How to Hire A-Players: Finding the Top People for Your Team-Even If You Don't Have a Recruiting Department -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- About the Author -- Introduction: Where Do I Find Great People? -- Chapter 1: The Value of A-Players -- Thriving Businesses Are Built by Teams of A-Players -- The Impact of Just One Great Hire -- One A-Player Can Give You Your Life Back -- One A-Player Can Keep You from Getting Divorced -- One A-Player Can Help You to Sell Your Business -- You Can't Turn Midgets into Giants -- The Best Coaches Are the Best Recruiters -- Get Passionate about Finding and Hiring A-Players -- Make Money Next Year from the A-Players You Hire This Year -- Focus on the Value of A-Players -- A-Players Beget A-Players -- Isn't This HR's Job? -- The 80/20 Principle Is Alive and Well -- Where Are Your Talent Choke Points? -- Challenge Your Leadership Team -- Payoffs from This Management Discussion -- The Team You Need versus the Team You Have -- Chapter 2: Would You Know an A-Player if You Met One? -- Where Do I Start? -- Interview More People! -- Get Better Results from Job Advertisements -- How to Define Your A-Player Profile -- Documenting Your A-Player Profile -- Using Your A-Player Profile to Improve Recruiting Results -- Get Clear on Your ''Knockout Factors'' -- Chapter 3: Three Steps to Creating an A-Player Team -- Create an A-Player Mind-Set -- Interview All the Time -- But What if I Don't Have a Job to Fill? -- Building Your Farm Team -- Recruit Before You Need To -- Should You Advertise for Your Farm Team? -- Explain the Farm Team Approach to Job Candidates Up Front -- The Power of Staying in Touch -- The Secret to Dealing with Poor Performers -- Employee Referrals -- Referrals Wanted-Always -- Develop an Internal Farm Team -- Keep It On -- Chapter 4: Right under Your Nose: Leveraging People You Already Know.

Friends and Family -- Your Customers -- Customers as Referral Sources -- Your Vendors -- Create an A-Player Target List -- Don't Make Up People's Minds for Them -- Remember that C-Players Often Sell Themselves Better than A-Players -- Internal Hires -- Tapping into the Contacts of New Hires -- Taking Action to Tap into Your Network -- Chapter 5: Don't Just Sit There. Reach Out! -- Recruiter in Chief -- Industry Conferences and Continuing Education -- Stay until the Quesadillas Are Scorched -- Don't Wallow in the Shallow End of the Networking Pool -- Quality Is More Important than Quantity -- Develop Connections to Influencers -- Become an Influencer Yourself -- Cultivating Referral Sources -- Do I Really Have Time for This? -- Chapter 6: Finding New Pools of A-Player Talent -- Women Reentering the Workforce -- Restaurant Personnel -- Teachers -- Starbucks and Other Well-Operated National Retailers -- On-Campus Interviewing -- Internships -- Alumni Networks of Large Companies -- Former Entrepreneurs -- Find a Talent Pool and Go Deep -- Chapter 7: The Basics of Online Recruiting -- Your Company's Web Site -- Online Job Boards -- Social Media -- What Is LinkedIn? -- Facebook: Is a Candidate Giving You Reasons to Say No? -- Twitter -- Great, but How Do I Make This Work? -- Chapter 8: Using Recruiters Wisely -- When to Use Recruiters -- Finding the Right Recruiter -- Criteria for Selecting a Recruiting Firm -- Contingent versus Retained Recruiters -- Specialists versus Generalists -- Hire the Recruiter, Not the Firm -- Checklist for Interviewing Recruiters -- Check Recruiters' References -- Negotiating the Contract -- Lessons Learned from the Best Recruiters -- Chapter 9: Interviewing and the Economic Value of Good Looks -- A-Players Are Attracted by High Standards -- Create an Interview Process that Works -- Always Start with Your A-Player Profile.

Capture and Quantify Your A-Player Profile -- Create an Interview Scorecard -- Conduct Multiple Interviews -- Use Multiple Interviewers -- Create Interviewing Teams -- Interview Candidates, Don't Educate Them -- Ask the Right Questions -- Always Ask Follow-Up Questions -- Don't Be Afraid of Silence -- Take Notes -- Implement a Post-Interview Review -- Avoid Hiring in Your Own Image -- Leverage Reference Checks -- Put People at Ease in a Casual Setting -- Don't Oversell -- ''Live-Fire'' Interview Exercises -- Take Candidates with You -- Have Candidates Make a Sales Call -- The Paid Interview -- Have Them Create an Action Plan -- Passion Is Demonstrated by Preparation -- Chapter 10: Popping the Hood on Candidates Using Assessment Tools -- Solving the People Puzzle -- Creating a Common Language -- Avoid Hiring Landmines -- Revealing the Gaps between People and Positions -- The Sweet-and-Sour Effect -- Who Will Be Motivated to Do the Job? -- Avoiding an Organ Rejection: The Importance of Cultural Fit -- Are People Driven to Achieve? -- The Difference between Drive and Self-Esteem -- Integrating Assessments into the Interview Process -- Proven Tips for Using Assessments Effectively -- Conclusion: Keeping the A-Players You Hire -- A-Players Want to Work for Strong Leaders -- Define Your Organizational Strategy -- Be Objective and Make the Time -- A Close Look at Your Organizational Chart -- Coaching and Keeping A-Players -- I Was Thinking about You -- Look to the Future -- Web Sites for Free Additional Resources -- Notes -- Index.