How to avoid hiring losers

When reviewing job candidates, I take a different approach than most high-tech CEOs. I rarely grill applicants on the ins and outs of geekery such as CSS, PHP, Twitter Bootstrap and Ruby on Rails. I let the technical team, who will be working with the new hire on a day-to-day basis, deal with all that. Instead, my focus when interviewing any candidate is on the so-called “soft” stuff. I look at their ability to fit in with the team, I examine their personality, I review their goals. This helps me decide whether they’re a total loser.

Loser employees can destroy a business, especially during the startup phase. I have hired them before, only to watch them erode morale, slow down productivity and, worst of all, drive otherwise enthusiastic top performers away.

It’s a problem that’s best nipped in the bud. If, heaven forbid, you hire a loser who eventually progresses into a management position, he or she will almost definitely go on to hire other losers. Before you know it, you’ll wake up one morning surrounded by people you simply can’t stand.

How can you avoid this fate? Learn to identify these three types to make your workplace a loser-free zone.

One-dimensional dullards

Winners can spot losers. You just have to know what to look for.

When I sift through CVs and LinkedIn profiles of job applicants, I focus on their education, hobbies, charities and where their work has been published—not so much on their prior jobs. That’s because I’m more interested in gleaning who they are as a person and making a connection on that level. If you’re able to display your humanity to me in this context, odds are pretty good you are not a loser.

Losers hire other losers, and before you know it you’ll… READ MORE: How to avoid hiring losers

Source: ca.finance.yahoo.com