6 Ways to Assess a Company’s Culture

By Jessica Howington, Senior Content Manager

When you apply for a job, one of the most important considerations is a company’s culture—how well you will fit within that company and how well it will fit into your life. After all, a good culture fit can make for a fulfilling and enjoyable work experience.

But, how do you figure out a company’s culture? Every organization’s culture has a tremendous impact on its employees. And yet the term is vague, the evidence can be elusive, and, perhaps most confusing, the actual culture of a company might not match what’s said or written about it.

Luckily, there are several steps job seekers can take to analyze a businesses’ culture and make sure it’s a good fit before accepting an offer.

How to Assess a Company’s Culture

1. Determine Your Preferences

First, you need to figure out your preferences and priorities. Is having a fun and casual workplace important to you? Do you work best in teams or alone? Are you irritated when micromanaged by your boss, or do you welcome the structure? Do you thrive at a fast pace, or do you perform at your best when working on your own timeline?

Make a list to figure out exactly what type of company culture you’re looking for. This can help guide you as you apply and interview for jobs.

2. Research the Company

Make sure to do your own research ahead of time, starting with the company’s website.

Check out the tone of the site—is it personal or straightforward and professional? Read through the company’s mission statement to see if you agree with it or not. You can even peruse the company’s benefits page (if they have one). Does the company offer competitive benefits, and what is its stance on work flexibility? All of these can be major clues into the company’s culture and whether you’d want to work there or not.

3. Evaluate Its Online Presence

Scour the company’s social media to get a better picture of its engagement with consumers, clients, and employees. Check out their posts for insight into the company’s values and sense of humor, and see how they’re portrayed in the media for an “outside” perspective.

However, as you’re perusing a company’s online profiles, don’t forget that just because an organization says it values something doesn’t make it so. Because businesses want to put their best foot forward on social media and may not paint the full picture, it’s also helpful to check out employee reviews on sites like Salary.com and Glassdoor.

Assess these reviews carefully, though. Large companies may have many “sub” cultures within the greater organization—and an overworked and underappreciated accounting department may have no bearing on what it’s like to work for the engineering team.

If you have any contacts who are current or former employees, a quick phone call can yield much insight. Find out what they like best and least about the organization, and ask specific questions about your priorities and how they might fit into the company culture.

4. Observe the Work Environment

Whether you’re in an actual office or conducting your job interview remotely, be sure to take some mental notes of what you see. Are workers dressed in business attire, or are they rocking jeans and tees? Is the office divided up into cubicles, or is there more of a communal vibe? And if your interview is after traditional working hours, is a large percentage of the staff still there, or have most of them clocked out for the day?

Observing the physical or remote office environment can give you a good idea of what the company’s culture is and if it makes sense for your needs.

5. Ask Questions

Once you’ve done your research and are sitting in front of your prospective employer during your job interview, it’s time to ask questions based on your cultural priorities.

Depending on how you feel the interview is going, you may want to come right out and ask what the culture is like and evaluate the reaction you get. Ask for real-life examples of the company culture in action. Try a few of these questions based on who you’re talking to:

For HR

How is performance evaluated?
How are employees developed?
How does the company view flexible work arrangements?
Are there defined career paths?
How are employees evaluated for promotion?

For Your Potential Manager

What do you feel are the most valued traits among the leaders here?
How do you help your employees succeed?
How are performance goals set?
How much work is done in teams versus individual work?
How do you typically communicate with your staff?
Why did you choose to work here?

For Peers

What drew you to this company?
What do you like best about the working environment?
What would you like to change about the working environment?
What traits do you think are most valued by the manager?
What typically happens when errors or issues are discovered?

6. Put It All Together

After collecting all of your data, it’s time to sit down and look at everything as a whole. Break down the information into different areas to help you get a better picture of the company culture.

Also, consider your wants and needs and match them up with what the company can offer. Does it all fit together, or are there some red flags? Most of all, think about how you felt interviewing with the company. Did you feel excited about potentially getting hired, or do you feel blasé about working for the business? Your gut instinct can be the biggest indicator of whether a company’s culture would be a good fit for you or not.

Find Your Fit

Once you assess a company’s culture and have a good picture of what it’ll be like to work there, you can make a judgment about how you’ll fit in and where any issues may lie.

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