Last weekend, unexpectedly, I ran into the best candidate I never placed. Don and I found ourselves at the Celtic Faire and Highland Games in Northampton, Massachusetts.

There was piping and drumming, caber tossing and sheepdog trials. As I stood there among the handsome plaids and marveled at the huge number of pipers, I saw a familiar face. It was Colum Lundt, standing amidst all of this Scottishness, quaffing a cold beer in the 95-degree heat.

I hadn't seen Colum in five years, since I recruited him for a senior sales and business development position. He's a fabulous salesperson, so I was very disappointed when he turned down the offer and decided to move his family back to Connecticut to start his own business.

Colum is bright, energetic, hard-driving, successful, handsome and — he wears a skirt. Okay, so it's not a skirt — it's a kilt. You see, Colum is an accomplished bagpiper and a teacher of the bagpipes, counting among his students the Boston City Police Bagpipers. I found this out during the interview process when I asked him one of my favorite questions:

So, what do you do for fun?

You find out so much about a candidate when you just sit back and listen for the response. Colum told me about all of the volunteer activities that went along with his piping and the many happy and sad occasions that he has contributed his time to. This gave me a keen insight into who Colum really was — and I immediately liked him (as I knew my client would).

Look for the Whole Person
Good hiring managers are curious to know, above and beyond what is on the resume, what the candidate is really like when they are not in the office or working. Finding out about a candidate's hobbies or interests gives you a broader view of the whole person. And that's what you are hiring — all of the components that make up the whole person!

Compatibility Factor
Uncovering what a candidate does with his "extracurricular time" may give you a good idea if he will fit culturally into your organization. If you are a company in the environmental field, for example, you may be delighted with a candidate who "thinks green" as opposed to one who doesn't believe in recycling. You get the point.

Expect to Be Delighted
And while it is fun to find new employees who share some of your hobbies and interests, don't limit yourself only to these candidates. Remember, diversity is what makes the world go 'round.

You Can Ask It
By the way, the question about outside interests is totally "legal," according to my friend Marijo McCarthy of Widett and McCarthy. But, for a refresher on what questions you can and can't ask, click here for our March 2005 Framing the Issues.

When he's not piping, Colum is happy and busy running his IT consulting firm, Bridge Consulting Group, and growing their sales nationally. And, if you must know, I couldn't resist asking him what he was wearing under his kilt. He responded, with a twinkle in his eye, "my shoes and my socks, of course!"