It seems like "cultural fit" is typically used to exclude otherwise qualified candidates due to their race/ethnicity, gender, age, disability and even educational background or how they look. Essentially, it's a code word to provide legal cover for discrimination that would be illegal if spoken out loud. As you noted, it is often the enemy of having a diverse workplace.
The flipside of cultural fit is the "just get me some warm bodies" approach where people with conflicting personalities and approaches to programming are put together. This can become ugly too and create a very toxic work environment.
Overall, it's a very fine line that a hiring manager has to walk and few do it well. Most fall into one extreme or the other or oscillate between them.
I think the sweet spot is somewhere around hiring people that share the same company values (culture fit) but that may or may not have the same opinions (diversity).
I don't agree with you in your first paragraph. when hiring you have to find someone that matches the company value, that fits in the team, etc. You could find a super nice developer, but if that person is an asshole you would be making a big mistake breaking the harmony inside the team/organization.
I find that part the most difficult to assess in interviews, I just follow my gut feelings.
Now, if the interviewer is racist, and doesn't want to have a particular race or whatever in the team, then that's another problem.
In my experience, the "cultural fit" thing is almost always an excuse to hide some kind of bias and to enforce a 'sameness' on the team. As I tried to indicate, this bias isn't always a legally protected one. For example, a bias toward only hiring people who attended certain schools or who have a particular background. This has already become a significant issue at the many tech companies, including the biggest of them. In some cases, it's becoming a legal one as they try to defend various hiring and firing practices.
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It seems like "cultural fit" is typically used to exclude otherwise qualified candidates due to their race/ethnicity, gender, age, disability and even educational background or how they look. Essentially, it's a code word to provide legal cover for discrimination that would be illegal if spoken out loud. As you noted, it is often the enemy of having a diverse workplace.
The flipside of cultural fit is the "just get me some warm bodies" approach where people with conflicting personalities and approaches to programming are put together. This can become ugly too and create a very toxic work environment.
Overall, it's a very fine line that a hiring manager has to walk and few do it well. Most fall into one extreme or the other or oscillate between them.
Exactly! I couldn't agree more!
I think the sweet spot is somewhere around hiring people that share the same company values (culture fit) but that may or may not have the same opinions (diversity).
Yes. the 'cultural fit' assessment is what I'm afraid of the most.
I don't agree with you in your first paragraph. when hiring you have to find someone that matches the company value, that fits in the team, etc. You could find a super nice developer, but if that person is an asshole you would be making a big mistake breaking the harmony inside the team/organization.
I find that part the most difficult to assess in interviews, I just follow my gut feelings.
Now, if the interviewer is racist, and doesn't want to have a particular race or whatever in the team, then that's another problem.
In my experience, the "cultural fit" thing is almost always an excuse to hide some kind of bias and to enforce a 'sameness' on the team. As I tried to indicate, this bias isn't always a legally protected one. For example, a bias toward only hiring people who attended certain schools or who have a particular background. This has already become a significant issue at the many tech companies, including the biggest of them. In some cases, it's becoming a legal one as they try to defend various hiring and firing practices.