Books every recruiter must read at least once

Books have been known to be human’s best friend for the longest time. But the inclination towards reading books differs from person to person. Some are avid readers by nature or choice, while some read out of convenience or need, and some just don’t.

However, you’d agree that one who reads (and that could be any form of reading) is much wiser than those who don’t read at all. But to cut to the case - reading really helps and what you do read, shapes your perspectives and knowledge. 

So here’s a list of audio, PDF, and printed books we recommend every recruiter must read at least once in their career span to get that competitive edge and stay up to speed. 

TL;DR -  7 books that we recommend every recruiter must read at least once in their career span

1. The Robot-Proof Recruiter
2. The Outbound Recruiting Playbook 
3. Productivity Hacks for Recruiters
4. Who
5. Recruit Rockstars: The 10-Step Playbook to Find the Winners and Ignite Your Business
6. Winning talent with a world-class candidate experience
7. No rules rules by Netflix 

1. The Robot-Proof Recruiter Series 

This book comes in two editions. 

The first one provides directions on cutting through the noise to grab the attention of potential candidates who’re flooded with information and choices. Filled with expert guidance and practical tips, the book explains what works, what doesn't, and how you can stand out to recruit effectively in a world of technology overload.

The second edition provides guidance on becoming a trusted recruiter that candidates want to talk to by adopting a human-first approach to hiring. It contains essential guidance on overcoming obstacles, including how to recruit without an existing online presence, how to work effectively with hiring managers to improve the outreach and candidate experience, and how to use technology to support the candidate's journey throughout the recruiting lifecycle. The edition also covers how using unique human qualities in conjunction with technology can enhance employer branding and candidate experience in a post-COVID world. 

3 reasons why should you read this book

1. The author Katrina Collier is herself an activist and a mentor in the talent acquisition space
2. The first edition made it to the finals at Business Book Awards 2020 in the HR & Management Category
3. Top leaders and Katrina herself describe the books as “A survival guide for recruitment & sourcing professionals!” and we agree

Get the book here. 

2. The Outbound Recruiting Playbook 

This playbook has everything that you can and cannot think of when it comes to making your outbound recruiting tick with potential candidates. It’s an evergreen recruiting resource that’ll help you become confident about attracting and hiring the right talent with skills, messages and facts that help you strike a fruitful conversation with candidates now and in the future. 

3 reasons why should you read this book

1. It has tips straight from recruiting experts like Dean Da Costa and others
2. You get 25+ ready-to-use email and LinkedIn Inmail templates for candidate outreach inside the book
3. 150+ talent acquisition specialists, founders and recruiters have already accessed the ebook within a short span  

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Bonus: the playbook is pro-bono resource created in-house for the recruiting community 

Get the outbound recruiting playbook here 

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3. Productivity Hacks for Recruiters

There are many tools and tricks to automate mundane tasks. But knowing what to use when and how is key to preserving your time and bandwidth. This book showcasing routine tips and tricks to work smarter, master time and schedule, remain organized and productive all while making your work week almost negligibly/minimally stressful. 

3 reasons why should you read this book

1. The author, Jonathan Kidder, is a top-Ranked Recruiter Awarded the Most Prolific Recruiting Author of 2021 ‍
2. You get implementation-ready hacks to manage your calendar and email inbox 
3. The book is an outcome of the author’s years of experience working as lead TA at companies like Best Buy, G&K Services, and Amazon 

"The acquisition of knowledge is paramount. By perusing books on talent sourcing, you are making an investment in keeping up-to-date in your position. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to author numerous books on this subject. I have discovered a passion for this field, and it has been a source of great delight to see others benefit from it." - Jonathan Kidder, author, and Senior Tech Recruiter III at Amazon.

Get the book here. 

4. Who 

The Amazon description reads and I quote, “In this New York Times Bestseller, Geoff Smart and Randy Street provide a simple, practical, and effective solution to what The Economist calls “the single biggest problem in business today”: unsuccessful hiring. The average hiring mistake costs a company $1.5 million or more a year and countless wasted hours. This statistic becomes even more startling when you consider that the typical hiring success rate of managers is only 50 percent. The silver lining is that “who” problems are easily preventable. Who presents Smart and Street’s A Method for Hiring. Refined through the largest research study of its kind ever undertaken, the A Method stresses fundamental elements that anyone can implement–and it has a 90 percent success rate. 

3 reasons why should you read this book

1. It’s based on more than 1,300 hours of interviews with over 20 billionaires and 300 CEOs
2. Outlines the right interview questions to improve your ability to quickly distinguish an A Player from a B or C candidate
3. Over 1500 people have top-rated the book on Amazon alone 

Get the book here. 

5. Recruit Rockstars: The 10-Step playbook to find the winners and ignite your business 

In this book, top-tier executive recruiter Jeff Hyman, who has hired more than three thousand people over the course of his career, reveals his bulletproof 10-step method for landing the very best talent. From sourcing and interviewing to closing and onboarding, you’ll learn how to attract winners like a magnet and avoid the mistakes that result in bad hires. Assembling a team of driven and innovative Rockstars is the most powerful competitive advantage you can have in today’s ever-changing business world. Recruit Rockstars is exactly about that. 

3 reasons why should you read this book

1. The book is authored by Jeff Hyman, who’s been hiring and building teams throughout his career spanning over three decades
2. The book does justice to the title and the thought that it aims to convey - that is, hiring the right rockstars for your organization 
3. It's a no-fluff, realistic content

Get the book here. 

6. Winning talent with a world-class candidate experience 

This ebook focuses on the the biggest competitive differentiator that helps employers convert more premier prospects into new hires - candidate experience. It features several best practices that can help you serve a lasting CX to prospective candidates and — in turn — improve your offer acceptance rate and enhance your employer brand. 

3 reasons why should you read this book

1. The ebook has some undiscovered insights revealed by Future of Work expert, Eric Termuende and Lever’s Sr. Recruiter Ash Mullan
2. You’ll have notes on ways to have your candidate comms hit the mark 
3. It’s 20-pager ebook. You can check it during your coffee break, if you’d like - and still have a ton of insights that you could use 

Get the book here. 

7. No rules rules by Netflix 

I heard the audio version of this book back in 2020 while I  was managing a team and also hiring for multiple roles in the marketing department. While it’s a slightly longer read, this book by Netflix’s co-founder Reed Hastings co-authered with Erin Meyer delves into a cultural perspective at the workplace. 

3 reasons why should you read this book

1. The book is an outcome of several successful as well as failed attempts carried out by the team at Netflix - which has been admired for its culture that invigorates creativity and success 
2. The book acts as a great mindshifter about the kind of people you’d start looking for and end up hiring 
3. You get tons of ideas and realizations about the good and bad of your organization’s existing culture. Which you can mould and utilize to develop your employer branding. 

More on the book here. 

Got any recruiting book that you'd like to add to the list? Tell us in the comments! 

Happy Reading and Recruiting :)