CULTURENESS: The Interview Room Is Not The Fitting Room
By Randy Levinson and Robert David
In our careers, we've spent a great deal of time recruiting and hiring all kinds of talent in Silicon Valley and beyond. A significant part of that process is the interview and the evaluation of how the interview went. All too often, a member of the interview team comes back with the descriptive response that the candidate, “is not a fit”. While we've politely thanked them for their feedback, what we're really thinking is: “Honestly, what does that mean?”
Most often, as we talk about the interview -- and if we determine it wasn’t the candidate’s skills that got in their way -- the drill down tells us that the candidate did not seem to be a good culture fit to the organization. Culture, specifically the fit to 'company culture' is very important for large companies.
But is this 'cultureness' definable? Some companies have gone so far as to create a new word like “<insert company name>ness” (you know who they are). So as a candidate seeking to join these organizations, is there some way to know what they’re looking for before you head into the company? In fact, there is.
Many companies have taken to dedicating entire web pages or sites define their culture where they purport things like “We look for people who are adventurous”, “We want free thinkers who aren’t afraid to fail”, “Our business thrives on ideas from people who think outside the box”, “We want to know what you are curious about.” Sound familiar? One company even has a downloadable culture deck that is over 120 slides long with the expectation that everyone who applies has viewed the deck. So cultureness is a big issue, but how does an applicant find their way to fit into it? The answer is both simple and not so simple.
As we often get a fair number of requests for interview tips. Generally we lean towards offering the following advice. Candidates should to do their research on the company, know what the company is all about, know the company’s recent press, and be able to speak to the company’s mission. That information should serve them well in answering the 3 big questions that just about every interview boils down to:
1) Have you done cool/important/innovative/critical work for your past employers?
2) Will you do cool/important/innovative/critical work for us?
3) Do we like you?
That third question is the candidate's biggest challenge of course. It’s not that easy to study for and it looks back at your whole career, because that’s the question where they are looking at your cultureness. What they are really asking is this: Do we like the choices you’ve made? Do we like the work that you did? Do we like the way you present yourself? Do we like how you’ve challenged yourself, Do we like how you’d driven your own learning and development? Do we like your attitude? The way you talk about your experience, they way you set your goals? These questions are all wrapped up in just that one little question, and depending on how you’ve managed your career as well as how you answer that question may be what the interview hinges on. That’s the cultureness they’re looking for.
Randy Levinson is an HR and Talent professional with over 20 years of Silicon Valley experience. Robert David is Director of Corporate Education at UC Berkeley Extension.
Thanks for sharing - very thought provoking and insightful. It provides two areas of prep that both sides of the interview equation need to prepare and assess with honesty and to engender trust at the interview table. In 3) Do we like you? - can be expanded by both sides to duel and fence and explore for their own truths. For the hiring organization - How do we feel about the change in our culture this new position and candidate will bring? Will they try to change and lead us too much? Will we be uncomfortable when they attack 'sacred cows' or transform or cancel programs and initiatives we implemented decades ago? Will that hurt our feeling or ego? Will this candidate bring too much change? Can our culture absorb needed change to evolve? Will we survive the upcoming disruptions if we don't change our culture and programs and services radically? Are we willing to get behind the candidate to help them succeed? The guru Yoda once coached; You must unlearn what you have learned. There is no; "I'll give it a try". Yoda advices; "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try". My suggestion is that the emerging global environment, compressed time for decisions, the tremendous need to implement rapidly - is also about organizations learning to pivot quickly. Their organizational survival depends upon it. Now for candidates side of the interview equation. We must learn to talk about the elephant in the room. I want the job but ethically and in trust, what I heard you say means that we must implement some of the following changes (many of which I have done successfully in past assignments). And some things we will learn together. And some initiatives I will need your counsel, strategy and review on; as we learn to work as a team transparently. Even if the organization does not select you or offer a job - you have seed some new thoughts. You may gain some new advocates to grow your network. Interviewees can prepare by learning the insights from Kenny Rogers in his song; "The Gambler". He croons: You gotta learn to play it right. You've got to know when to hold 'em Know when to fold 'em Know when to walk away Know when to run You never count your money When you're sittin' at the table There'll be time enough for countin' When the dealin's done As a candidate; will I like wearing and working the this new organization and culture? Will I be excited to wake and jump out of bed and contribute to new growth and wins? Can I expect willingness to collaborate by my new colleagues? Can we team in the future? Jeff Shore, author and founder of Shore Consulting, shares my passion for Peter Drucker, and remembers 10 Peter Drucker quotes to consider: 1. “Doing the right thing is more important than doing the thing right.” 2. “If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.” 3. “There is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all.” 4. “What gets measured gets improved.” 5. “Results are gained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems.” Related:?Getting Diversity and Inclusion Right in Your Company 6. “So much of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to work.” 7. “People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.” 8. “Meetings are by definition a concession to a deficient organization. For one either meets or one works. One cannot do both at the same time.” 9. “Long-range planning does not deal with the future decisions, but with the future of present decisions.” 10. "Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things" Candidates should play an active role in designing and owning their professional career, experiences, legacy, performance, and learnings. And then to share their outcomes, lessons and insights with others around them. Talent recruitment processes can provide great points to ponder and reflect. During the fencing, dueling, fences and foils - we can learn so much about others and our own areas of vulnerability or improvement. When is the last time you took a class, certification or executive program to renew and learn new skills that can make you more valuable.