As the economy rebounds, you may be looking closely at ex-employees who departed on good terms. But poorly managed rehiring can result in reduced productivity and morale. Plus, you face the possibility of discrimination lawsuits from rejected internal applicants. Here are six common rehiring mistakes:

Q. We would like to hire an applicant who used to work for a similar company, but he has a noncompete agreement with his former employer. We think the noncompete is way too broad—it lasts for three years and prevents him from working anywhere in the country—and we do not believe the work he will be doing competes with any activities of his former employer. Can we go ahead and hire him?

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Most managers rely too much on a list of standard interview questions for which most applicants have canned responses. Instead, try these queries, each designed to get applicants to really tell you about themselves and their skills. Plus, read the winning entries from our just-concluded HR Professionals Week question: What’s the most bizarre thing you’ve ever experienced in a job interview?

In late 2007, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials raided a Koch Foods plant in Fairfield, just outside Cincinnati. They found 161 illegal workers at the poultry plant. Now ICE has fined the company $536,000.

Q. I just found out that an employee filed for bankruptcy. I’m concerned, because she works a cash register and has access to money. Can I fire this employee?

The results are in—and we have a winner! At the beginning of HR Professionals Week 2010, which wraps up today, we asked you to tell us about memorable things that have happened to you during job interviews. And tell us you did.

What’s the most bizarre thing you’ve ever experienced in a job interview?

Next came voting, in which you chose your favorite response. Thanks to everyone who took the time to cast a ballot. Now we've got the results.

The change-up is one of the most potent pitches in baseball. Likewise, a change-of-pace interview question can give HR and hiring managers keen insight into a job candidate’s analytical, creative and organizational thinking. Here are 15 of the most intriguing interview questions from the more than 14,000 submitted by job candidates last year through Glassdoor.com:

With competition hot for open positions, the pressure is on for job seekers to have flawless interview skills. But sometimes they choke under that pressure. Here are 10 classic job interview flubs recently uncovered in a nationwide survey of hiring managers. Add your own in a special HR Professionals Week edition of the HR Specialist Forum.

It is remarkable that a seemingly simple, one-page form—the Form I-9—can cause so many headaches. But who ever said a government form was easy, much less an immigration-related form. Here are the most common mistakes employers make.

The U. S. Department of Labor, in conjunction with the IRS, has announced a “misclassification initiative” aimed at employers that misclassify employees as independent contractors. A 2009 Government Accountability Office report labeled misclassification a “significant problem” with “adverse consequences” for the government.

Q. Another company has requested a reference for an employee that we fired. The company has a signed form giving the employee’s written consent to ask us for a reference. Will we have legal problems if we provide negative information about the employee?

Some employers don’t want to hire applicants who haven’t succeeded elsewhere and create a blanket no-hire rule for any applicant who isn’t eligible for rehire by a former employer. If you’re tempted to do the same, make sure you enforce the rule uniformly and don’t make exceptions.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., one of the nation’s largest poultry processors, has agreed to settle with the government following a two-year Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation into allegations that hundreds of its employees were unauthorized to work in the United States.

In a new study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers ranked these (in order) as the top five skills/qualities they look for in potential employees: