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Hiring The Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets & Science Of Hiring Technical People First Edition

by Johanna Rothman (Author), Gerald M. Weinberg (Author)
3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
See all formats and editions
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Good technical people are the foundation on which successful high technology organizations are built. Establishing a good process for hiring such workers is essential. Unfortunately, the generic methods so often used for hiring skill-based staff, who can apply standardized methods to almost any situation, are of little use to those charged with the task of hiring technical people.

Unlike skill-based workers, technical people typically do not have access to cookie-cutter solutions to their problems. They need to adapt to any situation that arises, using their knowledge in new and creative ways to solve the problem at hand. As a result, one developer, tester, or technical manager is not interchangeable with another. This makes hiring technical people one of the most critical and difficult processes a technical manager can undertake.

Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets & Science of Hiring Technical People takes the guesswork out of hiring and diminishes the risk of costly hiring mistakes. With the aid of step-by-step descriptions and detailed examples, you’ll learn how to

* write a concise, targeted job description
* source candidates
* develop ads for mixed media
* review résumés quickly to determine Yes, No, or Maybe candidates
* develop intelligent, nondiscriminatory, interview techniques
* create fool-proof phone-screens
* check references with a view to reading between the lines
* extend an offer that will attract a win-win acceptance or tender a gentle-but-decisive rejection
* and more

You, your team, and your organization will live with the long-term consequences of your hiring decision. Investing time in developing a hiring strategy will shorten your decision time and the ramp-up time needed for each new hire.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0932633595
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0932633590
  3. Edition
    First Edition
  4. Publisher
    Dorset House
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 2004
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    7.5 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches
  8. Print length
    352 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

". . . practical, pragmatic advice on finding and hiring the right person." -- Esther Derby, President, Esther Derby Associates, Inc.

"This clear and comprehensive book joins Peopleware and The Mythical Man Month as must-reads for technical managers." -- Joel Spolsky, Founder, Fog Creek Software

"a humane, yet tough-minded approach to hiring. Any technical manager who wants to hire well will be thankful for it." -- James Bach, CEO, Satisfice, Inc.

About the Author

Johanna Rothman is a highly regarded speaker, author, and consultant; she is known for her pragmatic approach to the problems of managing high technology product development and workers. During the past twenty years, she has been influential in the hiring of hundreds of technical people, including developers, testers, technical editors, technical support staff, and their managers. Based in Arlington, Massachusetts, she is the president of Rothman Consulting Group.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dorset House; First Edition (January 1, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0932633595
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0932633590
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.36 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

About the author

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Johanna Rothman

Johanna Rothman

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

I write non-fiction and fiction.

In my non-fiction, people know me as the "Pragmatic Manager." I provide frank advice--often with a little humor--for your tough problems. I suggest you think about your context because your circumstances are unique. I help leaders and managers do reasonable things that work. I write an email newsletter, the Pragmatic Manager, and two blogs on jrothman.com, and a personal blog on createadaptablelife.com with its own newsletter.

In my fiction, I write about tough, smart women. My heroines have guts! I also have an email newsletter for my fiction.

Please take a look and sign up for the newsletters so I can stay in contact with you.

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
17 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Elian
5.0 out of 5 stars A Cheat Sheet For Hiring. A Guide To Solution-Driven Thinking.
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is the ultimate reference guidebook on not just how to hire the best but almost more importantly, how to feel confident about making critical hiring decisions and moving an organization forward. In a world of fast-track acquisition goals or hasty IPO hopes, this book dares to buck the trend and ask us to get smarter about how to hire right, be unafraid to say no and as a result, build companies of scale that make an impact and last.

The reader need not be daunted by the task of reading this book front to cover like a piece of fiction. This is a guidebook and a manual to pick up and read a few pages here and there when one needs to quickly review and study up on how to approach any or all steps in a hiring process.

It is also a cheat sheet - but not like the ones you used to get in trouble for in study hall. The templates, outlines and direct solution-driven approaches to sourcing, interviewing and closing offers are timeless techniques that can improve or inspire any hiring process. Some of the methods are surprising but all of them are refreshing and offer up reminders that it is good - and smart - to be thoughtful about how one expands their company and teams.

I highly suggest grabbing this one off the shelf and giving it a read. Even if your profession doesn't involve hiring, this book offers teachings that stem outside the world of recruiting and can serve as helpful approaches to any challenging intersection one may find themselves in.
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Jeremy Lightsmith
5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you need to know about hiring (or being hired) in the tech world
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2009
Verified Purchase
If you're hiring people, helping hire, or trying to be hired in the tech world - I can't recommend this book highly enough.

It has a very clear and natural structure that takes you through each step in the hiring process. It's also very skimmable with good summaries at the end of each chapter. I especially enjoyed the chapters on the actual interview. A lot of great material on interview questions & strategy.

As someone who has been part of the hiring process many times in the past and is looking to run it in the future, I'm keeping this book by my side.

If you'd like to get a feel for what's in the book, Johanna has a great blog about hiring technical people here :

[...]
One person found this helpful
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Steven Koh
5.0 out of 5 stars Practical tips
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2009
Verified Purchase
This book provides valuable resources like worksheets, checklists to use for hiring.
The best part is the way the author provides 'warning' section to denote common mistakes.
I am an IT guy, not a HR person and this book meets my practical needs.
2 people found this helpful
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S. Rich
5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference book!
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2012
This book contains the best of what I've learned during my time as a hiring manager PLUS some additional concepts I hadn't yet learned. The power of this book is that all the information is in one place and is well organized. As a hiring manager, I've referenced this book at some point during the interviewing process for almost every candidate since I've had it. I've used this book to formulate hiring strategies, develop job descriptions, formulate interview questions and provide answers to candidates. As an example, during a phone screen for one candidate he asked what the culture is like at our company. I flipped to "Company-Fit Factors" and provided him an answer using some of the factors listed there. I think the candidate was stunned at the breadth of coverage I provided in a short amount of time. Had I not had that reference, I probably would have fished for answers across different topic areas and risked not providing him the information he needed.
One person found this helpful
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Josh Yeager
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for technical hiring managers
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2012
This book was one of the first resources I found when I started hiring for my software development team, and its advice and processes have worked very well for me and my team. I found the chapters on job analysis, job ad development, phone screens, and fast followup to be especially useful.
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Earl A. Everett
5.0 out of 5 stars Hiring techies? Your competition is reading this book ...
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2004
If you are involved in any way with hiring techies, you need this book -- not just as a one-time read, but as one you will refer to repeatedly.

(If you're a techie looking to get hired, it has considerable value, as well.)

Some other recent books, such as <u>How Would You Move Mt. Fuji?</u> deal with the *entire* hiring process only lightly, if at all. This book covers everything, from coming up with the critical/optional requirements of the position (an especially favorite section), through finding and sourcing candidates, résumé review (é is alt-0233 on the numeric keypad, BTW), phone-screen techniques, and truly useful interviewing guidance (another outstanding section). It also covers the crucial decision-making process, reference checking, and making the job offer. It discerns the differences between hiring contributors and managers quite well indeed.

Those of us who have lived painfully through a bad hiring decision know the tremendous cost in money, disruption, and angst. Risk is inherent in every hiring situation, but reading and applying this book will help you go a *long* way toward mitigating that risk.

I bought this book for myself. I'll be buying it for my peer managers, my directors, and my team. It's *good*, and it's *useful*.
18 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

DavidC
3.0 out of 5 stars Meh
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 6, 2017
Verified Purchase
Meh
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