I'm starting to lose confidence in my ability to judge people. My business is still small and there is no personnel department or fancy hiring procedures. Finding the right person for a job requires involvement and commitment to a sound hiring process. Very often, business owners use their intuition and common sense to hire employees. However, people can often present themselves very well in the interview stages when they are not really right for the job or motivated for the right reasons.
Chemistry is important, but can be deceiving.
First, define the job as clearly and completely as possible. That way, you can look at the job objectively and determine exactly what skills and abilities are important to the job. Second, review resumes for credentials and experience that match the needed skills. You can also roughly evaluate things like motivation, ambition, desire to learn, communication ability, etc. within the resume. Third, design interview questions or scenarios aimed at measuring the most important skills and characteristics you're looking for.