Are there any questions I can ask when interviewing that would help determine the culture?

9 Comments

1. AnonymousSeptember 14,2024 at 1:12PM UTC

   How would you describe your management style? How often does the team meet? Would you consider yourself to be more hands on as a manager or do you prefer employees who can work independently with little supervision? How do you measure job performance and how often do you provide feedback? Tell me about the team dynamics. How long has this team worked together? How much time do you think it would take for a new employee to be accepted into the team? How do you celebrate successes as a team? Why did the person who had this role previously leave? But note, my experience having worked in multiple toxic environments is that managers know how to hide this from prospective employees and employees, if you’re given the opportunity to meet them, are afraid to warn you about the environment and will say nothing. You should do your homework, look at company reviews on job search sites like Indeed, and search LinkedIn for former employees who might be willing to answer a few tactful questions about the company, team or manager.

2. AnonymousSeptember 14,2024 at 2:38PM UTC

   Excellent advice!

3. Gisele CloutierSeptember 14,2024 at 1:18PM UTC

   When you interview with the person who would be your supervisor, ask them, "can you please describe the best employee and the worst employee you've ever managed? No names, just how would you characterize them?" And listen to the answers. If s/he says, "my best employee kept me informed at every minute and didn't argue with me" you've got a micromanager who doesn't believe in trusting her staff. If s/he says, "my worst employee couldn't just run with it, never had an original idea of his own, he was always seeking my approval for everything." Then you've got a manager who empowers people. Who believes, as Reagan once said, "hire the best people then just get out of their way."

4. AnonymousSeptember 14,2024 at 2:38PM UTC

   Yes!

5. AnonymousSeptember 14,2024 at 1:26PM UTC

   I like to turn some of the stock interview questions around on them. “You asked me to tell you about a time I had a conflict with a coworker and how I resolved it. What do you do to foster collaboration?” Or “You wanted to know about how I approach competing priorities. How do you set priorities for people you manage?”

6. Diane-Sam AdkinsSeptember 14,2024 at 2:32PM UTC

   What is something that you feel really makes the culture shine here at xxxx?

   If they all start looking around or struggle who is going to answer than you already have your answer!

7. AnonymousSeptember 15,2024 at 1:10AM UTC

   Ask the hiring manager to describe their management style. If you are in a group interview ask as an open question, what would each of you say is your most favorite part of working here and what is your least favorite or biggest challenge. Watch for facial expressions, intonation of the voice, pauses, the use of “um”… another tip go to LinkedIn find people who no longer work there and send an inbox message asking their take on the culture. If you see any red flags are hear things that are not tolerable, then you know what you need to do.

8. AnonymousSeptember 16,2024 at 7:45AM UTC

   As others have suggested, asking outright what their management style is like is probably the most direct way. You can also ask how often you’ll meet with them or hear from them/how visible are they. (Highly recommend asking if either of you are remote! I was office based but my manager was remote, I only saw him once a quarter and hardly could reach him on the phone due to his travel schedule. It was really challenging)

9. AnonymousSeptember 18,2024 at 2:12PM UTC

   You can ask the manager how they prefer to work with their team -- to check in at every step or two or to give an assignment and check in when it's done. You can also ask how the team works -- does everyone get their "part" and if so, who brings it all together and how? I would also ask what they think the attributes of the most successful team members are.

   For all of these, there is probably a right answer for you, but not universally. I'm pretty hands off, and I have had reports who wanted more managing (which I would characterize as micro-managing.)

   The questions suggested by others are great too.