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Warren Buffet says, "Hire people based on Passion,Intelligence and Integrity." People's passion is visible in the first meeting, and intelligence comes out in a couple of hours in a discussion, but discovering that person's integrity takes more time and effort.

How do you make decisions regrading the integrity of a person in an a fledgling company so that the bad hire doesn't cost your company time, money and--in the worst case scenario--joining your competitor indirectly?

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Are you hiring someone or is this finding a cofounder? – John Bogrand Jan 4 '11 at 22:16

4 Answers

You could use a testing service to do a psychometric test - there's an integrity test called Giotto that provides a seven scale profile of a candidate's level of personal integrity in work situations. Testing can be administered online by getfeedback and I believe the price per run is 20 pounds.

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Integrity is a trait tested by social interaction, so the best way aside from psych tests to measure this is to talk to the people the person worked for/with in the past. Ask for recommendation letters and references as part of the interview process.

Also, establishing a contractual probation period of two-three months for any employee helps you determine whether that candidate is a good fit.

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Try calling their references and seeing what they have to say - and be sure to ask if they left on good terms. You can tell a lot about the integrity of a person by the way they leave a company - did they slack for months, insult people, burn bridges, etc. or did they continue their responsibilities until the end, help with transition and maintain positive relationships with their old co-workers? If there were issues in the past, the same could happen to you.

Of course, if something does come up, give your potential hire the opportunity to defend themselves.

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Agree with all of the above suggestions, check references, talk to the potential hire's previous companies and co-workers if possible, etc...

In this time and age you might also want to check social media sites... you'll be surprised how much information you can find about a person and also find some clues about a person's integrity in these sites by looking at his/her answers on forums like this, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc...

Good luck!

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