Previously new staff were Voted for by everyone here, nowadays they are appointed by the current staff based in large part on how helpful, friendly and respectful of the rules and of other people they are in their posts here.
There's also the
Forum Helpers program, where you can nominate anyone to become a temporary staff member. Both bulmasman and I were Helpers in the past, so that could be seen as a way to evaluate suitable people before making them perminant.
Thank you for your nice comments, we do try to maintain those high ideals laid down in our forum rules/guidelines/FAQs
