What do you think?
Rate this book
The Effective Hiring Manager Lib/E
MP3 CD Format The Effective Hiring Manager offers an essential guide for managers, team leaders, and HR professionals in organizations large or small. The author's step-by-step approach makes the strategies easy to implement and help to ensure ongoing success.
Hiring effectively is the single greatest long-term contribution to your organization. The only thing worse than having an open position is filling it with the wrong person. The Effective Hiring Manager offers a proven process for solving these problems and helping teams and organizations thrive.
Listeners will learn the fundamental principles of hiring and interviewing, how to create criteria to hire by, how to create excellent interview questions, how to review resumes, how to conduct phone screens, how to structure an interview day, how to conduct each interview, how to capture interview results, and more.
Written by Mark Horstman, cofounder of Manager Tools and an expert in training managers, The Effective Hiring Manager is an A to Z handbook to the successful hiring process. The book explores, in helpful detail, what it takes to hire the right person, for the right job, and the right team.
Hiring effectively is the single greatest long-term contribution to your organization. The only thing worse than having an open position is filling it with the wrong person. The Effective Hiring Manager offers a proven process for solving these problems and helping teams and organizations thrive.
Listeners will learn the fundamental principles of hiring and interviewing, how to create criteria to hire by, how to create excellent interview questions, how to review resumes, how to conduct phone screens, how to structure an interview day, how to conduct each interview, how to capture interview results, and more.
Written by Mark Horstman, cofounder of Manager Tools and an expert in training managers, The Effective Hiring Manager is an A to Z handbook to the successful hiring process. The book explores, in helpful detail, what it takes to hire the right person, for the right job, and the right team.
Audio CD
First published October 1, 2019
71 people are currently reading
345 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
June 27, 2021
Very concrete methodology for the very important process of hiring. Full of examples and justifications of their methods. Useful for managers, interviewers and candidates.
December 16, 2019
Want to make managing easy? Hire well. I'll take this advice from the always helpful Manager Tools team. I've come to believe that finding the right people is one of the most important things I can do as a manager.
Notes:
Nook
Hiring is the most important managerial practice
Lack of ability to hire is a serious impediment to career growth (18)
don't automatically hire when you have an opening. Are you sure you need to? (22)
How to solve the hiring problem without hiring
1. Ask your directs to prioritize their work
2. 2. Ask them to analyse their work based on its value and priority to the organization
3. have them make a list of everything they're working on and roughly how much time i takes
4. Rank it not by hours but by value
5. Ask them what on their list could afford to not be done (25)
Chapter 2: The second principle of Effective Hiring -- Set Your Bar High (27)
If you want to make managing easier, make hiring better (27)
In the worst cases, leave the decision to some senior manager who's never been trained, never been given feedback, has never been assessed on her true positive and true negatives, is never held accountable, and mostly goes with her gut. We've tested more than 20 seasoned managers we've met over the years who had the reputation for making good good decisions on hiring. We have never found a single case where they notably help paste the results of other managers, based on looking at records of true and false positives and negatives. (28)
Our guiding principle must be to avoid hiring anyone who has the slightest chance of being a hiring mistake (29)
If you're looking for reasons to say yes, you'll find them. But it's he reasons we should have said no that come back to haunt us (30)
The only thing worse than an open position is filling it with the wrong person. (30)
The purpose of any interview is to find a reason to say no (34)
Chapter 4 behavioral interviewing in preparing your hiring criteria
Traits and characteristics are necessary, but they are not sufficient (36)
The best way to see whether someone can do the job is to find out whether he's done it before (37)
Behaviors are the engines of doing (37)
The best way to interview someone, is to look for behaviors that are necessary and sufficient for success in our role, in which the person has engaged in previously (37)
A good behavioral question has three parts: the helpful lead-in, an open-ended beginning, and the behavior you're looking for (46)
Good material on determining metrics (47,48)
Chapter 6: behavioral interview question examples
Chapter 7: Screening Resumes (53)
Titles--what to look for. Look at the titles of jobs the candidate has had over his career. Right now you're just looking for similar experience (53)
All things being equal, you want someone from an organization that is growing (59)
Hiring an individual contributor from another firm to be a manager at your firm is almost never a good idea (60)
Screen out anything that could be a responsibility masquerading as an accomplishment (63)
Qualification without quantification is inherently suspect to a resume screener looking at Accomplishments (65)
If you're looking for reasons to say no, and we are, we don't need to look any further than someone who won't work hard enough to get the details right when getting the details right is a widely understood important factor in a process (69)
Inaccuracy is not a result of lack of tools or resources. It's a choice, a behavior, a decision. It's prioritizing speed over accuracy, in a medium where accuracy is known to be prized and speed is an indicator of lack of preparation (69)
Chapter 8: screening social media
Phone screening
Start with "Tell me about yourself" (81)
Even if HR is doing phone screens, so one yourself (84)
Chapter 11: Video and Telephone interview (88)
Don't compare candidates to each other but against the standard each has to meet to receive an offer (93)
Many managers have a lot more leeway to do things their own way when they hear, "That's how it's done" (103) Personal note: better to ask forgiveness than permission
If you're hiring someone whose job requires technical skills, asses those skills as directly as you can. Test them (106)
Illegal? The questions themselves are not illegal: Using the answers to those questions to discriminate in the hiring process is what is illegal (110)
Previous behavioral patterns are the most accurate predictor of future behaviors, which is what you’ll be paying for when you hire someone. (114)
Probing (118)
A candidate who can't articulate a decision-making process or paradigm won't be able to make repeated smart decisions working for you (119)
Keep your evaluation hat on -- even if you've decided to say no (122)
Greatness is high standards gracefully achieved (123)
Good questions show preparation, invite conversation, are related to the candidate's role, and ideally reference something discussed in the interview. Bad questions are questions about what the candidate will get or have in the role, or are not conversational (124)
Author would rule out a candidate who asks selfish questions, for instance about pay or vacation time before an offer has been made (126)
Poor communication skills are a reason not to hire someone (127)
You want to ask the same question in the same way every time. That's the only way you can be sure that you're comparing like with like when you review the answers from different candidates (129)
When taking notes, write what you hear -- not what you conclude based on what you hear (132)
Communication is the most frequent behavior all professionals engage in at work. Without good communication skills, a team member reduces the effectiveness of his team, almost regardless of their strength in other skills (138)
What and Why format:
* Interpersonal: how well did he interact with you? what did he say and do?
* Cultural: how well you think she would fit with the firm. What did she say and do?
* Skills: What did you see in the answers to the four behavioral questions, including how the answers were communicated, and why do you say that?
* Technical: how did the person perform in the technical assessment? (144)
Tell them that you will be in touch on a regular basis (usually every three days) until a final decision is made (146)
Check references (147)
Discrepancies that would catch our eye: Use of manager title without directs or a budget (150)
"What was his best contribution?" (153)
"What would you say his areas for improvement are?" (154)
"If you were me, 9du have any concerns about emplying her?" (154)
It's okay to make offer via voicemail (157)
"You didn't demonstrate..." (166)
The effective manager humbles himself (167)
Horstman's Christmas Rule: if we don't have a process, we're making it up as we go (178)
Notes:
Nook
Hiring is the most important managerial practice
Lack of ability to hire is a serious impediment to career growth (18)
don't automatically hire when you have an opening. Are you sure you need to? (22)
How to solve the hiring problem without hiring
1. Ask your directs to prioritize their work
2. 2. Ask them to analyse their work based on its value and priority to the organization
3. have them make a list of everything they're working on and roughly how much time i takes
4. Rank it not by hours but by value
5. Ask them what on their list could afford to not be done (25)
Chapter 2: The second principle of Effective Hiring -- Set Your Bar High (27)
If you want to make managing easier, make hiring better (27)
In the worst cases, leave the decision to some senior manager who's never been trained, never been given feedback, has never been assessed on her true positive and true negatives, is never held accountable, and mostly goes with her gut. We've tested more than 20 seasoned managers we've met over the years who had the reputation for making good good decisions on hiring. We have never found a single case where they notably help paste the results of other managers, based on looking at records of true and false positives and negatives. (28)
Our guiding principle must be to avoid hiring anyone who has the slightest chance of being a hiring mistake (29)
If you're looking for reasons to say yes, you'll find them. But it's he reasons we should have said no that come back to haunt us (30)
The only thing worse than an open position is filling it with the wrong person. (30)
The purpose of any interview is to find a reason to say no (34)
Chapter 4 behavioral interviewing in preparing your hiring criteria
Traits and characteristics are necessary, but they are not sufficient (36)
The best way to see whether someone can do the job is to find out whether he's done it before (37)
Behaviors are the engines of doing (37)
The best way to interview someone, is to look for behaviors that are necessary and sufficient for success in our role, in which the person has engaged in previously (37)
A good behavioral question has three parts: the helpful lead-in, an open-ended beginning, and the behavior you're looking for (46)
Good material on determining metrics (47,48)
Chapter 6: behavioral interview question examples
Chapter 7: Screening Resumes (53)
Titles--what to look for. Look at the titles of jobs the candidate has had over his career. Right now you're just looking for similar experience (53)
All things being equal, you want someone from an organization that is growing (59)
Hiring an individual contributor from another firm to be a manager at your firm is almost never a good idea (60)
Screen out anything that could be a responsibility masquerading as an accomplishment (63)
Qualification without quantification is inherently suspect to a resume screener looking at Accomplishments (65)
If you're looking for reasons to say no, and we are, we don't need to look any further than someone who won't work hard enough to get the details right when getting the details right is a widely understood important factor in a process (69)
Inaccuracy is not a result of lack of tools or resources. It's a choice, a behavior, a decision. It's prioritizing speed over accuracy, in a medium where accuracy is known to be prized and speed is an indicator of lack of preparation (69)
Chapter 8: screening social media
Phone screening
Start with "Tell me about yourself" (81)
Even if HR is doing phone screens, so one yourself (84)
Chapter 11: Video and Telephone interview (88)
Don't compare candidates to each other but against the standard each has to meet to receive an offer (93)
Many managers have a lot more leeway to do things their own way when they hear, "That's how it's done" (103) Personal note: better to ask forgiveness than permission
If you're hiring someone whose job requires technical skills, asses those skills as directly as you can. Test them (106)
Illegal? The questions themselves are not illegal: Using the answers to those questions to discriminate in the hiring process is what is illegal (110)
Previous behavioral patterns are the most accurate predictor of future behaviors, which is what you’ll be paying for when you hire someone. (114)
Probing (118)
A candidate who can't articulate a decision-making process or paradigm won't be able to make repeated smart decisions working for you (119)
Keep your evaluation hat on -- even if you've decided to say no (122)
Greatness is high standards gracefully achieved (123)
Good questions show preparation, invite conversation, are related to the candidate's role, and ideally reference something discussed in the interview. Bad questions are questions about what the candidate will get or have in the role, or are not conversational (124)
Author would rule out a candidate who asks selfish questions, for instance about pay or vacation time before an offer has been made (126)
Poor communication skills are a reason not to hire someone (127)
You want to ask the same question in the same way every time. That's the only way you can be sure that you're comparing like with like when you review the answers from different candidates (129)
When taking notes, write what you hear -- not what you conclude based on what you hear (132)
Communication is the most frequent behavior all professionals engage in at work. Without good communication skills, a team member reduces the effectiveness of his team, almost regardless of their strength in other skills (138)
What and Why format:
* Interpersonal: how well did he interact with you? what did he say and do?
* Cultural: how well you think she would fit with the firm. What did she say and do?
* Skills: What did you see in the answers to the four behavioral questions, including how the answers were communicated, and why do you say that?
* Technical: how did the person perform in the technical assessment? (144)
Tell them that you will be in touch on a regular basis (usually every three days) until a final decision is made (146)
Check references (147)
Discrepancies that would catch our eye: Use of manager title without directs or a budget (150)
"What was his best contribution?" (153)
"What would you say his areas for improvement are?" (154)
"If you were me, 9du have any concerns about emplying her?" (154)
It's okay to make offer via voicemail (157)
"You didn't demonstrate..." (166)
The effective manager humbles himself (167)
Horstman's Christmas Rule: if we don't have a process, we're making it up as we go (178)
February 13, 2025
Perhaps, my expectations were too high, after The Effective Manager, but this one was a lot less substantial to my taste.
January 3, 2022
A book that I hope no one will read it. Too much opinionated. It is about an outsourced consultant who tries to convince hiring managers that they don't need in-house hr professionals.
I have read other books that I don't agree with but I respect the different opinion. Here it talks only for small businesses and for processes that cannot scale in bigger organisations. It doesn't recognise hr progress and it talks only for traditional departments in very slow-paced environments.
I have read other books that I don't agree with but I respect the different opinion. Here it talks only for small businesses and for processes that cannot scale in bigger organisations. It doesn't recognise hr progress and it talks only for traditional departments in very slow-paced environments.
September 10, 2021
Hay cosas interesantes, sin duda, sobre todo el tema de las behavioural questions, pero en todo caso es un libro muy inflado, que se podría haber escrito en la cuarta parte (o menos). Aún así, lo peor de todo es el tono, entre comercial y arrogante. Es bastante insoportable.
November 18, 2021
Some good strategies, some parts are a bit old school corporation feeling. But there are definitely good strategies and tactics in here that make this worth reading.
March 28, 2021
I like this book and think it's a great read for any hiring manager. If you are not a people manager and want to understand the hiring process better, this will get you inside the head of hiring managers.
"We need more training on interviewing," and "how do I do effective interviews?" are questions I hear every time we talk about manager development at my work. This book answers those questions and gives you specific things to do. It's not nebulous advice. You can take action on the advice immediately.
I have tried many of these techniques in real interviews, and they delivered better results than the questions I had been using. I'm skeptical of the advice to "use the same questions" for all interviewers in the loop. I haven't tried that one yet. The suggestions in this book work, and will get you a solid process for interviewing.
It covers:
* how to justify headcount/the position you want to open
* how to determine what you really want out of a position
* phone screens
* in-person interviews
* what types of questions to ask
* where to fit technical/demonstrating skills into the interview loop
I don't like the sales pitches to subscribe to the author's website/service. But you don't need to use their site/services to get value out of this book.
Overall, I think this is a solid book. It has a lot of practical suggestions and will get you going and/or improve your interviewing process.
"We need more training on interviewing," and "how do I do effective interviews?" are questions I hear every time we talk about manager development at my work. This book answers those questions and gives you specific things to do. It's not nebulous advice. You can take action on the advice immediately.
I have tried many of these techniques in real interviews, and they delivered better results than the questions I had been using. I'm skeptical of the advice to "use the same questions" for all interviewers in the loop. I haven't tried that one yet. The suggestions in this book work, and will get you a solid process for interviewing.
It covers:
* how to justify headcount/the position you want to open
* how to determine what you really want out of a position
* phone screens
* in-person interviews
* what types of questions to ask
* where to fit technical/demonstrating skills into the interview loop
I don't like the sales pitches to subscribe to the author's website/service. But you don't need to use their site/services to get value out of this book.
Overall, I think this is a solid book. It has a lot of practical suggestions and will get you going and/or improve your interviewing process.
December 18, 2019
Truly great book about hiring. The only inner conflict I have now is "say NO" and the very time intensive interviewing schedule. It's the direct opposite of what is being discussed in the realm of design this very moment. In the user experience field many folks are pushing for "more diversity" and making the potential pool of candidates as big as possible. A full day of interviews is certainly not something anybody can take time to do. I'm sure Manager Tools is saying that the folks who don't put in the effort shouldn't be hired by us, but I know many great designers who would be turned off by such practices.
The same can be said for take home exercises, on-site whiteboard challenges and the likes. I'd be curious to see the data that Mark is referencing a lot in the book (e.g. panel interviews don't work) as well as a debate covering some of the points that I've struggled with.
Still it's a must read. Easy to follow, actionable guidance, clear descriptions about the purpose of hiring.
The same can be said for take home exercises, on-site whiteboard challenges and the likes. I'd be curious to see the data that Mark is referencing a lot in the book (e.g. panel interviews don't work) as well as a debate covering some of the points that I've struggled with.
Still it's a must read. Easy to follow, actionable guidance, clear descriptions about the purpose of hiring.
June 2, 2022
I was looking for a book about hiring and behavioural interviews and this
mostly fit the bill.
It goes into the different stages of hiring: preparation, screening, interviews,
deciding & offering and on-boarding.
I liked the focus on looking for reasons to say "no" through the whole
process.
I would have liked to have more about behavioural interviews, but the section
was at least a good introduction.
The suggested whole interview process with every interviewer repeating the same
questions seems a bit tedious. I am sure the results are great. I wonder what
effect this has on the interviewees.
In general the book assumes a buyers market with the attitude towards the
applicants only switching in the offer phase.
The on-boarding section is short and punchy. This comes across as a bit of an
afterthought.
mostly fit the bill.
It goes into the different stages of hiring: preparation, screening, interviews,
deciding & offering and on-boarding.
I liked the focus on looking for reasons to say "no" through the whole
process.
I would have liked to have more about behavioural interviews, but the section
was at least a good introduction.
The suggested whole interview process with every interviewer repeating the same
questions seems a bit tedious. I am sure the results are great. I wonder what
effect this has on the interviewees.
In general the book assumes a buyers market with the attitude towards the
applicants only switching in the offer phase.
The on-boarding section is short and punchy. This comes across as a bit of an
afterthought.
March 27, 2023
Effective Hiring Is The Most Important Management Practice
I am biased as I have been listening to Manager Tools, the podcast started by Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne, since 2009. I have always learned from the actionable and precise guidance in the podcasts and Mark's books.
The book is not a collection of podcasts on hiring. Still, it does gather all the essentials on hiring from the podcats offering an essential guide for hiring managers. Mark's step-by-step approach makes the strategies easy to implement and helps ensure effective hiring for the practitioners. The book explores what it takes to hire the right person for the right job and team. All pre-offer activities are an effort to find reasons to say "no."
I recommend this as an essential reading for any hiring manager.
I am biased as I have been listening to Manager Tools, the podcast started by Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne, since 2009. I have always learned from the actionable and precise guidance in the podcasts and Mark's books.
The book is not a collection of podcasts on hiring. Still, it does gather all the essentials on hiring from the podcats offering an essential guide for hiring managers. Mark's step-by-step approach makes the strategies easy to implement and helps ensure effective hiring for the practitioners. The book explores what it takes to hire the right person for the right job and team. All pre-offer activities are an effort to find reasons to say "no."
I recommend this as an essential reading for any hiring manager.
February 2, 2020
Easy read in Mark’s conversational tone and as always - clear, practical things that you can apply as a hiring manager. Whilst some of the advice won’t work in some organisations, every manager can take something useful from this book - even if you’ve been listening to the casts for years!
Regarding other people’s points about nothing on diversity and inclusion, I actually see that as a positive. You’re hiring on the behavioural criteria to do the job well and if you can demonstrate that you make the cut. I think the objective method helps weed out bias. I say this as a manager that ticks protected characteristics boxes myself.
Definitely recommend.
Regarding other people’s points about nothing on diversity and inclusion, I actually see that as a positive. You’re hiring on the behavioural criteria to do the job well and if you can demonstrate that you make the cut. I think the objective method helps weed out bias. I say this as a manager that ticks protected characteristics boxes myself.
Definitely recommend.
May 27, 2025
Very practical tips on how to navigate the hiring process as a manager. Key takeaway is that the hiring process is not an attempt to “hire someone” but an attempt to not hire the wrong person “(a.k.a. ‘Hell on earth’)”. This mindset means that you are constantly looking for a reason why someone might not be a good fit at your institution.
Definitely would recommend to any manager starting out on the hiring journey or those that don’t have a solid and successful process in place for hiring.
While this book is primarily for hiring managers, it also has tips that job seekers might find helpful to see what managers are looking for when hiring.
Definitely would recommend to any manager starting out on the hiring journey or those that don’t have a solid and successful process in place for hiring.
While this book is primarily for hiring managers, it also has tips that job seekers might find helpful to see what managers are looking for when hiring.
March 4, 2021
While I did not love every single thing in this book (sometimes a desperate hiring NEED or pressure from management does not allow you to take the right amount of time for hiring), I do love Mark Horstman. I've been listening to Manager Tools for years & I believe that they've done a lot for the areas of leadership and human resources. "Hiring effectively is the single greatest long-term contribution to your organization. The only thing worse than having an open position is filling it with the wrong person."
February 15, 2020
Fantastic recommendations without filler material. I’ll be referring back to this book regularly. Big fan of Mark and the Manager Tools team, they have literally trained me from afar over the last 2 years starting in management, and have helped me to find a passion in what should be treated as a profession unto itself.
What I would love to see in a future version is more focus on internal hiring vs external and the change in approach that would require.
What I would love to see in a future version is more focus on internal hiring vs external and the change in approach that would require.
November 6, 2021
Very helpful guidance
I recommend this for anyone that participates in hiring decisions. I work in a government setting with a very strict hiring process and I was still able to put some of these ideas into practice right away. It might take a while to move the total process in this direction, but I'll do what I can.
I recommend this for anyone that participates in hiring decisions. I work in a government setting with a very strict hiring process and I was still able to put some of these ideas into practice right away. It might take a while to move the total process in this direction, but I'll do what I can.
January 13, 2022
Excellent consolidation of recommendations regarding the process of hiring. Yet another example in the "Manager-Tools" universe of stuff that just isn't taught! I loved it. There was nothing new for me, having listened to the podcast for years, but it is excellent to have the most important points clearly organized and outlined in bite-sized chunks.
June 18, 2023
Great tips to be effective in hiring. I did not think I’d enjoy this book as much as I did- I listen to manager tools often and have attended their conference, all of which were great. This book still had value to me and is making me rethink how I am approaching certain areas of our/my hiring process.
Thank you Mark and MT team
Thank you Mark and MT team
December 15, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PznJq...
I think the above video, summarizes why every entrepreneur needs to read this book and understand why it's probably the most important book to read, even before considering of building a company.
I think the above video, summarizes why every entrepreneur needs to read this book and understand why it's probably the most important book to read, even before considering of building a company.
November 17, 2020
This book is great for not only hiring managers, but people job hunting. Talks in depth about every step of the hiring process, the reasons to say no to a candidate (rather than looking for reasons to say yes), and why behavioral questions should be the core of any interview.
January 19, 2023
It’s a sales pitch.
It claims to have everything backed up with data but to put it in their own words “the audiobook did not demonstrate this”
Good content overall but lacking in important areas to properly bring it home.
It claims to have everything backed up with data but to put it in their own words “the audiobook did not demonstrate this”
Good content overall but lacking in important areas to properly bring it home.
December 14, 2019
Very useful for anyone participating in the hiring process.
March 21, 2020
Already knew what to expect as far as the content and writing style and I wasn't disappointed. This should be required reading material for all hiring managers and HR!
March 31, 2020
Fantastic and timeless
Fantastic and timeless. The principles here will be valid 59 years from now, like all the other Manager Tools guidance.
Fantastic and timeless. The principles here will be valid 59 years from now, like all the other Manager Tools guidance.
April 14, 2020
Practical and step by step approach to approaching hiring. Good underlying point that effective hiring is about finding the reasons to “say no”.
July 31, 2020
This is only for people who want to be effective managers. It is filled with clearly explained, actionable guidance. Ignore it at your peril.
December 3, 2020
Are you hiring? If so this should be a mandatory reading.
Well structured and written by practitioners.
Well structured and written by practitioners.
August 13, 2022
Gave us a very useful approach way how to hire our next collague!
It's more time consuming, but hopefully worth it :)
It's more time consuming, but hopefully worth it :)
Want to read
January 3, 2023As heard on Manager Tools.
February 25, 2023
I bought this. It has so much good information for both being a hiring manager and an applicant.
January 4, 2025
There's actually good interview and hiring advice. I felt it did what it says: provides guidance for 90% of what I need 90% of the time
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews