My first few years working in recruitment felt empty and unfulfilling, so I sought meaning elsewhere in my life and began volunteering at a suicide hotline. During the rigorous training process, I was shown the dazzling power of active listening, of patiently and intentionally encouraging someone to say more about how they are feeling. It soon became clear that the techniques I was learning could revolutionize my approach to recruiting.

The predominant issue in this field is that nobody teaches recruiters how to hire. There's no formula available, no set of steps based on best practices to follow, and as a result, hiring can be an intensely confusing process. Occasionally, we might get lucky and make a great hire, but we often settle for less than the perfect fit, hurting both our company and the candidate in the process.

The hotline opened my eyes to the fact that it doesn't have to be this way. The process of recruiting can be smooth, structured, and reliable, and can even have a certain beauty to it. What I offer you in this book is not a highly specific approach that should be adopted to the letter; instead, it is a glossary of ideas that, if understood and embraced, can transform your recruiting process and, ultimately, your company. What's more exciting than that?