The first questions start-ups typically wrestle with are whom to hire, when and where to find good candidates. Hiring employees for your small business can be difficult.Not only do you have to deal with advertising the open position and organizing incoming resumes and cover letters, but when you start interviewing job applicants, you have to keep certain legal and discrimination guidelines in mind.

To select the right employee for the job you’re filling, you need to take several factors about the applicants and the job itself into consideration. Here is a brief checklist.

• Screening process starts with filled out job applications. If you decide to create your own job application think about how much information you want to ask. Avoid illegal questions.

• References from a job applicant’s past employers help you separate job applicants with good references — meaning good employment records — from others who have a less positive job performance history.

• Small companies often do best with flexible candidates who are used to smaller environments as there often are no set jobs and everyone may do a bit of everything.

• Don’t be tempted to hire candidates with big-business credentials; they may not always be a good fit.

• Ask for referrals from your friends, industry colleagues and advisers, such as your accountant, attorney, board members and organization members. But don’t hire someone just because you know them.

• Deciding what tasks to outsource and what to hire an employee for may come down to whether the work lies within your business’s main areas of strength and whether that function is needed on a regular basis.

The best way to add real value is to hire a person who can perform a certain role that your business needs most, and perform it well.