Questions to ask when you hire new people

Use targeted questions to help avoid a bad hire.question: if they have to think a long time, they
With qualified job candidates in short supply, the hiringprobably aren't that well read.
process is perhaps more important now than everTony Petrucciani, CEO, Single Source Systems, a $5.1
before. Yet although company builders are desperatemillion systems integration company in Fishers, Ind.
for good workers, the cost of a bad hire is intolerable.What he asks: Why do they make manhole covers
So these days, many smart companies are developinground? Why: "We ask this of potential developers to
their own idiosyncratic interview questions tailoredsee if they get flustered, and how they think on their
specifically to their organization's culture.feet," says Petrucciani. (The answer? Because covers
Jim Sheward, CEO of Fiberlink, a $10 millionof any other simple geometric shape could fall through.)
Internet-consulting company in Blue Bell, Pa., places a lotRobert Baden, CEO and president, Rochester
of stock in his staff's integrity. So his favorite questionSoftware Associates, a $4.3 million software
to ask interviewees is, What's the biggest careerdeveloper in Rochester, N.Y.
mistake you've made so far? Sheward looks forWhat he asks: If I stood you next to a skyscraper and
reflective candidates who have learned from theirgave you a barometer, how could you figure out how
errors. "I've found that those who can't think oftall the building was? Why: The answer: well, there
anything either don't take risks or aren't telling me thereally isn't one. Baden just wants to see how creative
truth," he says.people are. According to company lore, one
Of course, some questions are just plain practical.interviewee responded that he'd find the building's
Tired of making offers to folks who had alreadyjanitor and then offer the janitor the barometer -- in
accepted other offers, Eric Schechter, CEO of Greatexchange for information about the building's height.
American Events, a $3 million event-marketing andDoug Chapiewsky, CEO, CenterPoint Solutions, a $2
merchandising company in Scottsdale, Ariz., startedmillion software developer in Denver.
asking, Who else are you interviewing with, and howWhat he asks: If you had your own company, what
close are you to accepting an offer? And somewould it do? Why: "I want to see if they've got that
questions simply make sense for certain pools ofcertain entrepreneurial spirit it takes to succeed in a
candidates. Greg Conigliaro, president of Conigliarosmall software company," he says.
Industries in Framingham, Mass., says he hires a lot ofMadonna Flanders, employment manager, Community
prerelease prisoners, as well as convicts who haveHealth and Counseling Services, a mental-health and
recently been paroled, to work in his $1.6-millionhome-health-services company with more than 1,000
recycling-services company. One of the questionsemployees, based in Bangor, Maine.
Conigliaro asks? Naturally, it's, What were you in for?What she asks: If I asked your previous coworkers for
Here's a sampling of what other company builders askkey words to describe you, what would they say?
-- and why.Then if I leaned close and whispered, "Now tell me
John Discerni, CEO, Physicians Formulary International,what I'd better watch out for," what would they say?
an $11 million wholesale pharmaceutical company inWhy: To find out how in touch candidates are with
Phoenix.their own strengths and weaknesses. "I also get
What he asks: What's the last book you read? Why:information that I can check with references when I
Discerni says that it's not what they read so much ascall," says Flanders.
the amount of time it takes for them to answer the