My deputy commissioners and I wait until the very last person has been interviewed to compare notes on every applicant. It's amazing how close we are most of the time on the top one or two people.

I include other department managers to the extent that we ask for their input on what they think the issues are and what they would like to see in a director or manager. I do not include them in the interview process because I'm a strong personality and I know what I want. Frankly, I run this department, and if something goes wrong, it comes back to me. I absolutely take responsibility for the people I hire.

Most of them actually have been in government. But we had some very strong candidates for the ETS director position who were not in government.