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Ok be honest, candidates. I really love this set of questions, I’ve been considering shifting my current interview style to these questions - I think they really give you an idea of who this person would be within the work setting. But the questions almost feel too deep for a recruiter to ask. What would you think if a recruiter took a different path and asked these questions instead of the usual ones?
https://blog.shrm.org/blog/9-interesting-interview-questions-that-actually-reveal-a-lot-about-candidat
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What I began to realize is that no matter how much you ask questions relating to culture, and no matter how much you observe, you won't really know what it's like inside a company until you've been working there for a while. As you say, they all tend to say the same things. And in reality it comes down to the team you're assigned to and your immediate coworkers. It is very true that good culture flows downward, yet how people implement that culture is what matters in reality.
A bit like the bar exam and the essay questions. The answer is, "it depends."
I think it depends how the interview goes. Once I was told at the end of the interview that they know interviews can be stressful and I thoughtfully prepared to answer all potential questions and they thanked me for that. Felt like a very human moment and that reflected on what it meant to work at that company “because of the people”. Wasn’t disappointed to join the team afterwards either as everyone had that same level of humanness
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Very well said. I would second that. You will not know about a teams culture unless you work there. So all you can do is use your intuition and assess what you think about the team based on the interview experience and based on what you have from anyone who works there. If there are any red flags that you see then that may persist after you join. If you don’t then then you won’t know more until you join.
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Thanks for your input. I’m such a sensitive person that I’d be anxious and frustrated if I’d have to face a whole place full of tension.