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We're a small startup and we're all software developers with rather limited understanding of competency in any other fields (that is, we know what we need to get, but don't really know what skills does it take to get there). We need to interview candidates for a position none of us ever worked at (graphic designer in this case, but I'd like to get profession-agnostic answers). What is the best way to approach this problem and make sure we hire the best candidate as opposed to best-interviewing candidate?

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3 Answers

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You should try hiring a freelance HR professional, he/she could help you get the employee you are searching for, at least as far as personality and responsibility is concerned. I think you are looking for (apart from responsibility and personality) a qualified graphic designer. Well, you are on the software industry,you should know someone involved with graphic design to help you get a qualified employee.

Another option is hiring freelancers, this would help if the candidate you take does not fit your needs, in that case you could get another one and there wouldn't be future legal issues to solve.

Here you have some information on Hiring qualified employees

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It is not necessarily true that "you are on the software industry,you should know someone involved with graphic design". That would depend on the type of software they do; for web work, maybe they would, but for other types of work (say acounting applications or operating systems development), then I would not expect them to know such. – GreenMatt Mar 27 at 11:17
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Ask yourself:

  1. Do I/we want to work with this person? Do we get along? Are we comfortable around each other? If you don't get along in the first place, well...chances are getting projects done, solving problems, etc. will be a chore.

  2. Now, take a look at their work. What have they done? Can they do what you want them to do?

  3. How are they with other people? Talking on the phone? answering emails? ie- talking with customers.

  4. Do you know what their job description is? Do you know what to expect, so you can give that information to them in a clear manner.?

If you have time, read "Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham. This will help with looking beyond surface skills and digs deeper into how we as workers, work.

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It does cost some money, but one approach I've seen used is to hire a consultant from the field in which you need to hire someone. The consultant can then aid you in your search in a variety of ways, such as knowing the best channels to use for search and recruiting, as well as sitting in the actual interviews to ask questions you may not think of and discern if the people you're interviewing are qualified, telling the truth, etc. Of course, I think it's still necessary to determine if you'll have a good relationship with the person you're hiring.

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