Using the collaborate before you commit approach empowers both the candidate and the person hiring, because they both have the agency to decide whether the situation feels right to them. Was there chemistry? Was there magic? Was it more awkward than you might have liked?
The job description Bezos wrote for his very first employee said, “You must have experience designing and building large and complex (yet maintainable) systems, and you should be able to do so in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible.
Determine if they have a chip on their shoulder . Do they have something to prove? Where’s the hole they’re looking to fill? Ideally, you’d get someone with obvious talent/drive that is misunderstood by the world. Those types of people will run through walls to reconcile their internal view of themselves with external perception.