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The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired

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This book is written for everyone involved in the hiring process.

It will help hiring managers and recruiters find and hire more top-notch people for any job, from entry-level to CEO. Using the two-question Performance-based Interview, anyone who is involved in assessing candidates will quickly be more effective and more accurate.

Just as important, it will help job-seekers find better jobs by giving them an inside view of how most companies look for, assess and hire new employees. Hiring top talent starts by clarifying expectations up front. This has been shown to be the primary reason people perform at peak levels. This book is based on the Performance-based Hiring process Lou Adler introduced in his Amazon bestseller, Hire With Your Head.

The audiobook edition of The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired includes access to a PDF document of Supplementary Materials with all the images, charts and appendices that make the print version of the book so popular and useful.

Performance-based Hiring is now used around the world in small and large organizations and companies. However, it is a non-traditional hiring process. Performance-based job descriptions-which we call performance profiles-replace the commonly used skills- and experience-based job descriptions. Instead of emotions, feelings and biases, evidence is used to assess competency and fit within the organization. Rather than weed out people who don't posses some arbitrary list of prerequisites, compelling career messages are used to excite and attract the best.

On the other hand, understanding how companies make these critical decisions can help job-seekers navigate these tricky waters, the poorly designed hiring processes still in use. But no matter which side of the hiring desk you are on, hiring the right person or getting the right job will increase satisfaction, performance and motivation. All it takes is a little common sense, which surprisingly seems in short supply in the world of hiring.

Audible Audio

First published January 31, 2013

90 people are currently reading
389 people want to read

About the author

Lou Adler

19 books18 followers

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5 stars
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128 (42%)
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Profile Image for Jacob O'connor.
1,641 reviews26 followers
November 24, 2014
Lou Adler definitely has a process. I've been on the business-side of hiring several times now, and I want to apply a scientific approach to it. Adler has a slew of helpful tips. The next time I'm adding to my team or (gulp) interviewing for a new job, I'll go back and consult this book. Some quick notes:


-Is this the job you want? If no, you'll be disappointed no matter what the pay

-Mistaking activity for progress

-Instead of asking about day one, ask about year one

-Dont be seduced or dissuaded by first impressions

-Look for the "achiever" pattern

-Go easy on those you dont like, hard on those you do

-Phone screen

-Research the company before the interview

-Use questions to get breathing room

-Uncover the company's reeds and then offer a solution

-1. back record of consistent upward progress
-2. formal recognition

-3. Rapid promotion

-6. being involved in big decisions typically over their level

-How do you test for motivation? Ask for examples of going the extra mile

-Go slow as fast as you can

-Offer incentives to grow

-Go for career maximization, not money maximization

-Show our process instead of just giving the solution
448 reviews5 followers
November 2, 2022
The title says it all - it is absolutely essential that all organizations invest the time and effort to hire people with this approach. Many people in the hiring profession do not use these ideas because they don't know or don't "have the time".

I'm glad to say that I was already doing some of these things 15 years ago when I worked in a startup. So you could say that I know that the ideas mentioned herein work. This book has also helped me address some challenges in the hiring arena that I faced. So yes, I will be frequently referring to this book when I work with clients.

The book also has great practical advice for the job seeker. I am again glad to say that I offer the same tips and similar tools when I coach my clients to write their resumes and prepare for interviews based on their strengths.


I strongly recommend this book for anyone who interviews candidates for a living.
Profile Image for Yağız “Yaz” Erkan.
222 reviews4 followers
July 20, 2018
I tried to start to read this book twice so far. I failed to make significant headway on both occasions.
I kept thinking "is the author ever going to get to the message"? So much repetition, so much fluff, so much promise about showing/telling things but never getting to that point... Maybe one day I'll be patient and brave enough to go through it.
Profile Image for Ronald Sinaga.
1 review33 followers
January 7, 2019
Awesome talent management book for recruiters and managers

Coming from a non-HR background, bought this book to understand the recruiting industry and it has served that purpose well. The concepts are simple and well-explained. Being a veteran recruiter, the writer knows well how to use real life examples to support these concepts!
Profile Image for Joshuaprice.
43 reviews2 followers
January 7, 2019
Having never really thought about how to hire, this was referred to me by a friend. I really liked the principle of hiring someone that will be successful in doing the job and not someone who meets all the listed job requirements. I am in the process of hiring a faculty line right now, so let's see if this book actually helps
Profile Image for Bob.
4 reviews
January 15, 2018
A seemingly valid approach to recruiting and hiring thoroughly explained

Whether you are a large company, small business, or government hiring manager, you would do well to study and implement the concepts laid out in this easy-to-read book.
Profile Image for Andrzej Swedrzynski.
2 reviews7 followers
June 3, 2018
The content of the book is great and immediately useful. Unfortunately, the book is just too long. There are too many useless repetitions. It is still worth reading, just skim over the stuff which is repeated.
Profile Image for Javier González.
1 review
August 4, 2018
Good points but way too long. Could have been a book half the length - a quarter dedicated to candidates and a quarter dedicated to recruiting managers.

Still, worth reading if you want to structure the interviewing process on either side of the fence.
Profile Image for Pamela Gioia.
Author 4 books
October 5, 2020
So sensible that it baffles me that not all hiring teams don't operate the "Adler Way".

Stop sourcing or interviewing until you've read this book! If your hires don't make it past their first 100 days, this will tell you why.
Profile Image for Rick.
54 reviews
November 8, 2020
I found it useful as a hiring manager that I will continuously return to as a guide, but useless as tool to get hired. The getting hired portions of the book are more of an afterthought and the main focus is help hiring managers.
1 review
June 16, 2023
A lot of great tips, and great for those hiring managers looking to add a new level to their process when looking for skilled employees. However, I found with looking for entry level positions his methods break down.
Profile Image for Mark Chambers.
8 reviews
January 24, 2018
Great approach to recruiting, but needs buy in from the organization if you want to really make it work.
Profile Image for Todd Benschneider.
88 reviews4 followers
August 23, 2018
Nothing revolutionary on the pages for business professionals, but good introductory read for consumers. Good prespective of how how headhunters and recruiters view candidates and assess resumes.
Profile Image for Richard.
22 reviews2 followers
August 26, 2019
Good

Good job liked it great thanks for the help bs d d d d f r r r t to
Profile Image for Attila.
35 reviews
November 16, 2021
Okay but not earth shattering, slightly dated the industry has moved on.
Profile Image for Valeria.
21 reviews16 followers
February 4, 2016
Книга для меня оказалась очень полезной. Конечно же, это один из многих инструментов, которые можно использовать при подборе персонала. Но имея многолетнюю практику подбора людей, понимаю, что предлагаемый автором performance based approach как к конструированию требований к вакансии, так и к отбору людей больше всего позволяет нам понять, соответствует ли кандидат той работе, которую ему придется делать.

Могу сказать, что интервью по компетенциям и ситуационное интервью с легкостью может быть заменено предлагаемым Лоу Адлером методом. Нашла для себя массу полезных инструментов и в ходе прочтения книги даже попробовала составлять описание вакансии в соответствии с моделью beyond year one, когда ты не фокусируешься на том, что надо делать, а описываешь цели, стоящие перед вакансией и перспективы развития человека в должности.

Предлагаемый подход также позволяет дать конструктивную обратную связь кандидату, если мы видим, что он не подходит для выполнения работы. Более того, если кандидат не может ответить на конкретные вопросы о том, что и как он делал, не может предложить решения проблемы, стоящей перед компанией (а problem solving question автор предлагает задавать кандидатам), он и сам поймет, что не дотягивает. И тогда вопрос предоставления обратной связи почти отпадает - интервьюеру нужно просто резюмировать, что он увидел и услышал. Чтобы на вопрос рекрутера о том, чего же не хватило кандидату для того, чтобы его рассматривали, не придумывать или говорить: "Тут немножко сложно описать. Больше это как внутреннее чувство. Он просто производит впечателние если не менее зрелого, то точно не более зрелого сотрудника, чем наши", а дать четкий ответ по всем важным для вакансии параметрам.

Однозначно рекомендую к прочтению ЛИНЕЙНЫМИ МЕНЕДЖЕРАМИ, рекрутерами и кандидатами.
Profile Image for Rhiannon Root.
247 reviews7 followers
December 17, 2016
Picking the right person for the job can be complicated and stressful. “The Essential Guide for Hiring and Getting Hired” by Lou Adler seeks to provide some assistance in this difficult task.

Normally, I wouldn’t pick up a book like this one. But, as my mentor advised that I read chapter 10 of this book, well, I did. (That chapter is all about job interviews.) I thumbed through a few other parts of this book as well, but mainly I focused on that chapter.

For the most part, this book is aimed at hiring managers and helping those folks figure out who to hire, how to get those people and what strategies you need to use to hire them. There are some parts that are geared toward job seekers, which were insightful. Each chapter ends with some bullet points, so you don’t have to absorb every word. (This is helpful when you’re short on time and attention.)

Not the best book I’ve read on jobs, but it was certainly helpful to peek inside the thought process of hiring managers. I’m sure I’ll reread parts of this book. If you’re looking for a job, my mentor was totally right, chapter 10 is pretty awesome.
Profile Image for Irina Ignatovich.
4 reviews3 followers
February 1, 2016
In a word? Excellent! Must read if you're looking to build a great team. The great value of this book for recruiters, hiring managers and candidates is that it lays out a decision-making process that can be used to help and make fair each and every hiring and job decision you make.
Profile Image for Cody.
3 reviews
August 25, 2014
Describes a thorough process to hire and get hired. It helped me in implementing various changes both as an interviewer as well as a potential candidate.
40 reviews
September 16, 2016
Contains a great message that's surrounded by too much repetition. Feels like a drag at times. It could probably have been half as long without sacrificing anything essential.
Profile Image for Jake Powell.
129 reviews29 followers
September 27, 2018
I had to read this book for work, and I do think it’s made me a better recruiter. That said, the evidence given for Adler’s recommendations was almost entirely anecdotal, and felt a bit like a long opinion piece or a collection of advice columns.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews

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