I used to think ‘culture fit’ as a reason not to hire someone was nonsense, however, I left an employer not long ago after they refused to deal with someone toxic that was hurting the team attitude. It led to some massive attrition and made me realize there’s certainly something to idea of ‘culture fit’, but I don’t know how it can be assessed so easily over an interview process. This employee actually started off quite well and seemed like a fit at the time but eventually it became clear they lacked the growth mindset we needed. So culture matters, yes, and attitudes affect team balance but I’m not sure that this is the same as a post-interview ‘culture fit’ rejection. In fact, it may actually be a matter of hiring at the right level of seniority to get the job done. That’s not a culture thing so much as knowing what you really need in an employee. You could easily hire someone who just wasn’t what you needed then blame ‘culture fit’ which seems like a bit of a cop out.