Did one of your job applicants go to or work at the same university as you? Did a common love of Jane Austen make a potential hire memorable in an interview? Perhaps you felt you’d just get along well in the office.

Look beyond hitting it off with a potential employee who might be a good “cultural fit” to one who has a fit aligned with the mission of your division or institution. This will ensure your office has a wide variety of employees, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article.

“Employers often aim to hire people they think will be a good cultural fit, with attributes that will mesh with a company’s goals and values. But their efforts can easily veer into a ditch where new hires all look, think, and act alike. That’s bad for anyone who cares about an office with a mix of races, genders, and points of view,” writes Sue Shellenbarger in the article.

Commonly held definitions of cultural fit need to be reevaluated, she writes. Cultural fit cannot just be such common ground as:

• A similar educational path or career history.

• A sense of familiarity because the candidate has a similar personality to coworkers.

• Shared interest in perks of the job, such as use of the campus gym or team happy hours.

“Making a good match can be difficult. In a pattern researchers call ‘looking-glass merit,’ hirers tend to look for traits in candidates that make them feel good about themselves. These may be more nuanced than race or gender,” Shellenbarger writes. “A manager who got bad grades as a college freshman is likely to warm to an applicant who also got off to a rough start, research shows. Or a hirer who attended a low-prestige school may favor applicants who did the same.”

Hiring managers should go beyond asking about past accomplishments to redefine cultural fit to encompass areas in which candidates align with your institution. She recommends asking yourself if the candidate:

• Is enthusiastic about the objectives and purpose of the division.

• Will share your team’s approach to work both collaboratively and using their own initiative.

• Will be in agreement with your views on decision making and evaluating risk.