# Cultural fit and job interviews **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567 "2016-01-19T13:08:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/61 "2016-01-20T16:51:38Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I think they are owed basic courtesy, which would include being told if they are no longer in consideration for a job if they came in for an interview. Although, I’ve found that sometimes it can takes months after an interview for companies to figure out if they actually need/can afford you. Basic courtesy is fine. HR can take care of the post card. Do you think courtesy demands more than that? I always get an email thanking me for the interview - I never respond unless I think they have potential and I want to keep the person interested. > [@](#): > > I find this attitude amusing. Is your group or company doing exceptional things? Exceptional people tend to want to work at places like Google, McKinsey or Goldman Sachs. Or maybe some startup. Yet it seems like every company thinks they are going to find some “rock star” to do the most menial tasks. Everyone wants the best possible people. Yes there are roles that are filler and you just need a warm body to do basic tasks, but those aren’t the roles I hire for. I can’t remember the last time I hired looking for a candidate that was just okay, middle of the pack. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/62 "2016-01-20T20:30:15Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Everyone wants the best possible people. Yes there are roles that are filler and you just need a warm body to do basic tasks, but those aren’t the roles I hire for. I can’t remember the last time I hired looking for a candidate that was just okay, middle of the pack. Ok Bone, I have to ask you this. I work with alot of people with disabilities such as they might not be very smart or hard driven but can do basic tasks like filing, making copies, making coffee, and other basic tasks. Have you ever hired a person for routine tasks that has a disability? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/63 "2016-01-20T21:30:39Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Ok Bone, I have to ask you this. I work with alot of people with disabilities such as they might not be very smart or hard driven but can do basic tasks like filing, making copies, making coffee, and other basic tasks. Have you ever hired a person for routine tasks that has a disability? No. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t - but thus far I have primarily hired senior level and above. I have hired a few administrative positions, and from those I still look for the potential that they want more and are willing and interested in taking on greater than their given role. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/64 "2016-01-20T22:42:51Z")
> [@llcoolbj77](#): > > I work in a small public defender’s office. We have 11 attorneys. Quite frankly, we hire almost exclusively on personality…You MUST be able to have a person look you in the face and tell you that you are horrible If the overwhelming qualification to be a P.D. in your office is “personality”, I suspect more than a few defendants come to that conclusion. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/65 "2016-01-21T06:21:34Z")
It can also be an easy way to not say “We don’t like you because you’re a member of a protected class, but we’re just smart enough to know that we can’t not hire a racial minority because they’re a racial minority and expect to not get sued, so we have a nice little fig-leaf that will survive as much of a trial as any prospective employee can afford.” Everyone pretends it’s a valid reason, nobody feels like they’re being forced to initiate a legal proceeding, everyone avoids the costs of a trial. Nice little polite fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/66 "2016-01-21T06:38:57Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Basic courtesy is fine. HR can take care of the post card. Do you think courtesy demands more than that? I always get an email thanking me for the interview - I never respond unless I think they have potential and I want to keep the person interested. > > Everyone wants the best possible people. Yes there are roles that are filler and you just need a warm body to do basic tasks, but those aren’t the roles I hire for. I can’t remember the last time I hired looking for a candidate that was just okay, middle of the pack. I can tell you right now, the best possible people talk and things like this weigh heavily in their consideration. I’ve spread stories about interviews, both good and bad and I hear other people’s interview stories all the time. One of the interview stories I spread the most is of a company that rejected me but in a way that was so respectful that I encourage anyone I talk to to apply to there. Many people think they are able to attract the best people but, in reality, what they mean by that is they attract the best of those which they see. They have no idea there’s an entire class of people way above that which they’ve never even seen before because those people don’t even both engage at that calibre. If I put in a good effort to interview and then you pointedly ignored my email, it would be brought up every time your company came up in conversation with my friends and it would be a big black mark on your reputation when they later decided where to apply to. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/67 "2016-01-21T06:53:56Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > I’m 21 and the positions were IT at a small beverage company, and service tech for a copier dealer. I thought both went well because I nailed all the technical questions. The OP hasn’t been back since early yesterday morning, but this is for him (her?). Hiring teams look for three basic things: can you do the job?, will you do the job?, and will you fit in? The first speaks to your skills and experience, and it sounds like you’re qualified. The second speaks to factors like your motivation, eagerness, attitude and integrity. Hard to tell how you did here. How do you think you did here? And the third speaks to your personality and style and communication. The question for you is, did you think the companies (and people you met) were a good fit for you? Interviews are an opportunity for you to interview them, to find out if the company is a place you want to be with for the foreseeable future. Remember that in the interview, you want to check them out. You may already be doing this, hard to tell. Good luck in your search. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/68 "2016-01-21T15:29:35Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Usually something like above, where they measure you on how well they think you’ll fit in their little social circle, sometimes have heard it in the context of the company being slave drivers with a corporate ‘culture’ of working your damned ass off for little reward or recognition ‘just because’ and they don’t see you as that kind of exploitable resource. > > When I heard it after one interview in that context, I laughed and moved on. I had no interest in being part of that serfdom culture, so was pretty happy they as much as told me so. My company uses “cultural fit” in much the same way that \*\*llcoolbj77 \*\*describes. We are not going to hire any prima donnas, or people who take things personally, or people who can’t have a spirited debate about a project or process without getting angry, or someone who considers certain work “beneath” them. If an applicant is not a self-starter and can’t dig around in data and documentation, if s/he needs hand-holding, if s/he has to check everything they do with someone, that applicant will not do well here. No one cares what kind of haircut someone has, how old or young they are, what kind of clothes they wear. We don’t care if they have a Mohawk or a bone through their nose. We want to know: [ol] [li]does the applicant have the education and experience, [/li][li]are they passionate about data analytics in healthcare (if they aren’t, much of this work is going to be tedious), [/li][li]do we think we can work with you day in and day out? [/li][/ol] If an applicant has gotten to the interview, we are comfortable about the first item. In the interview, we’re looking at items two and three, above. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/69 "2016-01-21T15:35:05Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It’s hard to say what they mean with that phrase alone, but there are companies now that talk about their ‘work culture’ as opposed to some other culture at large. I don’t like the idea myself, it sounds like exclusivity of the kind that leads to groupthink mistakes. If that’s it then the only way to know how to fit in that culture is to find out what it is. It will either be something the company publicizes somehow or you’ll need to find someone who works there to find out… Is there a way to search jobs by culture? E.g. is there a way to search for “administrative assistant jobs with a party culture”, “IT helpdesk jobs with a sports culture”, or “nurse jobs with a gossip culture”? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/70 "2016-01-21T16:26:57Z")
I’ve had interviews where I thought the process was on the level and those in which I thought it was a joke. Most of the time everyone in the building knows who will get the job before it’s posted, yet people go through the process. I think it’d save time if in such cases the interview should be one question: “what is your name?” and the one who gets it right gets the job. Our organization allows you to get a critique of the interview. I only did this once, even though I heard from a co-worker that I wasn’t going to be selected before the interview. The big boss asked my co-worker who should get it, he said me, and the boss shook his head saying, “Nah”. You can ask for a critique, you can ask for a reason, but it won’t do any good. Best you can do is suck it up and try again elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/71 "2016-01-21T17:30:59Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > If an applicant has gotten to the interview, we are comfortable about the first item. In the interview, we’re looking at items two and three, above. This is key, at least for professional-level positions. The interview is not to establish that you have the education and/or experience for the position; that’s already been established in the screening process. The interview is entirely to evaluate the candidate’s personality. I’ve participated in quite a few interview processes over the years, and have again and again argued against candidates because they would have been a poor fit, personality-wise. Regardless of their competence. I can teach a new hire what we need them to know; I can’t change their personality. I’d far rather hire someone that wasn’t top-of-their-class in academics, if their personality is a better fit. We’ve rejected applicants because they came across as “creepy” to the interviewers, following a hire where they decided to ignore everyones’ impression of the candidate, to our later regret. As I’m often involved in interviewing for engineering positions, this actually comes up quite a bit. I might describe the rejection as “poor fit for the company culture”, but I think HR simply lets interviewees know we chose another applicant but we’ll keep their resume on file for 6 months. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/72 "2016-01-21T17:31:15Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > You seem to think that the candidate is owed something. They are not. Of course the candidate isn’t owed anything, but they can certainly ask (politely) Imagine this conversation… **Employer:** You didn’t get the job. **Candidate:** OK. I understand I’m not in consideration. Thank you for taking the time to follow up and let me know, and I do appreciate that. I’m sure you’re busy, but if you have any time at all to pass on any feedback you have from your perspective on either my skills or suitability for the position or my interview performance, or how otherwise I could do better in my future job search, I would definitely appreciate the benefit of your advice. ---
**Author:** ![botsgotme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@botsgotme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/botsgotme)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/73 "2016-01-21T17:51:38Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I think they are owed basic courtesy, which would include being told if they are no longer in consideration for a job if they came in for an interview. Although, I’ve found that sometimes it can takes months after an interview for companies to figure out if they actually need/can afford you. > To echo **kayaker** , most of the time it’s nothing wrong with you. There is 1 job and of the 5 identical candidates, it didn’t happen to be you. > > I find this attitude amusing. Is your group or company doing exceptional things? Exceptional people tend to want to work at places like Google, McKinsey or Goldman Sachs. Or maybe some startup. Yet it seems like every company thinks they are going to find some “rock star” to do the most menial tasks. > > I think it’s one reason older employees have a harder time finding jobs. You can’t hold the carrot of “we’ll grow you into this future role” in front of them while having them do their bosses job. > > Yes, because right-wing conservatives would never have a problem with an advertising campaign consisting of scantily clad models of questionable age in sexually ambiguous poses. > > However, IIRC, there have been lawsuits against A&F for forbidding Muslim employees from wearing religious head scarfs. > > I’m curious to see how a keen legal mind like yours weights in on the topic of the rights of corporations to enforce how their employees dress vs the rights of weird religions to wear their weardo clothes in America. Do I detect a note of sarcasm here?:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/74 "2016-01-21T18:01:59Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Of course the candidate isn’t owed anything, but they can certainly ask (politely) > > Imagine this conversation… > **Employer:** You didn’t get the job. > **Candidate:** OK. I understand I’m not in consideration. Thank you for taking the time to follow up and let me know, and I do appreciate that. > I’m sure you’re busy, but if you have any time at all to pass on any feedback you have from your perspective on either my skills or suitability for the position or my interview performance, or how otherwise I could do better in my future job search, I would definitely appreciate the benefit of your advice. If you turned someone down for a date, would you appreciate if he or she asked the same thing? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/75 "2016-01-21T18:06:02Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > I have friends who work at Uber and Lyft and, even though they both do essentially the same thing, their cultures are oil and water and it shows in their products. You can try and dismiss culture all you want but culture fit is a real and important topic and, empirically, bad culture fit is often one of the if not leading cause for an employee not working out. > > All that being said, “not a culture fit” is still the “it’s not you, it’s me” of failed job applicants and often means everything except “not a culture fit”. I worked for one company where in the orientation we were told that people who loved the military would be happy there. One person had a carpool and left at 6 pm - the normal quitting time. It went very badly for him since it was understood that we were supposed to stay until 9 even if nothing got done. I left there and went to a company in the same industry where management really meant having a good work/life balance. Culture is real, and is not just an excuse to discriminate. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/76 "2016-01-21T18:41:13Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > If an applicant has gotten to the interview, we are comfortable about the first item. In the interview, we’re looking at items two and three, above. Surely, for the first item, you still want to probe and confirm those skills? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/77 "2016-01-21T18:59:01Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I worked for one company where in the orientation we were told that people who loved the military would be happy there. One person had a carpool and left at 6 pm - the normal quitting time. It went very badly for him since it was understood that we were supposed to stay until 9 even if nothing got done. > > I left there and went to a company in the same industry where management really meant having a good work/life balance. Culture is real, and is not just an excuse to discriminate. The time to tell people that is during the interview/hiring process, not in orientation. What’s the point of hiring someone who isn’t willing or able to stay every night until 9? You’ll just have to replace him anyway. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/78 "2016-01-21T19:44:54Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Surely, for the first item, you still want to probe and confirm those skills? Sure, and we do. But we also thoroughly interview candidates to get a feeling for fit. I interviewed with the team, then the medical director, and then two other people in management positions, so it’s not all about the skillset. **Lightray** , we’ve also rejected candidates for being “creepy” or “off”. Someone might look good on paper but have a really weird vibe. If the entire team feels it, we don’t move forward. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/79 "2016-01-21T19:56:57Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Imagine this conversation… > **Employer:** You didn’t get the job. > **Candidate:** OK. I understand I’m not in consideration. Thank you for taking the time to follow up and let me know, and I do appreciate that. > I’m sure you’re busy, but if you have any time at all to pass on any feedback you have from your perspective on either my skills or suitability for the position or my interview performance, or how otherwise I could do better in my future job search, I would definitely appreciate the benefit of your advice. I like trying to respond with a positive spin, but you still shouldn’t ask why. They aren’t your career counselor. People don’t like to give criticism. Think about if you were doing home renovations and getting estimates from several people. What would you think if one of the rejected handymen called you to ask why you didn’t pick him and what could he do better? Most likely that’s not going to make you think more negatively of him and be less likely to hire him in the future. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567/80 "2016-01-21T20:12:46Z")
Ooops. Meant to say “Most likely that’s going to make you think more negatively of him…” As to the OP, positions in IT and copier repair take a lot of self-motivation, direction, and problem solving skills. They may have wanted someone who they knew would be able to look at a problem and figure out how to fix it. It doesn’t mean they automatically know how to fix every problem. Rather, it means they can look at a problem and take reasonable, logical steps to determine the cause of the problem and how to fix it. If you want to continue looking in those fields, be sure you highlight your skills in being an independent problem solver. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-fit-and-job-interviews/743567.md?page=5)