Assessing a candidate is a complicated process that can’t be accomplished just by reading a resume or asking a candidate what they see as their greatest weakness. To find out whether someone is a good fit for the job opening and the company as a whole, managers have to fully understand their skills, motivation, personality, goals, strengths and weaknesses—but that’s not all. Leaders in the construction industry also have to think deeply about their own company’s culture, strengths, and weaknesses to find out how a candidate will fit in and where they can fill in the gaps on the team.

Too many companies make the mistake of believing that a brief, surface-level interview with a candidate will tell them everything they need to know. Here are a few things hiring managers should be doing before, during and after the interview to make sure they’re not just hiring a good candidate—they’re hiring the right one.

Before the Interview

1. Study the company culture

Hiring managers should make sure they have a strong understanding of their company culture so they can identify any red flags in a potential candidate. For example, is the company pursuing cutting-edge construction technologies and innovations, or is their success based on tried-and-true traditions and methods? Do they treat their employees like family or do they focus entirely on the work? Once managers have a good grasp of the most important aspects of their company culture, they can identify where the existing team is strong and where they might have shortcomings. For instance, does the company have several up-and-coming project managers who could benefit from a mentor? Or perhaps they have a skilled group of analytical minds but need someone who specializes in presenting technical concepts in an accessible way to owners.

2. Google the candidate

Managers can learn a lot about a candidate by researching them on the internet. They should look for red flags, such as news articles about struggling projects or social media pages with inappropriate content. They should also check to see if anything stands out in a positive way, such as LinkedIn recommendations to industry publications.

During the Interview

3. Ask the right questions

Hiring managers should go beyond traditional interview questions about strengths and weaknesses and ask strategic, practical questions about the candidate’s work, and test their technical skills. For example, a manager might have an estimator fill out a sample estimate using information from a job the company bid but didn’t win. That can help the interviewer see if they are on par with, ahead of or behind the current team. For a project manager, an interviewer can ask them to walk through a day in their current job. Make sure they touch on factors such as business development, relationships and change orders. Hiring managers should also find out what motivates the candidate, how they handle stressful situations and what they see as an ideal working environment. Based on their answers, managers can decide if they seem like a good fit for the organization.

4. Talk to candidates outside of the office

One of the best ways to really get to know whether someone will work well on a team is to take them out of a formal interview setting. Meet up for drinks or coffee, and bring along a few teammates who are a good representation of the company culture. That way, managers can see how the candidate’s personality meshes with his or her future coworkers.

After the Interview

5. Get a variety of references

It’s a common mistake to get references from a candidate’s former boss and no one else. Managers will get a more complete picture of their performance and behavior if they look at a potential new employee from all angles. Speak to their supervisors, their peers, and any direct reports they had. Make sure to ask about major successes and struggles in their previous roles, but also find out whether the person had any personality conflicts with other employees. If they did have conflicts, what type of personality did they clash with? If that personality is a match for their new supervisor, it could spell trouble for a long-term fit.

6. Trust instincts

After the manager interviewed the candidate, met them for coffee with the team and spoken to their references, it’s time to make a decision. The manager knows his or her company and teammates, and now has completed due diligence on the candidate, so the manager should trust his or her instincts about whether or not this person will be an asset to the team.