how to show I fit in with the department during faculty interview A commonly asked question during the faculty position interview is 


  How do you fit in with the department?


It is quite similar to but different from 


  How do you fit in with the position?


I want to seek some specific suggestions as to answering this question, assuming the position to interview for has a 50-50 teaching and research appointment. What is the hiring committee really looking for from a candidate from this question?

In my previous interviews, I would answer this question by focusing on how I would collaborate with other faculty in the department. It seemed that the answer did not hit the point well.
The other answer has good advice. But for a job with a research component, I'd interpret it at least partly as "How does your research synergise with our own?".

Point out things that you could work together with existing staff on; areas in which you could help each other out, and things where the combination of your skills/knowledge and their skills/knowledge might combine to produce something bigger than the sum of its parts.

Similarly, but less clearly, on the teaching side you might be able to identify how you fill a gap in their existing areas of expertise.