2. 就公司所有层级最优秀的明星员工而言，大多数人共同具备的三到四种品质是什么？哈罗德说道，公司文化很大一部分在于“公司最重视、最鼓励的员工品质”。“这些品质会告诉你，这家公司最需要的技能和行为。”例如，如果面试官形容明星员工擅长与团队合作，提出新的创意，而你却更擅长独自完成任务，这或许意味着你并不适合对方。

    3. 是否曾有具备这些品质的人在此遭遇过失败？如果有，为什么？哈罗德的一位客户给他讲了一位明星管理者的故事，他拥有成功所需要的所有品质——他“行动迅速，以结果为导向，非常善于解决问题”——但他却逐渐走向低谷，因为他“非常傲慢，控制欲强，以至于没有人喜欢与他共事，”哈罗德说道。“这是一个重要的暗示，可以告诉你哪一种性格适合公司的文化。”

    4. 如果你们能对公司文化做一点改变，会是什么？哈罗德说道：“通常情况下，招聘经理会将这个问题个人化，并且提到自己的情况。如果他或她说：‘我希望能有更多决策自主权’或者‘我希望预算不会这么紧张’你可以从中得出大量信息，帮你了解在那家公司工作的情形。

    哈罗德建议求职者向面试过程中遇到的每一位管理者提出这些问题，看看得到的答案是否一致——“不能只听信一两位口若悬河的人发表的观点，他们说得天花乱坠，但可能并不代表公司管理层的普遍认知。”

    5. 我能跟即将在一起共事的人见个面吗？你最有可能在两轮或三轮面试的过程中，被介绍给几位很有前途的同事，但如果没有，可以询问一下，能否与他们共用午餐或一起喝咖啡。哈罗德说道，求职者有时候不敢提出这样的请求，但大多数雇主其实欢迎求职者这么做，因为“这表明你在做尽职调查，你对下一份工作是非常挑剔的。不要忘了，公司在对你进行面试的时候，你也在面试这家公司。”

    他补充道，雇主可能回避这种请求的唯一一种情况，是你所面试的职位目前尚未空缺，而且目前从事这份工作的人并不知道他将要离职。哈罗德说道：“当然，公司会担心保密问题。但在我们所做的调查中，这种情况仅占25%。”

    还有一种明智的做法是，在Valut.com和Glassdoor.com等求职网站上，通过相关的评论收集与公司文化有关的信息。哈罗德说道：“雇主的品牌和员工对公司的实际感觉可能存在较大区别，或者可能是一致的。如果两者之间存在巨大差异，尤其是对于文化的某个方面，网站上有大量负面评论，你可以在面试的时候向面试官求证。”

    5个问题看起来不少，确实如此。但哈罗德说道：“面试官喜欢求职者提出一些诚实的问题。因为这表明你有一些自己的想法。”祝你好运。

    反馈：公司文化的哪些方面对你最为重要？你是否曾经从事过某份工作，结果却证明你与公司在文化上并不匹配？欢迎评论。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    2. When you think about the stars here, the most distinctive talents at all levels of the company, are there three or four traits that most of them share? A big chunk of culture is “what a company values and rewards most in its employees,” Hanold notes. “Those traits will tell you the skills and behaviors the organization wants more of.” If an interviewer describes stars as great at collaborating with a team to come up with new ideas, for instance, and you’re better at working on projects alone, the fit may not be a good one.

    3. Has anyone with those characteristics ever failed here anyway? If so, why? One of Hanold’s clients told him about a star manager who had all the traits needed for success—he was “fast-moving, results-oriented, and a great problem-solver—but had flamed out anyway, because he was “so arrogant and controlling that no one liked working for him,” Hanold says. “That was an important indication of what kind of personality works in that culture.”

    4. If you could change one thing about the culture here, what would it be? “Often, a hiring manager will personalize this and refer to his or her own situation,” Hanold notes. “If he or she says, ‘I wish I had more autonomy to make decisions’ or ‘I wish I didn’t have to operate on such a tight budget,’ that implies a great deal about what it’s like to work there.”

    Hanold recommends posing all of these questions to each manager you meet during the interviewing process to see whether the answers you get are consistent—“versus the views of one or two eloquent people who sound good, but who may not be describing a common perspective.”

    5. Could I meet some of the people I’d be working with? You’ll most likely be introduced to a few prospective peers during two or three rounds of interviews, but if not, ask if you can get together with some of them for lunch or a cup of coffee. Candidates sometimes hesitate to make this request, Hanold says, but most employers welcome it, because “it shows that you’re doing due diligence, and you’re being selective about your next job. Never forget, you’re interviewing the company every bit as much as they are interviewing you.”

    The only situation in which an employer might balk at this idea, he adds, is if you’re interviewing for a job that’s currently held by someone who doesn’t yet know that he’ll be leaving. “Then, of course, there are concerns about keeping you confidential,” Hanold says. “But that’s only the case in about 25% of the searches we do.”

    It’s also smart to check out career sites like Vault.com and Glassdoor.com to see what you can glean about the culture from the comments there. “The employer brand and how that same company is actually perceived from within might be quite different, or it might be the same,” says Hanold. “But if you see a big gap between the two, and especially if there is a pattern of a lot of negative comments about one particular aspect of the culture, you can certainly ask interviewers about it.”

    If this seems like a lot of questions, it is. But, says Hanold, “interviewers like candidates who ask a lot of honest questions. It’s a sign that you’ve put some thought into it.” Good luck.

    Talkback:What aspects of a company’s culture are most important to you? Have you ever taken a job that turned out to be a bad cultural fit? Leave a comment below.