The 15 Best Interview Questions to Identify Perfect Cultural Fits
In today's competitive job market, finding candidates with the right skills is only half the battle. The other half—arguably the more important one—is finding people who align with your company culture. When you hire someone who fits your organizational culture, you don't just get a competent worker; you get a team member who enhances your entire workplace environment.
But here's the challenge: traditional interview questions rarely reveal whether a candidate will truly thrive in your unique workplace culture. With turnover costs skyrocketing and the talent pool tightening, asking the right culture-focused interview questions has never been more critical.
Why Traditional Interview Questions Fall Short
We've all been there—sitting across from a candidate who flawlessly delivers the perfect answer about their "greatest weakness":
"I care too much about my work"
"I'm a perfectionist"
"I tend to work too many hours"
Sound familiar? These rehearsed responses tell you virtually nothing about who the person really is or how they'll integrate with your team. According to Blake and Dustin from The Culture Base, approximately 80% of interviewees aren't giving you an accurate picture of who they truly are during standard interviews.
Traditional questions elicit predictable answers because candidates have prepared for them. To truly assess cultural fit, you need questions that:
Catch candidates off guard (in a positive way)
Require genuine reflection rather than rehearsed responses
Reveal core values and personality traits
Help determine alignment with your specific workplace culture
15 Culture-Focused Interview Questions That Reveal Everything
These questions aren't designed to trick candidates but rather to bypass their "interview filter" and gain authentic insights into who they really are and how they might enhance your organization.
1. "How do you eat a bag of Skittles?"
What you're looking for: This seemingly random question serves multiple purposes:
Does the candidate struggle with the unexpected but overcome the confusion?
Are they thoughtful in their response or do they give up easily?
Do they display wit, creativity, and quick thinking?
The specific answer matters less than how they handle an unexpected question. Their approach reveals problem-solving ability and adaptability. Do they sort by color? Eat certain colors first? Their response can reveal attention to detail, spontaneity, or methodical thinking.
2. "What's your favorite podcast, book, website, or social media platform?"
What you're looking for: Who is influencing their thinking? Are they committed to ongoing learning and development?
Listen for whether they use these platforms purely for entertainment or for personal growth. If candidates mention thought leaders like Gino Wickman or Simon Sinek, it might signal alignment with business-minded values. Their media consumption habits can reveal a lot about their interests, values, and commitment to personal development.
3. "How would you describe your group of friends?"
What you're looking for: This question is based on the principle that you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Their answer reveals:
What qualities they value in relationships
Their own likely personality traits
How they might interact with your team
If they struggle to describe their friends beyond surface-level terms like "they're cool," dig deeper. Ask what specifically makes their friends "cool" to uncover what they truly value in others—and by extension, what they likely value in themselves.
4. "What is your biggest motivator?"
What you're looking for: Self-perception and self-awareness. A self-aware candidate can articulate what drives them, which indicates:
Teachability
Humility
Flexibility
Understanding of personal strengths and weaknesses
As Dustin from The Culture Base emphasizes, "If you're a self-aware person, that is invaluable to any organization." Their motivating factors also reveal whether they're likely to thrive in your specific work environment and incentive structure.
5. "What is the best advice you've ever received?"
What you're looking for: This question reveals whether the candidate:
Values wisdom from others
Can acknowledge their own limitations
Has applied meaningful guidance to their life
Can identify impactful insights
If someone can't think of any significant advice they've received, it might indicate they don't value learning from others—a potential yellow flag. The specific advice they choose to share can also reveal what they consider important principles for living and working.
#question#questions#hiring #interviewing #interview #interviews#business #culture #podcast We’ve found and vetted the right people, and now we’ve got them in the interrogation ….er….interview. Asking the right questions will determine the success or failure of this interview. How do you get the answers you need instead of the canned interview responses? Here are some of our favorite interview questions and why we ask them.
6. "Why are you interested in [your industry]?"
What you're looking for: Genuine passion versus just looking for a job. While everyone needs employment, hiring someone who's genuinely interested in your field creates a different dynamic than hiring someone who views your opening as merely a paycheck.
This question helps distinguish between candidates who are passionate about your industry and those who simply need employment. Both may be capable, but the former is more likely to go above and beyond and stay with your organization long-term.
7. "What is the greatest Office quote of all time?"
What you're looking for: Common ground and sense of humor. While this specific question about the TV show "The Office" might need adaptation based on your industry or candidate pool, having a lighthearted question can:
Lower interview stress
Reveal personality
Create rapport
Assess cultural interests
You can substitute any popular cultural reference that resonates with your team. The goal is to see how the candidate responds to a more relaxed, conversational question and whether they share some common interests with your team.
8. "What is your most important accomplishment in life to date?"
What you're looking for: "We" versus "me" language. Does the candidate attribute success solely to themselves, or do they acknowledge the contributions of others? This reveals their teamwork orientation and humility.
Listen carefully to how they describe their achievement. Do they use primarily first-person singular pronouns ("I accomplished...") or do they mention others who helped them along the way? Their language pattern here can be very revealing about how they'll function as a team member.
9. "How have you changed in the last three years?"
What you're looking for: Growth mindset and self-reflection. Everyone changes, especially given recent global events. A candidate who claims no change might lack self-awareness or resistance to growth. Look for evidence of:
Adaptability
Learning from experiences
Intentional personal development
Self-awareness
The past few years have been transformative for most people. Candidates who can articulate how they've grown, adapted, or changed their perspective demonstrate the kind of self-awareness and growth mindset that thrives in dynamic organizations.
10. "What has been your biggest embarrassment or failure in life?"
Alternative phrasing: "What has been the greatest disappointment of your life to date?"
What you're looking for: Vulnerability and humility. Can the candidate be open about shortcomings in a group setting? Their willingness to show vulnerability indicates how they'll communicate within your team when challenges arise.
This question also reveals how they respond to setbacks. Do they take responsibility or blame circumstances? Have they learned from the experience? Their approach to failure often predicts how they'll handle workplace challenges.
11. "What kind of people annoy you the most?"
What you're looking for: Alignment with your existing team dynamics. If things that annoy them are common traits within your organization, they might not be happy there long-term.
As Blake colorfully puts it: "The whole point of doing cultural interviews is to be so appetizing to the right people and so distasteful—like vomit in the mouth—to everyone else." You want to attract people who will thrive in your specific culture, not just any qualified candidate.
Pay attention to whether their pet peeves would be frequently triggered in your workplace. This question helps both you and the candidate assess whether the environment would be a good fit.
12. "What would others say is annoying about you?"
What you're looking for: Self-awareness and growth orientation. Follow up with: "What do you do about that?" to see if they take ownership of their behaviors or dismiss them as "other people's problems."
This two-part question reveals not only self-awareness but also how proactive they are about personal growth. A candidate who can honestly assess their annoying traits and describe steps they're taking to improve demonstrates the kind of continuous improvement mindset that benefits any organization.
13. "How have people wronged you in the past?"
What you're looking for: Bitterness versus growth. Does the candidate:
Hold grudges?
See circumstances as fixed or as opportunities for growth?
Display a pattern of victimhood?
Bring past baggage into new situations?
This question helps identify candidates who might bring interpersonal drama into your workplace. Listen for signs that they've processed past wrongs in healthy ways rather than carrying resentment that could affect team dynamics.
14. "What three things does every person need to be successful?"
What you're looking for: Their worldview and philosophy on achievement. Do they attribute success to luck or to specific actions and attributes? Their answer reveals their likely approach to challenges and opportunities within your organization.
This question also shows you what the candidate values. Do they emphasize hard skills, character traits, or external factors? Their answer provides insight into how they define success and what they believe drives achievement—crucial information for predicting their fit within your culture.
15. "Most people in the world are _____."
What you're looking for: Their fundamental perspective on humanity. This question, which comes from researcher Brené Brown, reveals how they view others:
"Hurting" or "broken" suggests empathy
"Selfish" might indicate cynicism
"Trying their best" suggests grace and optimism
This final question often requires reflection time to get beyond surface-level responses. Their answer reveals their default perspective on human nature, which often influences how they interpret colleagues' actions and respond to workplace challenges.
BONUS QUESTION: "Tell me something someone told you in confidence."
This ethically challenging question tests integrity. The correct response is refusing to share confidential information. If a candidate actually reveals something told in confidence, it's a major red flag regarding their trustworthiness.
Be prepared for candidates to refuse to answer—that's exactly what you want! Those who hesitate but then share a confidence may not be reliable with sensitive company information.
Implementing These Questions in Your Interview Process
These culture-focused questions work best when:
Mixed throughout the interview: Alternate between traditional skills-based questions and these deeper cultural questions
Asked by multiple team members: Have different interviewers ask different questions to get varied perspectives
Applied consistently: Use the same core questions for all candidates for a position to ensure fair comparison
Followed up thoughtfully: Many of these questions benefit from follow-up questions that dig deeper into initial responses
Updated regularly: As Blake and Dustin emphasize, your question list should be a "living document" that evolves as your organization changes
Beyond the Interview: Creating a Comprehensive Hiring Process
While cultural interview questions are powerful, they're just one component of an effective hiring process. Consider:
Understanding your own culture first (what are your core values?)
Creating a clear hiring funnel that screens for both skills and cultural fit
Using personality assessments to complement interview insights
Having multiple team members involved in the interview process
Checking references with culture-focused questions
As Blake emphasizes, "Every time I've asked these questions, it's never a one-on-one; it's always like a three-on-one kind of situation." Creating a comprehensive, culture-focused interview process takes effort but yields tremendous returns in reduced turnover and stronger team cohesion.
The Bottom Line
The right cultural questions don't just help you avoid bad hires—they help candidates self-select into organizations where they'll thrive. When your interview questions authentically represent your culture, the right people will be drawn to you while those who wouldn't fit will look elsewhere.
"The whole point of doing cultural interviews is to be so appetizing to the right people and so distasteful—like vomit in the mouth—to everyone else." - Blake, The Culture Base
Your culture is your competitive advantage. Hire for it accordingly.
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