Written by Maciej Szczerba Recruiting | Recruitment Agencies

7 best books for recruiters available on Amazon

First a note: I have selected these 7 books from dozens of items from my library on Kindle relating to the recruitment and recruiting industry. I tried to choose titles that best show what the role of a recruiter is - working within the company's structures or on the side of a third-party recruitment provider, and which help to fulfill this role best.



First a note: I have selected these 7 books from dozens of items from my library on Kindle relating to the recruitment and recruiting industry. I tried to choose titles that best show what the role of a recruiter is - working within the company's structures or on the side of a third-party recruitment provider, and which help to fulfill this role best. I didn't focus on items like: how to improve interview techniques, how to do sourcing, how to take care of candidate experience.  Maybe one day I will also make a personal ranking of such positions (there are several good ones) - nevertheless, in such books the content is repetitive. But I will share titles that made me a better recruiter, started to better understand the process, candidates, hiring managers, my role.  Here they are.

1. "The Savage Truth" Greg Savage



My most recent read, but also probably the best on this list. It's part biography, part handbook. The author is a founder/co-founder of several recruitment firms and former CEO of a global specialist recruitment agency recruiting for the marketing/ advertising/ PR industry. He talks about his ups and downs very frankly. „The guy tells it like it is" without unnecessary embellishment, with Australian ease and directness. For me, the most valuable part of the book is the second part - advice from a market veteran for those entering the role/profession of a recruiter, for those wishing to develop into recruitment management, as well as for those wishing to open their own business in the recruitment field. From this angle, in my opinion, this is the best book on the market. Last but not least, Greg uses the example of his long-time friend to show in one of the chapters what qualities and attitudes an ideal recruiter has. I fully share his opinion on this subject. Read it.

The Savage Truth: Lessons in Leadership, Business and Life from 40 Years in Recruitment | Greg Savage

2. "How to become a better executive recruiter" Michael Palumbo



A short book that shows in a concise, very understandable and accurate way how to work with clients and candidates. We used it as a basis for setting up processes and checklists in our companies. It is worth having at hand. It is worth to study it while designing or systematizing processes in an organization.

How to become a BETTER executive recruiter | Michael Palumbo

3. "The Rich Recruiter" Andrew Leong



This book is aimed at agency recruiters, but I can also recommend it to recruiters working within companies. Lots of examples here of how to guide the candidate and client (for an internal recruiter this would be the hiring manager) and how to "close" recruitment processes. If you feel you are not 'closing' you need to look at what you need to improve - a very helpful book.

The Rich Recruiter | Andrew Leong

4. "The Professional Recruiter's Handbook" Jane Newell Brown & Ann Swain 


Quite a well-known position. Reminds me of a car manual, transferred to the context of the recruitment process, but with skilfully shown life examples and tips. A very good position for those starting out as a recruiter, and for supervisors to use in onboarding recruiters.

The Professional Recruiter's Handbook: Delivering Excellence in Recruitment Practice | Jane Newell Brown & Ann Swain

5. "The Real Deal" James Caan



This gentleman needs no introduction. One of the jurors of "Dragon's den" - a well-known reality show, not only in the UK. The book is to some extent a PR material, but a lot of interesting things can be seen between the lines and you can learn to think "out of the box". For example - how James solved the problem of lack of candidates using job fairs, costs covered by the clients, how James' employee came up with the RPO model, how to keep recruiters who want to leave the company. It's worth reading at the end for a picture of the recruitment industry in the early 1980s. Hard "cold calling" to candidates and the mantra of "there's no that can't be done" (compare with Greg's book above - you'll see the same picture). After reading this, one appreciates how much easier it is for us today.

The Real Deal: My Story from Brick Lane to Dragons' Den | James Cann

6. "The Consultative Recruiter"  Katherine Moody



The author does a nice job of showing how to talk to candidates and clients in a relational way. Recommended if you want to better understand candidates and hiring managers and how to manage relationships.

The Consultative Recruiter: The Key to Faster Fills, More Candidates & Happier Hiring Managers | Katherine Moody

7. "The Robot Proof Recruiter" Katrina Collier



One of the newer items on the market. Probably many of us have thought at least once during our careers whether the "end of the world of recruiters" will come?  Will our profession be replaced by some mythical "technology"?  At first, the role of "mythical technology" was to be played by job portals. Then LinkedIn and its clones. In recent years we have been hearing about artificial intelligence. Will algorithms and bots replace recruiters ? Not if you learn to manage relationships well. Then you are able to create "recruitment situations" through good communication. Read on, because as an ordinary sourcer without good communication skills, you may fall prey to robots.

The Robot-Proof Recruiter: A Survival Guide for Recruitment and Sourcing Professionals | Katrina Collier

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