I used to think I knew something about hiring. I worked in a fairly large engineering organization and was involved in all our hiring. I did college recruiting,

I used to think I knew something about hiring. I worked in a fairly large engineering organization and was involved in all our hiring. I did college recruiting, intern programs, phone screens and interviews. I mention that for background when I say: you can't reliably make good hiring decisions on the basis of a couple hours of your/the interviewees time. It just doesn't work. I'm personally a fan of hiring within your network (for engineering positions). You can't beat a genuine recommendation from someone who's spent months working shoulder-to-shoulder with the candidate. So please, when you hire people, have some humility. Know that your decisions are affecting someone's life in a major way, and you're probably making the wrong choice anyways, just do the best you can.