5 Questions on Company Culture You Need to Ask During an Interview

Jobstreet content team – updated on 28 July, 2022

Company culture has become a key factor for many job seekers—almost as important as asking about compensation and benefits. Most of us attend a job interview to impress the interviewer or possible employer. On the flip side, it takes more than saying the right things and conveying the proper attitude to succeed in your job interview. You need to cover all your bases before you make a commitment to the hiring manager. If you don’t want to end up regretting things, make sure you ask your interviewer questions about company culture.

Is your working style and personality relevant to the kind of culture the company has? The key is to ask questions without sounding combative or derogatory. You need to get as much information about the job and company you’ll be working for before you sign on the dotted line. The trick to keeping the questions casual is to start with general questions to break the ice, before digging in deeper, keeping it light and objective the whole time. Remember still that they’re the ones interviewing you, not the other way around.

What Is Culture Fit?

Culture fit is the alignment of a company’s core values and ways of working with its employees. Cultural fit is an important part of the recruiting process for employers and jobseekers. A good culture fit can make employees more productive and reduce frequent job turnover. For jobseekers, a bad company culture can make you leave a position and return to job searching much faster.

Culture fit runs the gamut from how people dress to how they talk to leadership and the company’s reward structures. When you think about the benefits and drawbacks of an office’s culture, you should be thinking of how important company culture will be to your happiness in this work environment. Because of this, it is imperative that you have a good idea of the kind of office culture you would like to be employed in.

Tips for Asking About Company Culture

Try these three tips when trying to figure out the company culture questions you want to ask during your interview:

Do some research.

Before your interview, find out as much about the company's culture as possible. What kind of social media presence do they have? Talk to current and old employees and use what you find to form your questions and guide your conversation.

Think about what you want.

When coming up with your questions, figure out what's important to you. Ensure that your questions help you gain a better understanding of what it would be like for you to work there.

Ask the same questions.

If you are going on multiple job interviews, ask them the same questions about company culture. Write down notes and then, later on, compare the answers given to you to determine which company you think would be the right fit for you.

Questions to Ask About Company Culture During the Interview

The kind of questions you should ask really depends on what’s important to you, but these are five essential questions to start with. Don’t forget that it’s not just what they say in response, but how they say it that will tell you what you need to know.

Observe their body language when you pose your questions, and when they answer. Often facial expressions and posture will change with our thought process, revealing more than what our words say. If they can’t answer a question clearly or their body language seems to be conveying something different from what they are saying, take note of that. Those expressions and micro-expressions will help you wade through the pros and cons of the job.

1. How would you describe the work environment?

Lead with “How is the office setup? Is it an open-plan office?“ You can also ask about how the office deals with conflict and politics in the workplace, and follow up with “What’s the energy level in the office on an ordinary work day?” Their response to these questions will give you a glimpse of their typical working environment. If you like peace and quiet while working but the company favours an energetic, vibrant workforce, that’s probably not the right environment for you.

The way you prefer to work is an important factor in how you fit into the company culture. There is a wide range of working styles and asking this question will help you get a better understanding of what a day in the office would look like.

2. What is your management style?

This is probably one of the trickiest topics to broach in an interview. You don’t want to come off as critical when you haven’t even landed the gig. On the other hand, if you pose the question in an intelligent manner, it might score you bonus points with the interviewer.

We would suggest leading with “How much autonomy will I have in my job?” This will tell you whether your direct manager will be breathing down your neck, and pave the way for you to probe further with questions such as “Is there much interaction between employees and the CEO or senior management?” Many times, the one interviewing you for the job will be your direct superior. This would be a good time to ask them questions about their management style to see if the two of you will work well together. Two good questions to ask yourself: Do you want a hands-on and supportive boss or someone who’s more laid back and lets you do things your own way?

3. What are your company’s values?

This will tell you what matters most to them. Are they progressive in outlook, or conservative? Do they prioritise their employees’ well-being, or are they primarily driven by profit margins? If they are unable to answer the question or give vague answers, prompt them with this follow-up question: “What are the top three focus areas for the organisation at the moment?” Their answer to that will tell you what drives the organisation.

Learning about a company’s core values will give you a lot of information about the company’s culture. If you want to continue with this line of questions, you could also ask how these values are put into use in the day-to-day operations of the company.

4. What kind of work-life balance does the company support?

If having a decent work-life balance is important to you, then you should definitely ask what kind of work environment the company sustains. Are you the type to leave all work behind when you clock out for the day, or are you the kind of person who doesn’t mind being connected to the office even during your downtime? The interviewer’s response will give you an idea of just how well the company’s idea of work-life balance matches your own.

5. What kind of personality types tend to do well here?

The kinds of personality types that are best suited for a company can easily be revealed by how employees act during the workday and the questions you ask your interviewer. Do they prefer A-type personalities that value achievements and have a high level of competitiveness? Are they a more laid-back company that allows employees to grow by creating their own systems of working?

6. What is the dress code here?

Looking around the office can tell you what the dress code is, but it’s still a good question to ask your interviewer. However, you should be aware that the dress code can give you a false sense of the kind of environment you will be working in. There are a lot of companies that embrace an informal dress code, but that doesn’t mean that the pressure or stress isn’t as intense as an office with a more conservative dress code. So while this question will not be the determining factor when accepting a job, it is important for you to observe the office and its employees well while you are there.

There is no one correct culture fit for companies; it really depends on a corporation’s values and standards. Long story short, finding the right kind of company culture is essential for job satisfaction. Take stock of your values and priorities. Envision your career a few years down the road. Can you see career growth? Do you see yourself happy in the same job after a couple of years, or will you want a change? Decide what is negotiable and what is not up for debate before your interview, and ask your interviewer questions about culture fit.

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