This is probably the topic I most wanted to write about. I hear this term “Culture Fit” a lot around the interview assignment and candidate review. It simple terms it’s asking if you play well with others. Remember that grade in elementary school? Well, it really does count in the real world. I don’t think enough engineering candidates know how important personality is.
You might be surprised to find out that culture fit goes a long way to either get you the job or reject you from consideration. You can be profoundly intelligent and get rejected on poor personality traits alone. Especially nowadays that people are so easily triggered or offended. In this piece, I’m going to give tips to winning over the interview and becoming the liked one in the office.
Good Qualities
Positive Attitude
The more frequently you can maintain a warm and positive attitude in the workplace, especially in the face of stress, the more you will be respected. I guarantee it! Showing bitterness, resentment or negative attitude towards people or decisions made will get you fired. Even if it comes from a position of fact or knowledge.
During an interview, this is sometimes tested by giving really challenging questions to see if you lose your cool. I remember one interview where I had very difficult technical questions. I got every question wrong. But I still got the job. Later I asked my boss why he still hired me. He said the point wasn’t to have right answers. The point was that I remained calm and didn’t give up. I tried my best to think through the problems.
Open Minded
Often times in an interview you might be asked if you’ve done something you’ve never done before or if you would be willing to learn. Assuming you’re in the interview because you want to work there. Your best answer is to say you’re not a stranger to learning new things and you wouldn’t mind adding to your skills. Share some examples of how you’ve burned the midnight oil to pick up new technology. Leave industry and personal bias at the door. If they say they’re using PHP and you hate PHP don’t tell them you hate it.
In general, having an open mind about the decisions made around the office will keep you moving smoothly with the tide of the work. Now I’m not saying to be a complete pushover, there are times when it’s appropriate to push back. But in most cases, you want to avoid being a roadblock.
There are always decisions made that I don’t agree with. I didn’t demand they change their minds. Instead, I asked why the decision was made. After which, it really didn’t matter as much why but really who made the decision. More often than not it’s someone with a lot more experience than me. So I just accept it and move on.
Passionate
Are you someone who is constantly learning new things? How can you demonstrate this? When new technology comes out I like to spend a Saturday building something small with it. It doesn’t have to be a complete application. It just has to satisfy that you feel you can talk about it and maybe teach someone the basics about it.
Being a self-starter is very valuable. When presented with the opportunity to learn something new, don’t look for a co-worker to teach it to you. Ask people for learning resources they used to teach themselves. Ask if you can come to them with questions when you get stuck. Most are very willing to help in this manner. Just make sure you’re not pestering too frequently.
Creative
Do you tinker with new technology in your spare time? Have you built some funky little projects? Despite what you may think, this is a creative field. Building little experiments in your spare time shows your creative and independent thinking ability. You’re not a factory line worker, you’re a creator. Show that you can build towards an end goal. If you don’t feel creative you can always drum up ideas by googling “_______ Portfolio Ideas.” You’d be surprised at how many results come back.
In an interview, I always have demos I can show as well as projects I can talk about. Don’t be afraid to show it if it’s not complete. It can be a work in progress or just a concept you’re working on. Be prepared to talk about the technical challenges you faced and how you overcame them. This is GOLD in an interview!
Helpful
Are you someone who likes to help others? You should be! It’s very important to be helpful. Many times after someone showed me how to do something, was I asked to help others. One thing I do often is write guides to our repository wiki. I share it with the team and give everyone writes access to update it. Now the next person who has to do it can just see the steps. By then I would have probably forgotten how to do it myself.
Contributing to open source is really good to show that you’re helpful but also to build your problem-solving skills in unfamiliar environments. I haven’t had much time to do this myself but I really need to begin to.
Humble
Humility is the virtue of virtues! All good qualities stem from humility. Ego is the death of any developer. It can poison teams. Humility is all about putting the team first. You put the company priorities before your own agenda. Maybe you want to build something in React but the company has an existing system and it would take you longer to rebuild it, and that’s time the company doesn’t have. You suck it up and do what the company needs. There’s a quote, “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of progress”.
Maybe Product needs something but you disagree with the decision. You are allowed to voice your concerns but ultimately they are the client. If you won’t cooperate they will have you removed faster than you know it. A product manager in an interview will be fishing for this quality. Make sure you answer accordingly.
Soft Spoken
Being a gentle and compassionate communicator will get you very far in life. But it’s very critical to culture fit. Avoiding foul language, allowing others to speak without interrupting and speaking patiently with others. People will have a lot of respect for you and hear what you have to say because you gave the same respect to others.
Exercise patience when you communicate with others and don’t feel you always have to get your word in. Wait, listen and respond. Sometimes we are thinking of our response while the other person is talking. So we’re not really listening. As soon as the other person catches on to this, they will feel disrespected. And at that point, you’ve lost the chance to have a meaningful conversation.
Honest
Oh, man is this important! If you lose the trust of your co-workers or boss it’s job suicide. It’s nearly impossible to earn back. You might as well find a new job and try again. It’s very important not to over promise and under deliver. Being honest with yourself and your colleagues will keep expectations clear and appropriate. There’s nothing worse than saying you’ll do something and for no good reason drop the ball. Especially if there’s a company deadline or others depending on your code.
During the interview be honest about your skills and ability. If you don’t know something don’t pretend that you do. Express what you do know about a subject tell the interviewer that you’ work to learn it over the weekend.
Patient
Patience is a very important virtue. Being impatient can make it difficult to work with others around you. Take a deep breath and make sure you’ve done all that you can do on your side. If someone else is blocking your work, just bring it up with your product management team. Letting them know as early as possible of an anticipated delay in delivery will let them correct expectations to upper management. Also, you’d be surprised how quickly they will drop certain features if it’s just too much work compared to customer value.
In an interview, they will be looking for subtle cues to see if you seem impatient. If someone is late do you roll your eyes? If you’re not able to solve a whiteboard exercise do you lose your temper? Behavior like this will end the interview swiftly.
Compassionate
You should be someone who cares about your teammates. This goes a long way to building a bond between you and your co-workers. If you see a team member struggling to figure something out, don’t leave them hanging. If you can help point them in the right direction, sometimes it only takes 15 mins to help unblock someone.
Everyone should have a team mentality. When someone is stuck, help them get back on their feet. No developer left behind. Now, only in extreme situations should you spend more than an hour helping someone. Don’t sacrifice your own commitments. See if you can point them to what to Google or another code file they can read as an example. You’ll be earning brownie points with all your teammates.
Things to Avoid
Abrasive Talking
I have to address this one first because it’s the most damaging to your interview and also your ability to keep your job. If you’re a loudmouth, use foul language or ad hominems, leave that at the door. Some people use the excuse, “This is who I am, deal with it”. Well, you know what else you are? Unemployed.
Ad hominem is the worst! It’s when you find it necessary to pair an objective statement with a personal attack. “Only an idiot would think to build it that way!” Effectively, you can assume that you just called everyone in the room an idiot. Including your boss. This is rude, immature and egotistical. And if used often you will lose the respect of your colleges and eventually be seen as combative. You will absolutely not be a culture fit.
Overly Chatty
I heard a quote once. “You have two ears and one mouth, use them in those portions”. I struggled with this one myself, being an extrovert. But once I discovered the power of listening more than I speak I began to crave that.
You might be the type of person that likes to join in on every conversation. I would think to myself, “I know something about this topic! I should share what I know so they will see me as knowledgeable!” That often couldn’t be farther from the truth.
I had a boss who absolutely detested this behavior. And he would make sure you knew that he didn’t appreciate your open solicitation of knowledge. He’d give you dirty looks and cut you off. He was a terrible person but the silver lining is that it pushed me to listen more than speak. He’s no longer my boss, Thank GOD! But in the presence now of humane colleagues, the more time I spend crafting what I want to say, the more thoughtful I sound when I do speak.
In an interview, you don’t want to be overly chatty. Look for cues that you’ve either begun to lose the other person, or they look like they want to say something. I have seen a handful of candidates bomb their interview based on this alone. They don’t want to bring on someone who’s going to talk everyone’s ears off. It could be a major distraction to everyone’s productivity.
Close Minded
One of my favorite quotes is, “A closed mind is a wonderful thing to waste.” I was actually telling my boss the other day, that whenever I hear someone use the words Always or Never it gives me pause. Being an absolutist can get you into a lot of trouble. Especially if it drives you into religious debates about technology decisions. I’ve seen developers lose their job if this becomes too frequent. And interview candidates sent packing.
In an interview setting, you will be asked if you’ve ever used a specific technology. If you have a personal bias towards the technology, never share that. You want to be open to developing in whatever technology they need you in. Imagine a chief that was applying for a job at a restaurant but refused to cook NY Steak because he thinks it’s a terrible cut of meat. The restaurant wants to serve NY Steak, you learn how to make the best damn NY Steak in town!
Tardy
My uncle passed a quote on to me. “Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable.” Always be early, for EVERYTHING! Make that a rule to live by. I can’t tell you how disappointed hiring managers are when a candidate is late. You better have a damn good reason for being late to an interview.
I always planned to be early and this one time it saved my butt because I got a flat tire on the freeway. I took off my shirt, quickly got out of the car and put on my spare. That’s right! On a hot afternoon too! I had the tire changed in under 15mins. I made it to the interview just on time and asked them if I could use the restroom first so I could wash the dirt and grease off my hands.
They were impressed I managed to change a flat tire and still make it on time. I landed the job and at the time it was the highest salary I had ever earned. If you don’t know how to change a flat on your car I highly recommend you pick that skill up.
Arrogant
This may seem obvious but there are subtle ways in which you can come off arrogant without knowing it. A lot of people mistake this for flexing your confidence. Know your place and recognize that those around you are very intelligent individuals.
I work with individuals from Berkeley, Harvard and Carnegie Mellon. I went to the Art Institute. Never in a million years would I try to belittle or undermine their technical expertise. I trust if they make a decision that is outside my domain of knowledge, I don’t need to challenge it. Trust that others around you know what they are doing. Just as you would expect them to do with you.
Inappropriate
Got a funny joke? Great! Shut Up! I’m serious. It’s not worth it. Every joke has a butt and it’s probably one of your colleagues. Just don’t. In this day and age of harassment policies, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Leave the jokes out of the interview process as well. This isn’t a standup audition.
Are you attracted to a co-worker? Don’t do it. Just don’t. Honestly, don’t look for love in the workplace. I know this might happen despite what I’m saying. But if the relationship doesn’t work out or if you’re fighting that day, you’re going to have to face that person for 8 hours, put your differences aside and get the work done. That might take a miracle.
Got a Sarcastic remark? Bite your lip. It’s not as funny as you think it is. I used to do this a lot and it shows immaturity. People are not as entertained by it as you are. Know that if people are communicating it’s because they are trying to get something done. Don’t be the enemy of progress.
Sexist
This should be obvious as well but there are subtle things you might not realize you’re doing. Any time you say something that favors one gender over another it can be interpreted as sexist. You might try to spin it as a compliment but ask yourself if you’re adding anything to the conversation.
This goes for both sides. I had a female manager that used to openly say, “I don’t like to hire men because they’re lazy.” I should have reported her to corporate but I was young and naive at the time. Also, this was Starbucks so who cares.
Trigger Happy
Don’t let your anger get the best of you. This can be the most destructive personality trait. The more you show restraint the more mature people will see you. It shows really big when someone is throwing fire and you respond professionally. People will come to you and say “Wow! You handled yourself very well!” This takes a lot of time to master. It’s like finding your inner peace. You have to remind yourself that a peaceful answer is always stronger than responding back with the same fire.
I had a manager call one of my technical decisions “one of the dumbest decisions anyone could make.” How do you think I responded? I calmly explained the goal we were trying to accomplish and asked him for clarification on priority. We hashed it out for almost an hour. The entire time I continued to ask for clarification and challenged him only with questions. No big deal, we dropped it but I earned his respect by keeping cool.
In an interview setting this is definitely tested by asking difficult questions. Always answer calmly. If you don’t understand a question, don’t get flustered. Ask them to clarify or if they can give you some clues. Also, ask if you can Google. Chances are they will say yes. If they say no just respond that you’d have to look it up. You’re just a little rusty on that.
Isolated
I hear this said a lot, “Don’t code in a bubble.” Make sure you communicate with your colleagues or your Lead before you make large technical decisions. Get code reviews if your team doesn’t have a PR process in place. It will make you a better Engineer the more often you have code reviews. It’s just about getting a fresh set of eyes to double check your work.
An interview question might be, how have you worked with QA or Product to complete a task? Have you ever had your code modified and broken by another engineer? How did you or how would you handle fixing this code? Would you silently revert? Or would you talk to them to try to understand what they were trying to accomplish?
Selfish
Don’t be the one that person who’s always first to get up for team lunch, first to leave the office, first to take the easy tickets of work. This goes to being a team player. Make sure people see you are carrying equal weight to your peers. You might be a really hard worker but building a negative perception can still hurt your career advancement. If there’s a work from home policy, don’t be the one that abuses it and it gets it taken away from everyone. I’ve seen this happen. As much as you can, but the team needs ahead of your own and strike a balance when using company perks.
Well, this was a lengthy post. I tried to be comprehensive but the TL;DR; is just to be a good-natured caring individual. If you don’t know what that means, revisit the details above. I’ve seen people excel who cultivated the good qualities and others get fired for displaying too much of the bad behavior. The bad behavior is not often considered coachable. It will do you a lot of good to work on this on your own.