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1. Team Spirit
"On a Monday, if the Packers lose, it is extremely somber around here," explains Scott Spencer, vice-president of Laser Pros International (#163), which supplies and repairs printer parts. Rhinelander, the Wisconsin town where Laser Pros is based, may be two hours away from Green Bay's Lambeau Field, but the office atmosphere can resemble a parking-lot tailgate party--as Spencer explains to anyone seeking a job at the company. "Talking about the Pack is just a big part of the culture," he says. Currently, only one confessed nonfan (out of 109 employees) works for the $11-million company. Spencer has an explanation, though. "We must not have known him around the fall," he says. Not that there weren't clues: on his first day of work, the Chicago native actually arrived in a sports-utility vehicle with a Chicago Bears wheel cover on it. "He told me he was a transplant," says Spencer. "That's acceptable."

2. Mayberry Factor
Heck, all Travis TeSelle is after are folks who know what it means to put in a hard day's work. The CEO of Tensor Information Systems (#176), a systems integrator based in Fort Worth, has made a conscious effort in recent years to hire employees who hail from the rural Midwest. "People from small towns are generally people who want to do the right thing," he claims. "They're extremely honest." TeSelle himself was bred in Tekamah, Nebr., where the townfolk total 1,853.

3. Life Support
When he was leaving graduate school to become a professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Paul Shirley set down in writing both his short-term and his long-term goals. He found the exercise so challenging and helpful that he had his two founding partners at SVS (#122) do the same thing at the company's inception. "It's a way to force the personal issues to the front," says Shirley, who serves as chairman and CEO of the aerospace- and defense-engineering firm. Many of SVS's hires come from large aerospace companies and government agencies; having them write life plans--of whatever length they want--has been Shirley's way of determining how his growing company fits into their big picture. "You are opening yourself up to much more than a business relationship," he says. "Can you really address their needs in your environment? If not, maybe it's not the best fit."

4. Peer Pressure
Apply to work at Active Control Experts (#79), and you may begin to feel that you are under suspicion for a criminal offense. The questioning--from a wide array of interrogators--feels endless. The first time around, says Ken Lazarus, president and CEO of the manufacturer of vibration-control devices, from six to eight people will lob queries at the applicant. Aside from Lazarus, those interviewers include the recruitment manager, the candidate's would-be department head, and potential coworkers. If the recruit doesn't emerge with a unanimous thumbs-up, he or she is asked back for another round. Then, as many as six additional interviewers may sit down with a candidate, focusing their questions on potential weaknesses that turned up earlier. Each interviewer covers a specific aspect of the candidate's skill set. One, for example, may subject mechanical-engineer recruits to a brainteaser that requires diagramming. Why the rigor? Lazarus wants to see how a recruit reacts to the kind of pressure that's akin to working at a fast-growing company. "Candidates say it's grueling at times, but they understand why we do it," he says.

5. Sinking Feeling
From the start, Sean McEwen, chairman and CEO of TriTech Software Systems (#344), never put much stock in writing samples when he was hiring technical writers. Each candidate, he knew, would simply bring one or two best efforts. That's why he came up with an assignment for those who want a job writing manuals at the software developer: go home tonight, he tells recruits, and write me a manual about hand washing. "It's something so basic; it's something we all know how to do," explains McEwen. "And we're all experts on judging the quality of the manual. I could give it to the person who answers the phones, and she'd have a valid opinion of it."

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