Recruiting Employees

I am studying recruitment of an employee and have decided to focus on hiring a Chief Operating Officer. Can you help me identify what environmental factors both internal and external that would impact the recruitment, selection and retention of the positon? Also how would I set the organization apart from others to attract the best candidates?

What type of candidate would be the best to target and why?

What type of selection processes should I use and why? What should I look for on a resume?

Is it a good idea to do a background check? What type should I do?

Should I do pre-employment testing? Why or why not?

Thanks for your help with this. I haven't worked much in the white collar area of a business so am learning this fresh.