In the middle of an American economic crisis, and every other industry seems to be cutting back, one seems to be growing rapidly: the debt collection! You heard right! According to one recent study that was conducted as of late, more than fifty five percent of the collection agencies questioned plan to add to the amount of staff that they already employ this fiscal year.

Any manager going through the hiring process is aware of the time and aggravation that comes with finding the right fit for the job, especially a job like a debt collector where attention to detail and motivation are highly necessary. In the collections industry, it is imperative that you hire the right person. A debt collector who is too laid back is not going to collect; a collector who is too high strung might end up getting your agency sued. Hiring the wrong candidate not only leads to an unhappy new hire with the capacity to harm the credibility of the hiring manager and even the company, but it also chews up management time that it takes to train. Time and money that could have been put into training the right hire in the first place.

So how should a hiring manager go about holding job interviews to pick out the best fit? Interviewing styles differ from business to business. Typically, a majority of interviews will involve asking about a candidate’s job history. But if a candidate knows what you are looking for, and they are adept at selling you their experience, you may end up hiring the person who is not best suited for the specific job you have in mind. Therefore, the most important idea that any prospective employer should keep in mind during an interview is to get the candidate to be extremely specific. Research has shown that it is more effective to go over less material very thoroughly than to have a general sense of everywhere that the candidate has been. It is important not to simply accept their first answer as complete- probe for more details.

In the collection industry, behavioral questions have been proven to be helpful. These are based on the idea that past actions may predict behavior in the future. When it is crucial that you need to be able to reasonably predict how a new hire will respond to any type of stimulus on the job because the credibility of your company is at stake, questions such as “give me an example of,” or “what are your best and worst personality traits” can be helpful. Ask the candidate how they generally handle stress. We all know they are going to be dealing with it after all.

Finally, look for new hires who feel passion about the things that they do. Try to look under the surface to determine if there is an authentic depth underneath what the candidate is claiming. Try asking about hobbies, life goals, etc. It may be unorthodox, but looking beyond qualifications can help you get a hold of some of the details that will give you an idea of how a candidate will approach a job and what their work habits are like.

Mallory Megan works for Rapid Recovery Solution and writes articles on national collection agencies This article, How To Find The Perfect New Candidate has free reprint rights.