Every business organization maintains and operates in its cultural environment, which is influenced by the company policies, rules, guidelines, diversity in the workforce, training of the managers, level of delegation and centralization, etc. In order to achieve success and overall satisfaction, it is necessary for every employee of the company to imbibe and enjoy his or her working in the cultural environment developed by the company.
The interviewers understand that an employee who is a misfit for the company’s culture will not be able to perform expectedly and might cut a sorry figure. Thus, an interview session contains several cultural fit interview questions to assess your eligibility of accepting the company’s culture. Below is a list of 21 best such questions:
21 Best Cultural Fit Interview Questions To Study
1. How Would You Define Your Relationship With Your Ex-colleagues?
This question tells an organization whether or not you will be able to develop a harmonious relationship with your colleagues and team members.
Sample Answer
Sir, I would say that it is professional and friendly. With time everybody has forgotten all the differences and I am personally in touch with a few of them. We meet over coffee to discuss life and sometimes even go for a movie together.
2. Deadlines Lead To Stress and Build Up Unnecessary Pressures. Comment On This Statement.
In a fast-paced business environment, everything moves as per the deadline. The employees are required to keep up their professional commitments and achieve their targets in a time-bound manner. Give a positive response to this question.
Sample Answer
Sir, I completely disagree with this statement. In my opinion, deadlines keep an employee motivated and prevent him from getting lethargic or maybe complacent. If an employee follows a lazy approach then deadlines can be burdensome for him. But, that’s not the case with me, and I am very comfortable working in a fast-paced business environment.
3. How Open Are You To Negative Feedbacks and Criticisms?
It is common for employees to receive criticisms and negative feedbacks at their workplace. It is necessary to handle them positively and view them as means to improve.
Sample Answer
Sir, I am very open to criticism. I believe these negative feedbacks help an employee to gain an in-depth understanding of his weaknesses. They tell what is going wrong, and why an employee is not able to achieve his goals or deliver a good performance. I never get angry or irritated after receiving them, rather view them brightly and use them to improve my performance at the workplace.
4. What Can You Offer Us That Someone Else Cannot?
This is a common interview question that requires you to share some of your unique capabilities and attributes that give you an edge over the other candidates.
Sample Answer
Sir, I am a resolute and rational individual, that has the ability to handle as well as absorb stress. I perfectly know how to manage my nerves, and deliver exceptional business performance. I believe, my serious nature coupled with my perseverance and decision-making ability makes me unique.
5. Where Do You See Yourself In The Next Five Years?
This is a normal personality evaluating question. It is recommended that you do not extend any fancy response.
Sample Answer
Sir, I believe in the overall development of an employee. With time, employees must learn about their processes precisely and strive to enhance their skill set by taking part in several training programs. Having done that, I would like to see myself in top-level management within the next five years.
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6. Multi-tasking Is A Common Requirement For This Job Profile. How Do You Prioritize?
This question requires you to share a prioritization technique using which you arrange your tasks in a specific order.
Sample Answer
Sir, I understand the relevance of prioritization. It is necessary to execute all the tasks in a time-bound manner. In my case, I prefer to rank and arrange all my tasks in the order of their difficulty levels. The tasks that require a greater application of mind and are tough to execute, are always placed by me at the top.
7. Describe Your Best Boss and Worst Boss.
We all work at various business organizations and face a lot of seniors/bosses. Not all of them make a cut into our good books and this question wants you to share the reason for the same.
Sample Answer
Sir, Having been worked for several business organizations in my entire tenure of 6 years, there has been only a single boss that in my opinion was bad. This was primarily because he was ill-mannered and wanted his subordinates to feel an inferiority complex. He wanted everybody to give him a lot of undeserving respect, or else face his wrath. I never liked him, and nor did my team members.
8. Describe About A Time When You Showed Dedication At Your Workplace.
Dedication and commitment are expected business traits. As an ideal response, just narrate a real event that you faced at your workplace.
Sample Answer
Sir, I am a dedicated employee and have the ability to serve my organization in every possible manner. I want to iterate a situation, that I faced in my previous tenure. Being a part of the team, we were assigned 1000 files to be digitalized in less than 2 weeks. This in itself was a tough task, and the illness of 2 of our team members, was the icing on the cake. The workload increased tremendously, yet all the remaining team members showed great dedication and completed the given target by working more than 12 hours a day.
9. Delegation Must Be Excercised With Caution. How Much Do You Agree?
Delegation refers to the act of distributing responsibilities and authority. This is a widely followed practice in business organizations, however, must be practiced with caution.
Sample Answer
Sir, I completely agree with this statement. I believe, Delegation in moderation is the perfect approach to achieve business success and at the same time keep the employees motivated and committed. Excessive delegation will not only ruin the overall quality of business processes but will also lead to making of inferior strategic decisions. Moreover, I am afraid if everything is delegated, what will the top management do in an organization.
10. How Wiiling Are You To Attend Training Sessions and Other Employee Development Activities?
This question checks whether or not you are open to learning new things at your workplace.
Sample Answer
Sir, I am absolutely against obscurantism and do not practice it in any manner. I have always held a firm belief, that you need to constantly upgrade yourself and endeavor to achieve excellence by enhancing your skillset. I will be more than happy to partake in all the training sessions organized by the company.
11. Which Is The Most Recent Book That You Have Read and Why?
This is a common interview question that reflects your personality and approach.
Sample Answer
Sir, most recently I have read (mention the name of your book). This is an exceptional book, that not only motivates me to work hard but also develops a positive attitude in me. This book preaches a new way of looking at life, which helps an individual to make informed decisions in his or her life. I am really impressed by the author, Mr. XXXX, and want to thank him too for making me feel optimistic.
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12. What Advice Would You Like To Give To Your Seniors?
This question checks what are the various issues that make you unsatisfied at your workplace.
Sample Answer
Sir, I would like them to be less authoritarian in their approach and try forming a professional yet intimate relationship with their subordinates. This will not only motivate the employees and develop a sense of belongingness but will also help them to enhance their productivity levels.
13. We All Need Entertainment After A Boring Corporate Job. How Do You Enjoy and Have Fun?
Business organizations understand that employees need rejuvenation and refreshment from their daily work schedules so as to maintain their productivity levels. Be specific and share what you prefer doing.
Sample Answer
Sir, I am not satisfied with the usage of the word “boring”. I do love my job. It is only the processes and a daily routine that crushes a normal human mind into monotony thereby feeling the need for rejuvenation. For this, I really love to spend time with my family members, wherein I go to nearby historical places with them, for exploration purposes.
14. Whom Do You Idolize?
We all have an idol, who not only inspires us to work hard but also prompts us to push our limits. An interviewer is interested in knowing your idol, for a better evaluation of personality. To give an ideal response, prefer quoting someone highly successful from the education, business, or sports field. ideally, a candidate must not refer to someone from the field of music, dance, and cinema.
Sample Answer
Sir, I personally idolize Mr. Elon Musk, the founder of Oracle, Tesla, and SpaceX. I believe he is a magical person, who believes in the power of hard work. I am really inspired by his success story, where he rose to prominence despite hailing from a middle-class family. I wish to emulate him and absorb all his positive qualities.
15. What Is Your Ethical Team Culture?
This question requires you to state what are the various qualities that you want to see in your team members/colleagues/seniors
Sample Answer
Sir, I certainly want my team members to be supportive and experienced so that I can get their valuable guidance whenever I am stuck somewhere while pursuing my tasks. Further, the team members must also refrain from indulging in unethical practices of harassment, teasing, or leg-pulling.
16. We All Dream Until The Day We Die. Do You Mind Sharing Your Dream Job?
This question requires you to share what are your expectations from your dream business organization.
Sample Answer
Sir, I prefer to work in a business organization that not only supports his or her employees financially but also helps them in career planning. My dream company is the one that constantly grooms its employees by arranging regular skill development sessions and events. Further, a company must also follow the principles of goal congruence and develop employee-friendly policies.
17. Leadership Is The Quintessential Employee Characteristic. How Do You Lead Your Sub-ordinates?
This question wants to check your style of leadership.
Sample Answer
Sir, Going my the textbook leadership styles, I prefer a participative leadership style. In this type, I always involve myself with my subordinates so as to develop a strong camaraderie and a feeling of belongingness. This helps me to practice empathy and understand their issues and problems with great precision.
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18. How Do You Prefer To Work – Individually or In A Team?
This question requires you to share your opinion, as to how you want to work. This is a tricky interview question, hence, make sure you are able to justify your selection using relevant reasons.
Sample Answer
Sir, I prefer to work in a team setup. This is because I believe that way I will be more productive and would be in a position to contribute more effectively. Support, guidance, encouragement from, and camaraderie formed with my team members would enable me to execute the business processes in a time-bound manner.
19. How Do You Manage Your Project Failures?
Failures are common in the workplace. These not only affect the overall functioning of an employee but also crushes their confidence level. Through this question, an interviewer wants to know what technique you adopt to manage your failures.
Sample Answer
Sir, Being a detail-oriented and committed individual, I always try to deliver exceptional performance. Still, there is always some scope for not getting the desired results. I never take failure to the heart and strive to focus on the processes. Moreover, I always encourage myself using motivational commentaries and positive pep talk.
20. Describe About A Time When You Performed A Task Of Which You Had No Knoweldge.
This is a situation-based interview question, wherein you are required to narrate a real work-related event.
Sample Answer
Sir, this has happened quite a few times in my professional career. However, I would like to narrate an event from my previous tenure. While working as a digital marketer, I was all of a sudden given the task of hiring three people for the profile of accountant. I had never made any hirings, and this was altogether a new task for me. Still, I accepted the challenge and after learning the process on-job, I did hire some of the best employees.
21. What Motivates You To Work?
Money, recognition, personal desires, etc. are some of the most common motivational factors that prompt and stimulate an individual to work hard at his or her workplace so that one is able to achieve all the goals in a time-bound manner.
Sample Answer
Sir, I am a person from a humble financial background and have the financial responsibility of 4 family members. I am always motivated to earn money at my workplace and contribute to the upkeep of my family. In addition to this, I always aspire to gain recognition, which further pushes me to work hard at my workplace.
Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (for Cultural Fit interviews):
References
- https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wk/acm/2020/00000096/00000008/art00042
- https://journals.lww.com/co-cardiology/fulltext/2021/01000/culture,_teamwork_and_engagement__40_years_of.18.aspx
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