one project you worked on together.
This is a fun and revealing question to ask. Your candidate should be more than happy to talk about a favorite coworker, so it could help them open up a bit. It delivers a behavioral analysis and invites the candidate to reflect on a positive work relationship. Their answer essentially describes their ideal work partners and helps indicate if they may not be a fit.
When you feel upset with a coworker, how do you handle it?
You can transform this one a bit and ask, “Tell us about a specific time when you became angry with a co-worker.” Either way, this should tell you how the candidate properly deals with work conflicts. (Be sure to also conduct a reference check as a follow-up to the interview.)
What’s your superpower?
Everyone is great at something — the go-to trait you pull from when times get tough. When the candidate needs to put their head down, focus and produce, what drives them? Encourage an honest answer. Part of enabling employees to succeed means ensuring you have them in the right role at the right time. Can the candidate’s self-proclaimed ‘superpower’ prove an asset to your current operations?
If you could open your own business, what would it be and why?
This question is effective at garnering an understanding of the candidate’s entrepreneurial side. Successful team members are proactive, and they also appreciate the idea of putting their whole selves into what they do.
What kinds of personality traits do you butt heads with?
This is one of the best interview questions to gauge cultural fit. The candidate’s answer often reveals the kind of person they won’t get along with — and if they’ll struggle to connect with the people in general at your company. Furthermore, if the candidate describes a laundry list of traits that rub them the wrong way (and provides very few positive ones), it could be a sign of future office toxicity.
Describe an occasion when you believe you truly delighted a customer.
Can the candidate recall a glowing instance of helping someone out? (If it wasn’t a customer, was it a fellow team member? A supervisor? A subordinate?) The candidate should be able to provide an example of when they went to great lengths to make sure someone received help. How did the situation turn out? How did the person respond to the candidate’s assistance?
Name some of your personal values. How are they aligned with our company’s values?
If the candidate has thoroughly researched your business, then they should be able to answer this. Can the candidate match up their own values to your company’s? Is the candidate able to describe any personal values?
So, what other interview questions to gauge cultural fit would you add to this list? To find the right hires that mesh well with your company culture, contact TruPath.
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