Entrepreneurs and small business owners cite finding the right employees as a recipe for success. Finding those employees, however, can be a long and arduous process. Entrepreneur contributors John Burgstone and Bill Murphy Jr. tackle this issue by offering three fundamental questions employers should ask potential hires.

Can they do the job? If you’re a subject matter expert, you can evaluate candidates based on samples of work and experience. But what happens when you specialize in marketing and you need a computer programmer? Gather as much information about the position as you can, and use each interview to learn more. By the time you’ve interviewed a number of candidates, you should know enough to hire an excellent employee.

Will they do the job? The key here is to ask tough questions. Make candidates go beyond telling you they are passionate and have them describe what exactly makes them passionate. You can find out a lot about a potential hire by describing three hypothetical projects and asking them to rank the projects in terms of what they'd most like to do and then explain their rationale. References are also important, but go beyond the list the candidates provide; contact old employers, colleagues, and if applicable, professors.

Will they fit in? Although you likely won’t be able to answer this question fully until after new hire has been on board for some time, it’s still important to gather as much information as possible. Red Hat CEO Matt Szulil asks one question to all interviewees to determine if they are a good fit: “What do you think ‘successful’ means, and how have you tried to achieve it?” The people who can answer this question can show you their own personal success model, while those who cannot are likely not fit for your company.