Top 3 hiring books for CTOs
We have assessed over 12k software engineers in the past year alone. To get here, technical recruiting has been a constant game of iteration, learning, and growth. This blog post is a shortlist of the recruiting books that have impacted my understanding of technical recruiting over the last 8 years of building Gemography.
Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead
“Work rules!” is one of those books that doesn’t straight out tell you what to do, instead, it tells the story of how Google approached recruiting early on (among other things) as well as the why behind a lot of their decisions, including some of the most controversial ones. Worthy to note that it’s also a pretty data-driven and science-backed book.
Who: The A Method for Hiring
One key element to be mindful of when recruiting is building alignment around the kind people we want to hire and what skills they need. This book provides an excellent framework that allows you to implement a more structured and predictable recruiting. The author emphasizes the importance of making objective assessments and overcoming first impressions. He also shares four key interview questions to help assess a candidate's competency and motivation. The book features helpful charts and checklists, making it a valuable resource for company owners, HR professionals, and managers involved in the hiring process.
Hire With Your Head: Using Performance-Based Hiring to Build Great Teams
A great introduction to performance-based hiring, written by Lou Adler, the man behind the same concept. In this book, Adler provides you with the tools and techniques necessary to avoid costly mistakes when hiring. Adler's POWER Staffing System method, developed to address the problems and inconsistencies typically found in the hiring process, consists of five steps: performance-based job descriptions, objective evaluations, well-developed sourcing plans, emotional control, and recruiting effectiveness. This practical and easy-to-follow guide is a must read if you’re looking to improve your hiring processes.
