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Interviewing for Cultural Fit

Interviewing for cultural fit can be a challenging but essential aspect of any hiring process, particularly for sales professionals. A sales team’s success can almost ‘live or die’ by having a coherent sales culture, be that a collaborative one or another where competition and ‘dog eat dog’ is encouraged.

By assessing whether a candidate’s values, beliefs, and behaviours align with the organisation, employers can better determine whether the individual will thrive in the company’s unique culture and work effectively with their colleagues.

How To Effectively Interview for Cultural Fit

Here are some tips for how to effectively interview for cultural fit:

Define your company culture:

- Before effectively assessing whether a candidate is a good fit for your organisation, it is important to have a clear understanding of your company culture. This may involve identifying your core values, mission, and goals, as well as the behaviours and characteristics that are most important to your organisation. I think it’s helpful to think of your organisation as a famous person. Once agreed upon, what is it about that famous person that resonates with your firm – what are their values, what do they stand for, what part would they play in a team? Reading our list of values may also help.

Prepare cultural fit interview questions:

- Once you clearly understand your company culture, you can develop a list of cultural fit interview questions tailored to your organisation. These questions might focus on an individual’s values, behaviours, and approach to work, as well as their ability to adapt to new environments and cultures, handle feedback and criticism, and work effectively with others. It is worth seeing our pages on Values Based Interview Techniques and TopGrading Interviews for further information.

Use a variety of methods to assess cultural fit:

- In addition to asking cultural fit interview questions, there are various other ways to determine if a candidate is a good fit for your organisation. These could include asking for examples of how the candidate has contributed to the success of a team or project or having the candidate complete an aptitude test or personality profile.

Consider the candidate’s fit with your team:

- In addition to evaluating a candidate’s fit with your organisation’s overall culture, it is also essential to consider whether they will be a good fit with your team. This may involve assessing whether their values and behaviours align with those of your team members and whether they will be able to work effectively and collaboratively with your team.

Don’t rely on cultural fit alone:

- While cultural fit is an essential factor to consider in the hiring process, it should not be the only factor. It is also important to assess a candidate’s skills, experience, and qualifications to ensure that they can perform the tasks and responsibilities of the role effectively. There is an argument, effectively articulated by Matthew Syed in ‘Rebel Thinking’ (2019), that you should recruit talent over cultural fit to get the very best possible team dynamics.

By following these steps, we hope that you can better determine if a candidate will be able to thrive in your organisation’s unique culture.

What is a ‘Cultural Fit’ Interview?

Date published: 2nd March 2024

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by George Humphries

Senior Consultant

About the author

George Humphries

George is an experienced recruitment consultant at Aaron Wallis, specialising in recruiting top sales staff for technical and commercial positions. With a background in both FCMG and technical sales, George has first-hand experience in the sales industry, giving him great insight into identifying top performers.

If you're looking to take the next step in your career, George is a valuable source of professional advice, working daily with some of the brightest and biggest businesses throughout the UK.

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I can't fault Sam or AW! Sam was a pleasure to work with and provided great support from the start. Sam always provided me with timely updates when required and provided outstanding candidates!

Director, Waste Managed Ltd

In an industry where people over promise and under deliver, Rob and his teams have consistently provided a high-quality service. It is great to deal with someone that has an excellent understanding of UK industry, and a passion for sales.

Sales Manager, TR Fasteners

Thank you for your dedicated help during the recruitment process - we came to you after unsuccessfully searching elsewhere, and hired, not one, but two! Quick response times, and a really personal approach, without being pushy.

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Director, Education Support

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HR Manager, The Data Privacy Group Ltd

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HR Assistant, Fischer Connectors Ltd

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Managing Director, Citrefine International Ltd

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HR Manager, Big Dug

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George Humphries was a complete professional at every point, from our first phone conversation to his “good luck tomorrow” text on Sunday before I started in my new role.

E. Fry, Candidate

Managed to get me placed within a week! Really friendly and easy to deal with. Always available for a call and my biggest challenge was I was in work at the time I was looking for my next opportunity (which is stressful) but Sam made that easy.

P. Fitzsimons, Candidate

Aaron Wallis Sales Recruitment are a very friendly and professional recruitment organisation who listen to your needs, work with you and act on your behalf which sets them apart from many of their competitors who in my experience are willing to throw anything at you. We discussed my history, my preferences and my wishes - one opportunity was introduced. It was perfect. I start at the end of June.

R. Buckley, Candidate

Darren at Aaron Wallis was really encouraging and helpful. He was very responsive and regularly made phone calls to explain the job opportunities available, and guided me through the application process.

A. Brown, Candidate

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C. Rockliffe, Candidate

Rob was really helpful when I was putting together a presentation for the second stage interview. Overall their communication was great and kept me updated of any progress

J. McGrattan, Candidate

The most professional recruitment agency I've ever worked with. Robert Scott was extremely proactive and send me a detailed briefing before each interview, ensuring I was well prepared.

D. Bermant, Candidate

The service provided by Aaron Wallis has been just great. I was constantly informed about what was going on with the process interview and the agent has always been supportive and kind to me.

L. Colagrossi, Candidate

I had a very good experience with Aaron Wallis. The company itself is offering great content for all things related to the hiring process. I definitely recommend.

J. Ostermeier, Candidate

I have to say using Aaron Wallis Recruitment has been nothing but an absolute pleasure. I've used many agencies over the years as the client and the candidate and its not always been a pleasurable experience!

L. Knowles, Candidate

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A. Callaby, Candidate

Very good advice and support was given during the course of the interviewing process. Potential job seekers would be well advised to use this company whilst looking for their new career.

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N. Leney, Candidate

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Fantastic customer service, communication was brilliant, happy polite people to talk to, made everything a lot easier and smoother. Thank you for all your help getting me back in the work force, Keep up the good work :-)

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Wanted to say a huge thank you to Simon Bonner who has just helped me secure my new role. He was one of the most professional recruiters I have ever worked with he was supportive really quick at replying and really put me at ease.

J. Marcinkiewicz, Candidate

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J. Tooze, Candidate

Aaron Wallis is an outstanding recruitment agency specialising in high calibre sales positions. I was working directly with Darren Dewrance who went above and beyond my expectations in sourcing me my perfect role. I was kept in regular communication with Darren and he worked extremely hard to secure my dream job. Highly recommended and Thanks Darren for all your expertise and hard work.

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J. Marcinkiewicz, Candidate

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M. Owusu, Candidate

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I have to say coming across and having dealings with Aaron Wallis proved to be very successful. Being highly experienced did not seem to count for much during my job search bit a conversation with Robert Scott gave me a real confidence boost and enabled to get a position at the age of 63. Great service!!!

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C. Caine, Candidate

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