Elon Musk was cited as the entrepreneur CEOs admire the most. Credit: Heisenberg Media

Inc. Magazine recently conducted its annual survey of America’s top 500 private-company CEOs, asking them everything from their biggest mistake in their first year (not enough capital) to what entrepreneur they admire most (Elon Musk).

But the most interesting question was, “What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?” The runaway choice cited by half of all surveyed CEOs was attracting and retaining skilled employees.

That echoes the results of another critical question, “What is the biggest contributor to your company’s ability to innovate?” The most popular answer by far was recruiting top talent, which garnered 41 percent of all responses.

So who are these CEOs looking to hire? Well, 66 percent said they wouldn’t hire a candidate who didn’t research their business before interviewing, 62 percent wouldn’t hire a candidate who didn’t make eye contact during an interview and 51 percent said they wouldn’t hire a candidate who can’t communicate in writing.

However, only 8 percent said they wouldn’t hire someone who has been out of work for more than six months.

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