Microsoft Access 2003 Query Help?

I am trying to make a query that shows the last and first names of all the professors in the database that were hired before a date entered from the keyboard. I know how to make a basic query, but not how to use the operators such as < or >. I have pulled the last_name, first_name and date_of_hire from the proper tables, and set a parameter [Enter Hire Date], but where do I go from here. I have looked for an example like this to guide me, but no luck. Is there a certain order that these need to go in the query? How to I apply the proper syntax to compare what is entered against the dates in my database? Any help would be greatly appreciated.