Thread by @AnushaVable

My most-forwarded email is quickly becoming my email of my 5 hiring criteria. I'll post here in case generally useful.

I've come to feel that hiring is among the most important things I do b/c I need them to do the super complicated analyses I propose, and self-learn

the techniques; so, really, if I don't hire well, either a) the work won't get done, or b) I'll have to do it myself and I don't have time, so (a) is the more likely scenario.

5 hiring criteria:

1. Necessary quant skills (this is non-flexible and we evaluate via a data task)

2. Necessary organizational skills (b/c the analyses are complex so if they are disorganized they'll miss important stuff); evaluate via reference checks

3. Necessary social skills (mentoring is A LOT of work - I need to like the people I'm working with or it's not fun for me; also, I am a better mentor to people who I have a better personality fit with). I evaluate this via the interview, but also

have the candidate meet with all the other team members (b/c, arguably, any new hires will spend more time with the other team members than with me, so I want them all to get along)

4. Does the proposed project have substantial overlap with my research agenda? Basically, am I, and my research agenda, going to benefit from this relationship? B/c, again, mentoring is A LOT of time, and I need to benefit too.

5. Teachable: this is super important. Sometimes there are people who I kept having the same conversations with over and over again. I had many hard conversations; no meaningful change. It's exhausting. I think you can evaluate this via the reference checks.

Likely my best advice: as soon as you can afford it, hire a full-time operations manager.

When I was looking for Sachi (my phenomenal operations manager), I decided I didn't want someone who would also do research b/c then the admin stuff would be a drag. So, I looked for

someone who was pre-grad school (smart and organized, but not necessarily interested in doing research). I also wanted someone who was interested in learning software for making graphics, etc. to help with dissemination. And I wanted someone who cared about the social issues.