Ten Ways to Improve Hiring

Start with a clear job description that outlines the critical skills and abilities for the job. Make sure you look for essential competencies, not just general strengths.
Improve interviewing. Combine behavioral questions that ask what they have done in given situations with “scenario” questions that ask them what they would do.
Ask why they left their last job and probe beyond the superficial answer.
Ask about their areas for improvement, and don’t take “I’m too much of a perfectionist” as a valid answer.
Call references when you think they will be out, and leave a message that says, “Please call me back if the candidate is outstanding.”
Talk only 20% of the time. Listen the other 80%.
Test your candidates. Realize, however, that all testing is not helpful. In fact, no testing is better than bad testing.
Hire an expert who has been trained in interpreting psychometrics to analyze results.
Use only assessments that have been validated for hiring. The use of any instrument that has not been specifically validated for pre-employment screening puts your company at risk.
Never use one test by itself. A well-chosen battery of tests, one that includes both intellectual measures and personality assessments, can increase the validity of your conclusions. Also, include cognitive measures.