Rules for Hiring the Best

These rules have been designed to aid employers in the difficult task of recruiting and interviewing prospective employees. Interviewers must be diligent in their questioning of each potential staff member. Here are some things to keep in mind when considering an interviewee.

1. If they look too good to be true, they might be. Explore further.
2. A negative person often spends more time complaining than they do working.
3. If the problem that caused them to leave their last position exists in your company, common sense says they will also leave your company.
4. People do change, but don't assume you or your company has the power to create that change.
5. If someone had problems in the past, it is not unlikely that they will have similar problems in the future.
6. Trouble tends to follow people around.
7. If you choose to hire someone out of charity, (or because the bosses tell you too), recognize and accept the risks of your choice.
8. A detail-oriented person does not have numerous cross-outs and blanks on their application.
9. If they job-hopped in the past, what makes you think they won't job-hop in the future?
10. Neatness counts in an interview.
11. There are some people that are good with both paperwork and details as well as with people. However, most people who are really good with paperwork and details are not so good with people, and vice versa.
12. If their email address is lazygirl@aol.com, they probably are.
13. A potential employee will have to like your job/company a great deal to be willing to travel over an hour to work for a sustained period of time.
14. If they can't spell, they don't read. If they don't read, they don't think.
15. Always question dates of employment listed on a resume or application (by asking how long they were at each job); it's the #1 item that applicants "exaggerate" on.
16. Always ask if they can provide proof of salary if it looks inflated; it's the #2 item that applicants "exaggerate" on.
17. When interviewing, ALWAYS ask reasons for leaving for each job. It provides the most important information for making your selection.
18. If you ask a person what they like best and least, you will get more honest information on what they are good and not so good at than if you ask for their strengths and weaknesses.
19. If they had difficulties working with co-workers in the past, there's a good chance they will also have difficulties with your co-workers.
20. If they didn't like their last manager, what makes you think they will like you?
21. If they were fired in the past, it was probably their fault (regardless of the story that they tell you!).
22. If they were laid off but the company didn't close, why were they not selected to stay?
23. If they left their last job for more money, how often will they be expecting raises from you?
24. Most people don't quit jobs because of money; they just don't want to tell you the real reason.
25. If they are looking for "better opportunity", when will your opportunity no longer seem better?
26. If they say they don't want to work overtime, don't hire them for a job requiring overtime.
27. If they list a skill on their resume, it doesn't necessarily mean they are proficient in it. Probe further.
28. If they didn't like the long hours or commute at one of their past jobs, why will they accept the long commute or hours at your job?
29. If they are in sales, ask them to name some of the titles or authors in their personal self-development library. If they don't have any, they may not be serious about being successful in sales.
30. Find out the singular most important thing they are looking for. If your company/position doesn't offer this, don't hire them. If it's compensation, definitely don't hire them.
31. Do you want the applicant with the odd handshake shaking your clients' hands?
32. Don't expect them to want to work for your company if you tell them only the negatives.
33. Get references from past supervisors, not from friends and acquaintances on their reference list.
34. None of the above rules apply to applicants right out of high school or college. It often takes a couple of years and a couple of jobs to find their niche. Decide carefully if you might be their niche.