By all rights, Scott Rosen is an expert on hiring people. So when he went looking for a successor to run his 13-year-old executive-placement firm in Voorhees, N.J., he figured he could rely on his gut.  Instead of someone with plenty of operational experience, Rosen went with an unusual choice: a 20-year sales veteran who had also managed a team of 25 employees. "I met with him a few times and really liked him," says Rosen, who won't disclose the person's name. "I decided to take a chance."  Three months later, staffers were far from convinced. They lamented their new boss' lack of experience. Clients were unimpressed. "His industry experience didn't transfer," says Rosen. "He didn't understand the culture of a staffing company, and my staff didn't respect him because of that." After another four months, Rosen booted him--and hired another headhunter to find a replacement.  There's a reason many companies don't take risks when hiring new talent: Employees with traditional backgrounds and similar skill sets yield predictable results. Predictability is good on some level, but it can be limiting, too. A non-traditional hire with different perspectives can inject sorely needed energy and creativity into the mix.  "The upside for an organization can be huge," says Margaret Neale, a professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business who has studied the effect of diversity on companies. "When you increase the diversity of a group, you increase the probability that the group can have the necessary perspective to create the next big thing. People with different backgrounds ask different sets of questions. You ultimately get more information."  The tricky part about hiring outside the box is finding the right fit. In retrospect, Rosen admits he broke two cardinal rules when hiring his successor.  First, he didn't run the sales exec through a well-crafted, formal interview process. He just knew he got along with the guy. Too bad snappy conversation doesn't necessarily produce results.  "If you don't ask something because you've clicked with someone, you may not be digging into the job-related information that's ultimately important," says Deb Cohen, chief knowledge officer of the Society for Human Resource Management, an Alexandria, Va.-based HR consulting firm.  That's why you need a standard set of interview questions on which you can judge a candidate's responses. For example, if you're looking for fresh ideas, ask for examples of creative projects the person spearheaded at prior organizations. As for determining a good fit, craft questions that reveal what the person prefers in a work environment.  Rosen's second mistake: making the decision in a vacuum. When hiring outside the box, always introduce candidates to other key employees or advisers and let them weigh in. Rosen didn't--and he paid the price.  If you're going to invest the time to interview--let alone train--non-traditional hires, at least have a good business reason for doing it. Start by defining what specific value you want that person to bring to the company, in both the short and long term. Do you need fresh ideas? Attention to operational detail? Energy and charisma? Do you want someone who can plug a hole temporarily or plan for the long term? Going through this exercise is worthwhile even if you don't plan on hiring anyone.  For Gene Poor, non-traditional hires were critical to his company's expansion. In 1981, Poor was one of the first entrepreneurs to enter the field of animatronics--robots modeled after animated characters. But his Bowling Green, Ohio-based company, Life Formation, wasn't exactly at the epicenter of art and engineering. "On the continuum of staffing difficulty, we're on the far end," says Poor. "It takes a special person who can handle the drama and the demands."  In Poor's case, most candidates are outside the box--mainly because there is no box. Investment bankers may hail from similar backgrounds; robot-cartoon makers do not.  To help him select from a disparate applicant pool, Poor has them all complete a small project on deadline, à la reality television. Most recently, when Poor was looking for a multi-media graphic designer, he gave three finalists the task of creating a design theme for the company--including a mission statement, slogan, logo and letterhead. Each finalist had four hours to demonstrate what they could do.  "It's a great way to see what people are made of," says Poor. "It gives us a sense of how resourceful they can be."  Some final advice: Check references thoroughly. Background checks are part of any smart hiring strategy, but they are even more important when it comes to non-traditional hires. That's because you want reasonable assurance that the candidate's alleged competencies are indeed transferable, given the appropriate training.  Ask similar questions as you did in the interview, but in a different way: Confirm the facts as presented, but also try to keep things open-ended. For example, rather than ask the reference to recall the same story told by the candidate, ask the person to reflect on a time when the candidate displayed the qualities you're looking for. You'll learn more.  Enter The Boost Your Business Contest  Boost Your Business: Round One Tips
Your greatest asset could be someone you haven't even considered yet--if you find the right fit, that is.