7 Secrets for Hiring Great Employees

The most successful bosses share their secret hiring techniques.

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Over the years, I've interviewed hundreds of successful managers about everything from corporate strategy to managing the occasional nutcase.

Perhaps the most useful among these conversations have been the ones where we discussed exactly how to hire great employees.

Based on those conversations, here are the seven rules every hiring manager should memorize:

1. If you don't know exactly who you're looking to hire, it's stupid to actually hire somebody.

2. Interview candidates even when you're not hiring so that you know who to call when you are.

3. Never hire somebody who wants the job. Instead hire somebody who will be good at it.

4. When it comes to hiring (and getting work done), two "5s" do not equal a "10" on a scale of 1 to 10.

5. A history of success in an unrelated field is more valuable than a resume full of experience.

6. People accept jobs because they like companies and leave because they dislike managers.

7. Never be afraid to hire somebody smarter or better-looking than you.

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Geoffrey James writes the Sales Source column on Inc.com, the world's most visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World's Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source