Hiring the Best: A Manager's Guide to Effective Interviewing

Rating:
Summary: Junk!
Review: I recently started as a new hiring manager at a commercial printing company. This book was in the bookcase and I thought I'd read it over a weekend - now I wish I hadn't.
Utterly useless and pedantic.
There has to be something else out there.
Little more than a compendium of scripted questions and very light material, I would be hard-pressed to find much of value here.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite interview book
Review: I use this book both for interviewing techniques and for preparing to be interviewed. Its a great book for interviewing because he presents the pros and cons of different techniques and gives what I consider to be a good framework for identifying quality candidates. Its a great book for preparing to be interviewed because it helps you identify the objectives of interviewers and make a better case. As a hiring manager, you should be able to pass an interview with flying colors, shouldn't you?

Perhaps the most enlightening wisdom I got from the book was the enumeration of the qualities of a good employee:

1. Ability to do the job
2. Willingness to do the job
3. Manageability of the candidate

Most interviews focus on the abilities of the candidates and stop there. Big mistake! Mr. Yate gives you guidance on evaluating the whole candidate, and in general I like and agree with his advice.

Other good ideas are evaluating the cracks in resumes, phone screening, and lunch. Never hire anyone without checking background, verifying employment and education, and seeing if they can carry on a conversation at lunch.

I draw ideas for interviews from several books, but this one is the overall framework that I have worked from. I feel the style is readable, the length is appropriate, and the content is excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Well worth the investment of your time and money
Review: If you are looking for a solid foundation of your interview process, take a look at this book. It provides helpful ideas on how to approach your job candidates. Can they do the job, are they willing and can they be managed. It provided lots of helpful questions and processes for a successful hiring process. I have to say, that I am not a professional recruiter just someone that needs to hire and evaluate his new employees.

Rating:
Summary: Junk!
Review: Martin Yate takes us through some of the most important areas of the hiring process and gives good advice. He obviously knows his business. I recommend the book.

Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D., author of "How to Spot a Liar in a Job Interview" and "How to Spot a Phony Resume" [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: An excellent guide to the hiring process
Review: Martin Yate takes us through some of the most important areas of the hiring process and gives good advice. He obviously knows his business. I recommend the book.

Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D., author of "How to Spot a Liar in a Job Interview" and "How to Spot a Phony Resume" [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: An excellent guide to the hiring process
Review: Martin Yate takes us through some of the most important areas of the hiring process and gives good advice. He obviously knows his business. I recommend the book.

Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D., author of "How to Spot a Liar in a Job Interview" and "How to Spot a Phony Resume" [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Guide
Review: So few people have solid interviewing skills, which are critical in ensuring that you consistently hire the best people. This book is incredibly useful in helping you move past the "gut" decision. Several chapters are spent on how to ask various questions so that you neither lead the candidate into giving you the answer you want, nor intimidate the candidate at the wrong time. Very helpful in redefining the typical standard questions (which any decent candidate is prepared for) so that you can really get to the substance.

The book's focus on explaining why certain methods and techniques work better is excellent. In particular it has been very useful in teaching and/or re-assuring the interviewers (both veterans and newbies) at my company that they are asking the right questions and making the correct judgement calls. That confidence is a key success differentiator from the usual randomness in interviewing that often leads to a substandard hire.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Guide
Review: So few people have solid interviewing skills, which are critical in ensuring that you consistently hire the best people. This book is incredibly useful in helping you move past the "gut" decision. Several chapters are spent on how to ask various questions so that you neither lead the candidate into giving you the answer you want, nor intimidate the candidate at the wrong time. Very helpful in redefining the typical standard questions (which any decent candidate is prepared for) so that you can really get to the substance.

The book's focus on explaining why certain methods and techniques work better is excellent. In particular it has been very useful in teaching and/or re-assuring the interviewers (both veterans and newbies) at my company that they are asking the right questions and making the correct judgement calls. That confidence is a key success differentiator from the usual randomness in interviewing that often leads to a substandard hire.

Rating:
Summary: Very good book if a little verbose
Review: The section on drug testing is worth the purchase price alone. If you're looking to get a job and they require screening, just turn to that section of the book and read it for the strength to "just say no" to drug testing! The scripting the author uses is pretty verbose, but he does get his points across really well. I used to think I was pretty good at interviewing (until I read this book)

Rating:
Summary: Indespensible tool for Interviewing
Review: This book is fabulous. You quickly learn both interviewing skills and interviewing strategies. There are many examples and sample questions which help elaborate on the ideaa presented. It is so helpful that I've ordered three more copies to pass around at work.