Most salon hiring decisions get made on two things: does the portfolio look good, and did the interview feel good. Both matter, and neither one predicts whether that person is still with you in a year. I ask three questions instead, and they've caught more real problems before the offer went out than any portfolio review ever has.

Why This Gets Missed

A great portfolio tells you someone can do the work. It tells you nothing about whether they'll want to do it here, at your pace, under your standard.

The gap between "talented" and "the right fit for this seat" is where most hiring mistakes actually live — and it's expensive on both sides, not just in the cost of replacing them, but in the client relationships and team morale that get disrupted while it plays out.

The Test — Three Questions, In Order

01
Get It — do they actually understand the standard? Not just the technical skill, but the pace, the client-experience expectation, the way this specific seat has to be run.
02
Want It — do they genuinely want this role? Not "a job," not "any salon" — this seat, at this volume, with this standard. Ask directly, and listen for hesitation.
03
Capacity — can they actually do it at real volume? A slower pace in an interview or a trial day doesn't always predict what a genuinely busy Saturday looks like six months in.

What This Means For You

If a candidate is strong on two of the three, that's a real conversation, not an automatic no — but a hire who's weak on all three rarely turns around just because the portfolio was good. Run this test before the offer, not after the first difficult month, when it's already cost you a client relationship or two to find out.