In the middle of an American economic crisis, one industry seems to be booming: the collection industry! That’s right, according to the most current research more than fifty five percent of the participating collection companies are planning 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 a necessity. In the collections industry, it is crucial that you hire the correct person. A collection agent who is too laid back is not going to collect; one 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 conducting interviews to find the best fit? Interviewing styles will vary from business to business. Generally, a number of interviews will involve asking about a candidate’s job history. But if a candidate has an idea of what you are looking for, and they are good at selling you their experience, you may wind up hiring the person who is not best suited for the specific job you have in mind. Thus, the most crucial idea that any potential employer should keep in mind during an interview is to get the candidate to be extremely specific. Studies have 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.

As far as hiring prospective debt collectors goes, behavioral questions have been proven to be useful. These are based on the idea that past actions might predict behavior in the future. When it is key 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 medical collection agencies