If you are new to starting a site and are looking for assistance and haven't been a member of another forum where you have friends that you could trust with these positions then here's a few tips to help you out.

1. Look for a member of your site that is helpful to other members when they have a problem. This often indicates a member that is giving in nature and willing to help out, plus the fact that they care about your site. This member would be a good mod.

2. Look for a member that regularly posts new content to your site. If they post new content or reply on a regular basis then they want your site to be active and care about how well your site does. This member would be a good mod.

3. Look for a member that gets in touch with you for productive ways to help out your site. This denotes that this member wants to help you out in any way they can. This member would be best for admin status.

4. If a member continually asks for status as mod/admin they may be power hungry and you would be best to stay clear of them.

5. It's best that you as the site owner stay in close touch with your mods/admins. If they will not give you an easy way to get in touch with them (i.e. IM, personal email, phone number) then you should be leary of them.

I own 3 sites and root admin 7 or so others and Im in direct contact with all the other admins and mods from all those sites. Most of which I have known for many years or came to me through the other admins/mods and I trust them all. Very seldom do I have to go back and change anything they did but it does happen. They all understand when I do this and why as I explain why I do what I do. Respect is they key when it comes to this. That has to be setup from the moment you promote someone to these positions.

I hope this is helpful and feel free to ask any questions.

__________________

Good tips overall....Although, nothing is ever black and white. Just because somebody makes a lot of posts in your forums does not mean that they would make for a good mod...and just because somebody is always giving you a lot of suggestions for the forums does not mean that they'd make for a good admin

In the end, you need to go with somebody who you feel comfortable with. Always remember that technical skills can be taught - people skills cannot. Always go with somebody with people skills over somebody with technical skills. Unless, of course, you're looking to fill a developer/programming role

__________________
...some super-sweet signature

Nice post mate, some sound advise, and well, some weaker advise. I think the relationship with your team should be more than just easily being in contact, you need to have somebody who will 'fit in' within your team/unit, and therefore somebody who you do and can get on with.

Totally agree with Ryan too. Nothing else to add really