How to Join the Right Culture, Team & Position at Any Company

By Josh Walling October 17, 2020

Exploring the culture of your future team takes an investment of time and curiosity to ensure you’re joining an organization filled with the professional opportunities that fit your aspirations. Once you’ve taken that step, though, how do you go about learning the fine details to help make your final decision?

Ask the right people the right questions!

When a team has the opportunity to hire the right candidate, they will provide you with detailed imagery on what it’s like to work in their unique culture while doing their best to create the right career move for you and your loved ones. Even with this guidance, it’s still important to do your due diligence to make sure that your expectations will meet your reality by asking the right questions to the right people. Our talented recruiting team has spoken with too many candidates that have shared they learned this lesson the hard way because they failed to ask the right questions.

As you navigate your candidacy or initial organization deep-dive, ask the following questions to future recruiters and managers in your interviews. These recommendations are split into Cultural, Position-Related and Future-Oriented categories to help you join a team that aligns your aspirations, unique background and individual strength-based superpowers to your potential opportunity.

Culture Questions Must-Ask Questions

  1. What motivated you to join this company?
  2. What type of information do your leaders share with team members?
  3. How are team members recognized at your company?
  4. What resources does your company leverage to invest in their team members?
  5. What cultural initiatives or programs is your company focused on building or improving this year?
  6. What characteristics does your team most admire in others that have been successful in this role or similar roles?
  7. How has your company adapted to the effects of COVID-19 in 2020?

Position-Related Must-Ask Questions

  1. How does your team define success in this position?
  2. What would be the most challenging aspect of this position?
  3. Who will I be collaborating with most in this opportunity?
  4. What are three factors that may disqualify me for this opportunity?
  5. What does failure in this role look like?

Future-Oriented Must-Ask Questions

  1. What is the largest challenge your organization or team faces today?
  2. What have been the top accomplishments of your company over this past year?
  3. What growth plans are you excited about as we continue this year?
  4. How does your organization choose to develop or create new products, services or plans for growth?
  5. Where have past successful employees in this role progressed at your organization?
  6. Who are your competitors and what areas are you better in?
  7. How are you strategically reducing employee attrition/turnover?

Overall, all recruiters and interviewers want you to be successful. Leverage them as a resource rather than letting your nerves get the best of you, and let these questions guide you to a productive and successful candidacy for any team. If you’d like to explore how you can become a part of our team, check out our careers page to browse open positions.

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