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St. Petersburg-based online ad firm Triad Retail Media has three core values to help determine if potential new hires will fit into the company's culture: Relationships. Problem-solving. Looking ahead.

To find those values during interviews, Chris Shindelbower, a senior vice president at Triad, says he likes to get a sense of an applicant's aspirations “beyond this particular role.”

And Wendy Larrison, senior vice president of human resources, likes to ask behavioral questions, like “What are you reading right now?” or “What is your proudest accomplishment?”

Triad has an in-house talent acquisition team that helps the firm find new candidates and actively pursues passive job seekers. “It's a candidate's market,” says Larrison. “There are not a lot of candidates. That's what makes the passive candidates so crucial.”

Outside of passive candidates, Triad has found success in hiring people referred to the company by current employees. Larrison says referred candidates tend to be the best fits on culture and have longer retention rates. Triad is hosting an open house in March solely for referral candidates.

Triad has more than 600 employees globally and plans to add another 200 people in 2016. The firm's sales surpassed $500 million in 2015, up 36% over 2014. “The local market has had lots of growth, but we still need more” people, Shindelbower says. “And it's evolving every day. Having an ability to adapt and redefine your skills is huge.”

Shindelbower joined Triad in 2008 as a designer. He previously worked for his own firm in St. Petersburg, a company similar to Triad — which he never heard of before he applied for a job there. “I thought I would have to move to New York or L.A. or even Chicago or Miami to do this,” he says. “That's not the case with Triad.”

Shindelbower moving up in the company is a prime example of Triad's goal for new hires. “We do a lot of promotions from within,” says Larrison. “It's sort of a grow-from-the-ground-up approach.”

TIPS
• Stay active with passive job seekers;

• Keep tabs on the entire industry;

• Don't lose contact with referrals and share new roles with the network;

• Dig into an applicant's life beyond why they want this one position.