CIO — Is hiring instinctive? Or can you teach people how to make good hires? In this monthly Q&A series, executive recruiters from The Alexander Group speak with IT executives about their hiring and interviewing practices.

The CIO of Ameristar Casinos Likes to Gamble, But Not When It Comes to Hiring
Sheleen Quish has hired her share of risky candidates. Sometimes they've worked. Other times they haven't. Overall, her approach to hiring is methodical and pragmatic, and the risks she takes are always calculated.
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Jonathan Heiliger, Facebook's VP of Technology Operations, on Artful Grilling
Heiliger really grills people with technical, math and problem-solving questions, so his potential hires had better be prepared to think on their feet. Here's why he favors that approach, and what he's learned so far from Facebook's rapid hiring spree.
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M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Hires IT Pros Who Can Keep Up With Doctors' Ever-Changing Needs
Dr. Lynn Vogel, CIO of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, discusses what it takes for IT staff to succeed in his organization, how he makes hiring decisions and the hiring mistake he repeatedly makes.
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Alan Etterman Shares His Sensible Hiring Practices
The CAO of JDS Uniphase doesn't aim to get the perfect hire every time, and neither should you. In this Q&A, Alan Etterman explains why.
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Harvard Business School's CIO Builds Trust and Respect Among His IT Staff by Involving Them in His Hiring Process
If you're interested in learning how a hiring process can create a stronger IT department, and if you need effective techniques for assessing a candidate's cultural fit, you must read this interview with Harvard Business School CIO Stephen Laster.
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PG&E CIO Shares Her Unique Method for Engaging Candidates During Interviews
Pat Lawicki asks candidates the kinds of questions they'd have to answer on a day-to-day basis about projects if they got the job.
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Effective Hiring Techniques Keep Turnover Low in Frank Hoose's IT Department
The American Diabetes Association's senior vice president of IT uses behavioral interviewing techniques and gathers input from his staff to pick winning candidates.
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David Price Knows Exactly What He Wants and Needs from Candidates for His IT Department
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society's EVP of internal operations looks for personable individuals with good communication skills, energy, curiosity and experience managing large-scale systems.
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US Airways CIO Seeks Candidates for His "Blue Collar" IT Department
Joe Beery explains how he picks candidates who can keep up with the airline industry, and he shares his biggest hiring mistake: letting a staffing challenge override his gut in a hiring decision.
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Acellent's CIO Values a Candidate's Integrity and Attitude Above All
William Howell shares his hiring mistakes and his secrets for selecting the best job candidates, finding objective references and using LinkedIn as a recruiting tool.
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Kohl's CIO Jeff Marshall Hires Candidates Who Embrace Change
Don't hire for a specific position or to resolve a specific problem, advises Marshall. Hire for the bigger picture.
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United Space Alliance CIO Seeks Team-Oriented Candidates
Kathy Tamer discusses her hiring process and how she develops a workforce for the future.
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Patrick Tisdale Shares His Techniques for Sussing Out Candidates
The CIO of law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe makes sure to ask about a candidate's past work environments, community service activities and work-life balance concerns.
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Northern Trust CTO Nirup Krishnamurthy Looks for Candidates with Impact
Krishnamurthy defines a successful hire as someone who has made valuable contributions to the team within two years. He teases out ideal candidates by listening to his gut, asking his team for input and doing personality assessments.
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AIG American General CIO Jeff Carlson Advises Candidates to Study Hard and Ask Smart Questions
If you want to ace an interview with Carlson, read this Q&A to find out four of the questions he'll ask you and why you should learn as much as you can about his company. If you're hiring staff, Carlson recommends understanding the skills the position for which you're hiring requires, the candidate's cultural fit, and listening more than you talk.
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Jack in the Box CIO Stephanie Cline Shares Lessons from Her Hiring Mistakes
In this series debut, Cline dishes about her most and least successful hires. She also explains how she quickly ascertains a candidate's modus operandi during an interview and why she doesn't force her team to accept a candidate its members don't like.
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