Advice in hiring Creatives

I recently got back in touch with an Executive Creative Director who was great client and someone I considered a friend (connected on both LinkedIn and Facebook). We were chatting up the hiring market and mentioned his new staffing provider wasn't as proactive or effective in finding him new local talent. They continued to show him portfolios of individuals who came directly out of his industry. He said everything looks the same and it was the same "safe" thinking he dreaded. "No one wants to take a chance!".

This reminded me of a conversation we had years earlier which helped me find him some outstanding creative talent (which in turn helped his agency grow). To this day, I still utilize his advice:

1. "It's all about the work"- start with the portfolio, not the resume. Good color, shape, typography and great ideas. Even school work and fine art is important. What work are you most proud of?
2. "I like people with their own style"- sometimes portfolios start to look the same depending on the design school or industry. He met an art director who showed him a great portfolio and was on the fence about hiring him until he saw his Instagram account and asked, "How do we take that and make this?" Think something like Shepard Fairey designing an ad for Viagra.
3. "Did they buy it?" -what work was produced and what was spec? Was this what the client wanted? What was the size, scope and volume of the project? Even if it was a piece of direct mail for a lawn care company that went out to 200,000 people and eventually ended up in the trash, he saw huge value in this because it was real work.
4. "Don't hire...just to hire" - never rush hiring. Find the right person, even if it takes months. Fill your holes with freelancers who you like and meet most of what you are looking for. He said he hired people that had the pedigree, interviewed great, had great portfolios and everything looked great, they just didn't "work" great.
5. "I like people with good attitudes"- stay away from the "I don't do that" people. He would take a solid C+player with a good attitude and passion versus an A player with a bunch of awards who was an a**hole. It would soil the culture he said. Also, "there is always a slow period in this business and if someone can't lay something out, build a PowerPoint, or proofread their own work...I don't want them".
6. "Showing up is 80% of life"- simply said, can this person get to work on time and show up on time for meetings? I will never forget, "I don't ask for much but if you have any people that can show up not hungover most weekdays, play nice in the sandbox, and just be a decent person to their co-workers, I will hire them". "We spend more time with our co-workers than with our family so I need people that are normal and normal seems to be in short supply these days".