Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship [Hardcover]

Danny Cahill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2011

Ever notice that the rules of love and the rules of work are the same?

They are! An interview is a date, leaving a job is a break up, severance is alimony. And in Harper's Rules, Danny Cahill--headhunting guru and owner of one of the country's largest recruiting firms--delivers clear-cut strategies for getting a job and building a career, and shows how those strategies can apply to your personal relationships.

Danny offers effective, insider tips, packaged in an intimate and funny parable. As you follow successful executive Casey Matthews through the rough waters of a recent divorce, a job she doesn't like, insensitive interviewers, the rigors of contemporary dating, and high-pressure career advancement, you'll discover the rules that can change your life. The all-knowing but charming headhunter Harper Scott rescues Casey with the essential tools of job hunting and dating.

• Take the sure-fire test for deciding whether you should stay in your job or relationship.
• Discover how to leave without burning a bridge or breaking a heart.
• Understand why you should never accept a counteroffer--from a boss or a lover.
• Learn how to ask for the job or the next date at the end of the meeting.
• Know when to commit and when to keep interviewing or dating.

Harper's Rules is a funny and riveting story that will help you make smart decisions about landing your next--your best--job or relationship.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Danny Cahill is a popular keynote speaker, recruiter, and the owner of Hobson & Associates, one of America's largest search firms specializing in software sales, biotech sales, and industrial sales talent. He is also the founder of AccordingtoDanny.com, an online training and mentoring company dedicated to enhancing the skills and jumpstarting the spirits of recruiters worldwide. He is also a successful playwright with off-Broadway credentials and has won both the Maxwell Anderson and CAB theatre awards. He has written CBS television, as well as various trade journals.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group (April 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1608321002
• ISBN-13: 978-1608321001
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 0.7 x 6.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #839,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Danny Cahill is a renowned "guru" to the recruiting industry worldwide. He owns Hobson Associates, a leading search firm, and a popular Online Training firm, AccordingToDanny.com. In his other life, he is a playwright with off broadway credentials, the winner of the Maxwell Anderson and CAB theatre awards. He has written for CBS television and many magazines and is one of the most sought after motivational speakers in the country.

His new book, Harper's Rules, is his first work of fiction.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Tale April 5, 2011

By John Chancellor TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

At any given time I normally have 4 or 5 books waiting to be read. Whenever I get a new book in the mail, I generally browse through it to determine where it gets placed in the to-read stack. I started to read the prologue to Harper's Rules and simply could not put it down.

Danny Cahill, the author tells a very intriguing story that sucks you in and pulls you forward. You are always eager to learn what happens next in the lives of Casey, the attractive young super-sales person and Harper, the exceptionally smooth, polished head hunter.

The characters are totally opposite. Harper always has things totally under control. Casey is often on the edge of meltdown. She is in total control when in her professional element. However when she strays from her professional role, she is somewhat lost. You will be torn between rooting for her and trying to "fix her and her problems".

To keep things interesting, Cahill mixes in lots of real life situations. Casey is recently divorced and struggling with being alone. Harper goes through his own personal issues.

The book is a fictional tale designed to teach some valuable lessons about finding your dream job and/or finding the right relationship. Cahill makes the point that there are lots of common characteristics between finding the right job and finding the right relationship.

Since Casey is looking for a job and a relationship, she provides an excellent teaching model.

The story is very powerful and I am not sure if it might overpower the lessons. I found that I would want to skip the lessons - called Harper's Rules - in favor of jumping ahead to the next unfolding of the plot. (I didn't, but it was tempting.)

Harper's Rules are some very valuable tips and lessons for anyone actively seeking a new job or a new relationship. There are some very good lessons in the Rules and in the philosophy scattered throughout the book.

I suspect that to get the most from the book you might need to read it twice - once to get through the story and a second time more carefully for the valuable lessons. But that should not be a problem, since the book is rather short - 156 pages and it is very engaging reading. Actually since Harper's Rules are set out separately at or near the end of each chapter, you might just review the rules every so often to refresh your memory.

The story line is very exciting and engaging. But the real value in the book is the wealth of wisdom that Cahill shares. He draws on his real world experience as head of a national search firm. You will come away with a better understanding about what it takes to make relationships work. It does not matter if the relationship is romantic or business - the same principles apply.

I think we could all do a better job of managing our relationships and this book gives us a lot of good information on how to do just that.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book with some helpful advice for job seekers September 6, 2012

By btmasters

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a good book with a nice story and some good advice. It is not a "how to" book. It is more like a fun story with advice on what to do mixed in.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Harper's Rules October 13, 2011

By Tom Keoughan

Format:Hardcover

Danny Cahill has a unique combination of cynicism and optimism. He is also very funny. He has long been the recruiting businesses thought leader and top trainer. Mostly though, he is a performer. I know Danny a little and have seen him in his role as trainer/keynote speaker many times. He always dazzles and he dazzles here.

In Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship, Harper Scott is a younger, thinly disguised version of Mr. Cahill himself. He has decades of experience (decades of experience is good, isn't it Danny?) as a top headhunter filling dozens of jobs a year. You will be taken on a novelized tour of today's job hunting landscape and learn many of the tricks of the trade from how to put together a resume through negotiating a better job offer.

Recruiters have often drawn parallels between job hunting and dating and you will see that this mostly rings true. Danny Cahill makes us turn the mirror on ourselves and our foibles which are usually caused by a combination of mistaken beliefs and settling too deeply into our comfort zones. We can begin to recognize our reaction patterns and many will see themselves in the midnight Haagen-Dazs eating exhaustion of his over-achieving heroine.

Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship is invaluable for everyone navigating the often choppy waters of job change and career growth. It is a short book organized into quick, snappy chapters. Take it with you on your next business trip and you will be both wildly entertained and much wiser by the time you return home. This is a book that everyone should be required to read. Harper's Rules: A Recruiter's Guide to Finding a Dream Job and the Right Relationship rocks!