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Updated August 24, 2022You’re reading an excerpt of The Holloway Guide to Technical Recruiting and Hiring, a book by Osman (Ozzie) Osman and over 45 other contributors. It is the most authoritative resource on growing software engineering teams effectively, written by and for hiring managers, recruiters, interviewers, and candidates. Purchase the book to support the author and the ad-free Holloway reading experience. You get instant digital access, over 800 links and references, commentary and future updates, and a high-quality PDF download.
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important Most of the contributors to this Guide have worked in the United States, in the Silicon Valley job market and at growing, engineering-focused companies of various sizes. The principles and high-level advice apply much more generally than these constraints, though culture, values, and the dynamics of the job market may vary in different geographic areas and across the industry. If you have experience in other contexts, we’d love to hear from you.
Aditya Agarwal provided framing for this section.
Candidates and hiring managers might imagine the recruiting and hiring process fairly simply: a company describes the desired role, somehow sources people or solicits applications, filters and interviews these candidates for the role—and then picks the best. Rinse and repeat, right?
This way of thinking is dangerously oversimplified: it describes a process, but not the goals. A company or hiring team has needs. And candidates have needs. The goal of a good hiring process is to find common purpose between the candidate and the company.