10 Books every recruiter should read

When adding to a reading list, one of two scenarios generally applies. These are:

1) you want to know more about a specific subject or technique and seek out a title to read about it

2) you see a book and think 'Hmm, that looks interesting. I'll put it on my reading list’.

This list is mostly reflects the second scenario above.

But to satisfy the requirements of the first scenario, the list is ordered by relevance to recruitment and recruitment skills. Hopefully both camps will be happy! So, on with my recommended list of 10 books for my recruiter colleagues.

Recruitment-specific knowledge:

1. Search and Placement by Larry Nobles and Steve Finkel

2. Breakthrough by Steve Finkel

The first book offers the building blocks of running your recruitment desk and is equally useful to new and experienced recruiters alike. We’ve all met a recruiter who, through no fault of his own, has survived a few years in this industry without having a good understanding of all areas of competency required in this business. This book is designed to show exactly what you need to know and do to be successful.

Breakthrough is full of techniques, strategies and processes to take you from an average biller, or stagnating recruiter, to the next level and beyond. Worth every penny.

Sales technique:

3. SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham

4. Selling The Wheel by Jeff Cox

SPIN stands for Situation, Problem, Implication and Need-payoff – which probably gives you the nutshell of the technique.

Understanding these four points from your customer’s perspective enables you to provide a fitting solution. Don’t sell the solution until you know what the problem is.

That said, no sales technique is a blanket, proven winner in any given situation. Adjust your approach and technique depending on what your proposition is and what your prospective client needs or wants.

This is where Selling The Wheel comes in. Cox has a highly entertaining way of putting his stories, and the content is based on solid research and findings gleaned from sales people working in a variety of sectors and industries. It all goes to prove that you won't sell someone a brand new Ferrari by telling them it's a ‘good price’ – you need to use the right approach.

Non-sales specific techniques:

5. Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

6. The Extra Mile: How To Engage Your People To Win by David McLeod and Prof Chris Brady

Influence has some brilliant material to help you understand how you can influence the mindset of others in a mutually beneficial way, covering a wide array of psychological constructs (social proof etc) in a highly relatable context, making the information easier to absorb.

The research-based The Extra Mile is a clear tutorial in how much more ground you gain when everyone in the boat is rowing, as well as how to get everyone rowing willingly because they are all heading towards a common goal in which they are invested. This insight has helped me many times in finding innovative ways to engage that team member who clearly has the talent but we can’t seem to find out what pushes their motivation buttons.

Mindset:

7. Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson

8. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

9. As A Man Thinketh by James Allen

10. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

These last books encourage more introspection. If you don’t understand why you think the way you do and how your thoughts govern pretty much everything you do, then you have little chance of being able to understand, motivate or inspire others.

Think And Grow Rich (originally published as The Law Of Success) and The Secret both circle around the law of attraction. Whereas As A Man Thinketh deals with a slightly more abstract concept in that you don’t attract what you want but what you are – like attracts like, and personal accountability.

Who Moved My Cheese is more about how you deal with, and adapt to change. To thoroughly understand this enables you to assist and guide others through dealing with change too, a very valuable skill in recruitment.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but I hope I have perhaps inspired or encouraged someone to read one of the above titles. I have found them all to useful and/or inspirational in my life and career, but as I add to my reading list, and continue to discover new titles, it is highly likely that this list will change over time. The only thing that will not change is that I will never lose my desire to read or to learn.

Alison Mulligan is a senior account manager at ERP recruiter Maximus.
- Originally posted at: http://www.recruiter.co.uk/personal-dev/2013/09/10-books-every-recruiter-should-read/#sthash.3tCdD3rx.dpuf