What are the top three characteristics a recruiter looks for when interviewing a candidate?

There is not necessarily a 'Top 3' - you have to look at the whole picture.
As you cannot hire the characteristics in parts and combine them into a separate entity.
An individual may have exceptional skill which is a perfect fit for the position and at the right cost but might not be a fit within the organization culture OR A person may be slightly lacking in skill which is easily trainable but a perfect culture fit This is where the skill of a recruiter comes into play.
How the recruiter is able to achieve the balance by evaluating the candidate in respect not only to the job - but for a career within the organization.
Remember - as a recruiter, you are not just filling a position.
You are investing in two assets.
1.
The Hiring Organization 2.
The Individual's career

There are many characteristics but they differ according to the needs of the job: 1 - personal and psychological 2 - mental capacity and intelligence 3 - Ability to deliver 4 - The ability to performance 5 - speed performance 6 - values ​​and morals 7 - skills and abilities

1- The intelligence.

2- The leadership ability.

3- Being integrity, "It’s probably the most important single quality for long-term success in life and at work.
Integrity begins by being true to yourself.
This means that you are perfectly honest with yourself and in your relationships with others.
You are willing to admit your strengths and weaknesses.
You are willing to admit where you have made mistakes in the past.
Especially, you demonstrate loyalty.
You never say anything negative about a previous employer or a person whom you have worked with or for.
Even if you were fired from a previous job, never say anything negative or critical."

We can clearly define these characteristics depending on the job we are recruiting for ! But we should take in account these primary characteristics: Professionalism.
High Energy.
Confidence and Self-Monitoring.

it depends from one industry to another, yet if we're talking about start-up business for instance a recruiter should or will go for the following as first priority 1.
Flexibility -You can call it flexibility, versatility, adaptability, whatever… but the ability to flow with the never-ending changes required by the business is essential.
2.
Accountability / Responsibility -Individuals have to show they’re willing and able to not only come up with ideas, but defend those ideas and implement them.
-Walk me through an idea that you came up with, implemented, and saw through to positive results.
If you got initial push back from your supervisors, that’s even better.
3.
Entrepreneurial Spirit & innovative - Tell me about a shift you or your company made that fundamentally changed your role, the product or the company.
What did you think about the change? How did you contribute to the change? -Driven with ambitious Describe an event where you were forced to make a make-it-or-break-it decision when you didn’t have all the information you needed and no time to get it.
How did you make the decision and how did it turn out?

1.
Personality 2.
Past skills and achievements 3.
Expected Salary

Dear Mr.
Zeeshan It is differs from job to job it is totally due to the vacancy available in you organization.
So you have to do what we call it job pattern to each job which is extracted from the job description then do psychometric assessments to all candidates and the one who have the most matching personality pattern matching the results of your job pattern will be the suitable one However generally you can dived it to core skills & abilities and side skills & abilities if you do not use psychometric assessments

there are general criteria , interpersonal skills , communication , language , experiences story that reflect what he/she write in the CV

Skillset match, Cultural match and matching of other parameters such as salary, joining time, etc...

I agree with Malekulashtar Kheyroolla.
It really differ between the positions but one should always try to find a candidate that fits with the company's culture! I suggest you set competencies for each position and tailor your interview to them...

It will largely depend on the organizational and position competencies defined already.
e.g.
if you are interviewing a candidate for Customer Services position you may be interested in Emotional Intelligence, listening, problem solving, professionalism etc.
and if you are interviewing a candidate for Project management position you may be interested in his time management, analytical and persuasion skills.