Recently, job seeker Jo (26), who applied for a startup recruitment, was eliminated in the final round. The 'Culture Fit interview' after the telephone interview and job interview hindered him. Jo noted, "I prepared for the interview by referring to the recruitment website, but it seemed meaningless."
The Culture Fit interview is a process to evaluate the applicant’s tendencies, work habits, and values, also referred to as the 'cultural fit interview.' There is a growing trend for startups that need to immediately deploy personnel to actively adopt Culture Fit interviews.
According to a survey conducted by job portal Incruit last year among more than 400 HR personnel, 49% of the total respondents answered that they conduct a Culture Fit verification process during the recruitment process. According to Naver Data Lab's search term trend, Culture Fit has gradually increased in search volume since 2021, hitting a peak last June.
Carrot Market decides on final recruitment after conducting a Culture Fit interview following document verification and job interviews. Viva Republica, which operates Toss, conducts job interviews twice after documentation processes and hires after completing the Culture Fit interview.
Woowa Brothers, which provides the Baedal Minjok service, do not conduct a separate Culture Fit interview but implement the 'Working Style Profile (WSP)' survey for successful document applicants. The WSP consists of 120 questions regarding work styles and preferences, and respondents can answer on mobile in about 10 minutes. While the results do not affect the pass or fail status, they serve as reference materials for interviewers.
There are also cases abroad where Culture Fit is evaluated. American corporations generally go through a 3-to-4-stage interview process to hire applicants, during which they conduct Culture Fit interviews. Google has a 'Googleyness interview' stage that validates curiosity, cooperation, problem-solving methods, and more.
Amazon evaluates 'Leadership Principles' throughout the entire recruitment process and conducts a separate Culture Fit interview. Netflix conducts interviews to evaluate 'Freedom and Responsibility,' which is one of its key company cultures.
Cha (27), who is preparing to transfer to a U.S. corporation, explained, "Overall, startups and parent companies really place importance on Culture Fit."
The reason startups rigorously verify applicants' Culture Fit is that they have to manage personnel with less funding compared to large corporations.
As the investment market freezes along with high inflation, high-interest rates, and high exchange rates, startups that attract hundreds of millions of won in investment are increasingly going out of business.
According to the venture investment platform The VC, among startups that have previously attracted investment, 170 companies went out of business last year, an increase of 26 companies (13.5%) compared to the previous year. This trend has been increasing every year, following 104 companies in 2021 and 126 in 2022.
The horizontal atmosphere and the lack of boundaries in work scope are also reasons why startups scrutinize Culture Fit.
An HR personnel from a startup, referred to as A, stated, "Most of the recently growing startups are IT service-based platform companies that must provide 24-hour services," adding that they assess whether candidates can adapt well to different work environments compared to traditional corporations.
However, job seekers are expressing concerns about the increasing steps they must go through before entering.
Kim (27), who has worked as an intern for six months at a startup and is currently job hunting, said, "I understand the position of startups being cautious in recruitment, especially in situations with a high turnover rate. However, it is true that the Culture Fit interview is burdensome because it is particularly difficult to grasp the organizational culture in small-scale startups."
Kang (25), a graduating student who started job hunting this year, said, "Since getting accepted is urgent, I tend to infer the answers that the interviewers want," expressing that he thinks it's a procedure with low effectiveness.
Experts unanimously agreed that to enhance the effectiveness of Culture Fit interviews, startups must first clearly define their organizational culture and provide guidance to applicants.
Professor Hwang Yong-sik from Sejong University's Department of Business Administration stated, "HR personnel must define the values and culture that the organization espouses and design an evaluation method that can verify them," and added, "It's also necessary to provide sufficient information beforehand so that applicants can understand the organization's culture."