The 3 A's of hiring

So I've done my fair share of evaluating employees and hearing about how others determine who to hire. I've heard one manager list out what he looks for in a potential employee and I thought I'd pass along with my own perspectives. So here they are, the 3 A's of hiring:

• Attitude - Does the employee have the right attitude? This is very difficult to measure in a short interview. Here are some techniques/ideas that you may find helpful.
• I would suggest focusing on difficult or challenging situations and probing deeply into what the candidates initial thoughts facing that situation and how they handled it. This line of questioning can also help you determine tHe emotional awareness/intelligence that the candidate possesses. 
• Another area to look at is at their LinkedIn recommendations. Does the candidate have any recommendations and, if so, do they reference their attitude. Obviously these should be taken with a grain of salt, but look for common themes across several of them.
• How does the candidate carry themselves in the interview. Are they smiling and actively listening? Are they prepared? Nothing turns me off more than a candidate who has not done their homework. Have they read about your product/company and, if possible, used it. 
• One interview question I read recently (click here for top 2010 Interview Questions) was "You just inherited a pizzeria, what is the first thing you do?". I think this question can really help gauge how a person would approach a problem and what their attitude would be.
• Aptitude - Can the employee adapt to change and succeed? How well can they learn? I can't tell you how many jobs I've had where I have gone back in time and looked at the original job description and realize that what I am currently doing in that same job is totally different. Situations and environments change, is the candidate comfortable with that. You can ask questions during the interview about their experiences with change and learned a new skill and how they and others dealt with that.  Do they invest in learning and can they adapt quickly to change?
• Ability - Do they have the skills to even do the job? Have they done it before? Can they speak with specificity on what they have done? 
• I can't tell you how many times I have interviewed someone who claims to have written a business case and then the more I probe, the more I find out that someone else wrote the finance section, someone else wrote the strategy section, etc. If you are looking for someone with a great deal of experience they should be able to list out a litany of examples.

These are 3 criteria that I have started using to help me identify and rate candidates. There are many more such as team fit, etc. that can be used...but I like these...