Hiring staff is somewhat of a neccesity at some point throughout your forum-ing career! Do you prefer to hire from within or do you bring people from other sites? I'm more of a hire-from-within type because I believe that that person has already shown they are a part of the community and that they care. The users already know that person as well so hopefully it won't be as bad of a shock to them.
What about you?
Pretty much like you, I would rather hire from within as much as possible.
If I am starting a project or there is not much activity at the time, then I should be able to carry moderation and administrative duties until there is enough activity to start seeing proper candidates. The problem can really come when you have active people but there is no one you would actually trust to be mature enough to handle the position.
I would be open to hiring from outside if I know the person for a while and they have a very good reputation so I feel confident in what I can expect from them.
I've always hired from within, but approach members who I'd like to be a moderator and ask if they'd have the time to spare, rather than accept offers from members who just want the title.
For my latest project there's actually very few places where you can distinguish staff from members, which seems to work quite well. Conversation seems to flow much more naturally.
Nerdface
I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
I could never hire from within. My activity never supported it and I felt it was somewhat better to hire from outside just to bring in new blood.
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I've always hired from within, but approach members who I'd like to be a moderator and ask if they'd have the time to spare, rather than accept offers from members who just want the title.
For my latest project there's actually very few places where you can distinguish staff from members, which seems to work quite well. Conversation seems to flow much more naturally.
I hope this doesn't sound super amateur of me but I've never actually hired my staff and thought about those just 'asking' for it as people who just fancy the privilege of being a staff member. Looking back on it after reading your message though I can totally recall times where I've had that! Both external and internal people. Have you ever done that yourself though?