When you start the process of interviewing for new staff members, you should always refer back to the Law of 3:
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Interview at least three candidates for a job, comparing and contrasting their qualities and characteristics. Check their suitability against your stated requirements. You would be amazed at how often people forget to do this.
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Interview the candidate you like three different times: the true person is revealed once you get beyond the initial interview.
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Interview the person you like in three different places. Brian Tracy of the American Management Association says that people have a “chameleon complex.” They appear a certain way in your office in the first interview and then seem to act and react differently when you move them to different environments.
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Have any candidate that impresses you interviewed by at least three other people on your team.
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Check at least three references from the candidate. Ask specific questions around their strengths and weaknesses and whether the referee can tell you anything to help you make a better hiring decision. Ask them whether they would hire the person back. If the answer is not an unequivocal “yes,” be cautious.
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Check references three deep. Ask the given reference for the names of other people the candidate has worked with and talk to those people, too. You may be surprised at what you learn.
Interviews are the start of the most important function in almost every business and should be taken seriously and never rushed.
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