This is a very interesting book by Joel Spolsky, titled Smart & Gets Things Done. It has a lot of good information about how to hire the right people for a technical company.
Really this book is a collection of references and combination of thoughts. It refers to Peopleware, a book which I have started but never really finished. He also references various other postings he has made on his site.
The key tenents of this book, as I see them:
- Treat your employees well and you will have to do less hiring
- Find the good programmers as early as possible, as the available programmers are almost never on the market
- Various tips on sorting resumes
- Ensure that all candidates write code
Nothing in this book was overly confusing or different, but it was an interesting read. If you are new to recruiting, reading this book may help, but if you are a veteran most of the stuff in this book will be just a review. Still a fun and interesting review with good little stories. I’d give it at 7/10.
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[...] Lets start with Apple’s brand image. In 1984, during the Superbowl, Apple introduced the Macintosh with a commercial that said “we are against complete control over, we are the company of rebels.” In an age where big companies were completely dominating the market, Apple was trying to change things up. That is what they did the Macintosh. The message presented in that commercial has resonated through the halls of Apple from that day to today. Joel Spolsky mentions this in his book: Smart & Gets Things Done. [...]