An employee’s skills and experience are important, but they don’t necessarily guarantee that the person will truly fit into the team. Good collaboration happens when a candidate’s values align with those of the company, because values shape how people make decisions, communicate, and behave in different situations. If a candidate’s principles do not match the organization’s, tension will arise sooner or later. But when values align, trust, commitment, and cooperation can naturally develop.

Values-based recruitment helps employers find people whose skills and mindset support the company’s mission and values. This approach builds a strong and unified organization where people feel that they belong and that their contribution matters.

The Art of Recognizing Values

You can often sense a candidate’s values and attitudes during the interview itself. Pay attention to whether their words align with their actions; what emotions they express and how they respond to specific topics; how they talk about previous employers and colleagues; whether they listen actively or tend to interrupt; how they treat others they encounter when arriving for the interview; whether they remove their outdoor shoes when entering the office; and how they react when something is said that doesn’t match their opinion.

Below are essential questions that can help you better understand a candidate’s values during the job interview.

Essential Questions for Values-Based Recruitment

General

  • What is most important to you in a job?
  • What types of people do you work best with, and which types require more effort from you?

Integrity and Honesty

  • Imagine you have to sell a product or service that you know is not of good quality. How would you handle that?
  • You buy a used car with several chips in the windshield. Despite this, the insurance company is ready to provide full coverage, unaware of the damage. What would you do?
  • You discover that your employer has accidentally overpaid you. How do you react, and what do you do?
  • You order three chairs from a furniture store but receive four. How do you respond?
  • As a parent, you agreed to organize a Christmas gift for a teacher. The group collected money based on the gift’s expected price, but when you go to buy it, you find it costs less. What do you do with the leftover money?
  • You find a wallet with a large sum of cash but no identification documents. How do you act?
  • Tell me about a situation where you had to make an unpopular but fair decision.
  • How do you respond if you notice a colleague or manager not following company rules?

Sense of Responsibility

  • Describe a situation where you made a mistake. How did you handle it?
  • What do you consider your greatest achievement and challenge so far? Why?

Openness and Willingness to Learn

  • Give an example of a situation when you suggested a new idea at work.
  • Have you thought about learning something new?
  • Can you describe a situation where you were completely outside your comfort zone?

Team Orientation

  • A new employee is joining the team, and your employer wants you to act as their mentor. How do you feel about that?
  • The company is organizing a summer event, and some employees, including you, have been assigned certain responsibilities. How do you feel about this?
    • Does it seem unfair that not everyone has been given tasks?
  • In customer service, you see your colleague in a conflict with a client. How do you respond
  • You don’t have children, but you see a colleague who often has to leave work early because of childcare needs. How do you feel about that?

Empathy

  • You are a salesperson, and in weekly meetings everyone’s results are reviewed. You are consistently in the top three performers, and you notice that newer salespeople feel discouraged. How do you handle this?
  • Describe a situation where you had to give someone negative feedback. How did you do it?
  • You notice that a colleague, partner, or client is visibly upset. How do you respond?
  • How do you react if someone on your team behaves differently than usual?

In conclusion

Values-based recruitment enables employers to see beyond a candidate’s skills and experience. When the hiring process consciously considers values, it fosters collaboration built on shared principles and a common direction. This alignment strengthens workplace culture and helps teams move toward their goals more smoothly.

If you need support with interview questions or the entire recruitment process, TeamCreator can guide you through every step of the journey. Contact us at info@teamcreator.ee.