Paul V. Gartlan is the president and owner of Professional Aviation Management, a management recruiting and business-process outsourcing company based in Miami. The company's primary clients include Lan Airlines, Iberia Airlines, and Marriott International (MAR ). Before starting the company eight years ago, Gartlan spent 10 years at the Exxon (XOM ) in Chile, Argentina, and Coral Gables, Fla. At Exxon, he worked in the finance and downstream marketing departments. Gartlan says his company will hire between 30 to 40 MBAs this year and will be targeting mostly Spanish-speaking candidates from entrepreneurial and international MBA programs.

Gartlan encourages MBA candidates to be cautious with every part of the communication process and also to be sure to join a company that is the right cultural fit. He recently spoke with BusinessWeek Online Reporter Jeffrey Gangemi. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation:

Q: What attributes do you look for in an employee?
A: Being a smaller company that represents medium-size corporate clients, we must work extremely hard to find candidates who are the right fit. All of our clients, like Lan Airlines, for example, have a tremendous culture of teamwork. They have achieved extraordinary results in an extremely challenging industry because they hire the right "fit." It's easy to find qualified candidates on paper, but the attributes we most look for in the interview process are intelligence, outstanding analytical skills, and the proactive ability to identify opportunities for the company. Without a doubt, outstanding communication and interpersonal skills are a must.

Q: How do you judge these skills in a candidate?
A: We consider every step of the interview process to be extremely important, not just the resume and the cover letter. We consider all phone communications, voice mails, e-mails, and other communication as an opportunity for us to identify the unique talents and weaknesses of a particular candidate. It is amazing how some candidates can be so careless in their communication, both verbal and written. Without the appropriate attention to detail and proper business etiquette, you won't even get to the actual interview process with our company.

Q: How would you describe the recruiting process?
A: We just pay a tremendous amount of attention to detail. All candidates who pass our initial resume-screening process are also asked to complete our Candidate Data Profile (CDP). The CDP consists of three pages of additional questions that require the candidate to briefly describe aspects of their strengths, weaknesses, and experiences. Many times, the CDP and resumes don't match. From this, we can identify which candidates really want the positions. We also use a lot of situational interviewing to provoke deep thought and advanced communication abilities.

Q: How can a candidate impress you?
A: There is nothing that can replace preparation and speaking from the soul. Hiring a bad fit is a waste of time for the candidate and company. Candidates should always keep that in mind. There is no wrong answer for many of the questions we ask, as long as they're well thought out and well-communicated. A candidate who asks good questions is always impressive to me as well.

Q: What is a typical career path with your clients?
A: We are currently hiring for several positions, both at the undergraduate and post-MBA level, and in a variety of disciplines such as operations, finance, IT and commercial). Advancement can happen quickly. For example, we hired an MBA student from Babson's Entrepreneurial program about 18 months ago. After about 14 months in the Miami headquarters, he is now a regional manager in the New York office. This student went into the opportunity without expectations, performed at the highest level, and was promoted from within.

Q: How would you describe the company culture?
A: I would describe the culture as active, challenging, competitive and entrepreneurial. Although we recruit for mostly medium-size companies, we require a diverse range of skill sets and offer positions throughout the United States and Latin America.

Q: Is there any internal competition?
A: Most of our clients prefer to promote from within to the more senior positions, so almost all of our recruiting is at the undergraduate or post MBA levels. Once you are in the company, the competition is almost always internal. It's rare for higher-level executives to be brought in from outside the company. This is a tool that we constantly use to attract good candidates. There is nothing more demoralizing later in your career than to have outsiders hired for senior positions ahead of you.

Q: Do you hire international students who wish to work in the U.S. after graduation?
A: Yes, we hire many international students who have just graduated. We really like the one-year visa period that international students have upon graduation. Our workplace is diverse and our most successful employees have international experience, whether they are foreign students or not. We have employees from almost every country in Latin America, and many of them have high school, college and postgraduate degrees from U.S. schools.

Q: What are some trends you see within your industry?
A: We are an executive search and BPO [business-process outsourcing] company, based in Miami. For us to be successful, we must be able to identify and attract what will work in our business. It is easy to recruit if you are Exxon and have that level of name recognition. We don't have that name or the resources, so I think we have to work smarter. "Fit" is critical.