You’re interviewing at a startup that’s growing quickly. Across the table, the person asking the questions is very nice but looks like she just got out of college. And you wonder, Can she even visualize working with someone my age? Can I see myself sitting side by side with her? Is this a culture fit disconnect?
Then she asks about how you get stuff done effectively, and as you answer she lights up. She’s with you 100%. You think, Maybe I can fit in here after all.
What culture fit is not
“Is this someone you’d like to go out for drinks with?” It’s a common measure for culture fit, but a total misconception. Happily, the tech world is beginning to see that this approach inhibits diversity. We tend to want to socialize with people like ourselves. Which is not necessarily the best hire.
As Vivian Maza, chief people person at Ultimate Software, writes: “An older father of three might not on the surface fit what you think is the “culture” of young, single people willing to work late into the evening — but he likely brings some of the best historical knowledge of where the industry has been, or a better sense of what customers actually want.”
In fact, the drinks test doesn’t hold for any age. We’ve all worked with people who are fun after-work companions, but they’re not great employees.
Full alignment
What culture fit actually means is that the candidate is fully aligned with the company values and mission. A savvy interviewer will ascertain this with questions like:
- Describe the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.
- Describe the management style that will bring forth your best work and efforts.
- When you work with a team, describe the role that you are most likely to play on the team.
However, not every hiring manager is savvy. So your challenge is to learn about the company’s values and assess whether you’re a cultural fit. Be ruthlessly honest: If you’re feeling desperate for a new job but long-term lack alignment with the company values, your future there may be short. Either you’ll be dissatisfied with the company, or the company will be dissatisfied with you. Which never ends well.
What will a healthy company’s culture look like?
This Week in Startups, a podcast geared towards founders, recently released an episode about scaling culture. Even if you’re not a founder, you can learn from the culture wisdom discussed in the episode. Some takeaways:
- Companies should articulate values early in their life cycle, and hire to these values.
- Culture begins at the top. And it’s not just the founder’s behavior: It’s what is tolerated or not tolerated in others.
- A diversity and harassment policy is an important cornerstone of culture.
- Create an appealing workspace, foster teamwork, and reward accordingly.
You’ll do well to limit focus to companies that check these boxes.
How to assess a company’s cultural fit and your alignment
Most likely you’ll have a gut sense of culture as you interview with a company, but here are some ways to fine-tune that.
- Before interviewing, clarify your own work values. You won’t recognize alignment until you are self-aware.
- At the interview, ask specifically about the company values. Are they written down and/or published? If not and you have several interviews, ask each person what they see as the values and assess whether the answers line up.
- Does the company have diversity and harassment policies in place? How are they communicated?
- What can you tell about the founder’s values? If you aren’t meeting the founder, look for online writing or ask the hiring manager.
- Check Glassdoor reviews of the company for culture issues.
Being smart about culture fit can spell the difference between getting yourself into a great job and one where you will not thrive. Put the time in early to test for this, and you’ve upped your chances for long-term success–when that equity may really pay off!