Our value to companies is to find the best talent for them, and what our candidates read is important. In this short post, I give some of the books that have given positive results in the interview process. This is for people who want to better prepare for that important phase of finding a better job, in which interviewing is key. The maxim of “know thyself” is what joins these books, as you get to know more about how you are and how you influence either positively or negatively others. This discovery process will give you a better understanding of your soft skills or Emotional Quotient. In this age of technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, soft skills will become more important than ever.
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie. You will learn how to influence people with skills that generate a long term value to the people you most interact with, and yourself. I have seen this book de-escalate tough, negative work relationships, and move on to deliver value to the team, their families and ultimately the company.
How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing with People, by Les Giblin . Les gives a very good instruction manual on how to better prepare for interviews and how to become a better executive. By honing your skills on how to deliver better value in relationships, your confidence grows and your ability to better deal with people.
How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling, by Frank Bettger, Frank worked with Dale Carnegie in the sales arena. In finding a job, you need to become better at selling YOU. The results I have seen after landing the job, is the ability to better sell ideas, change, strategy shift in teams and companies.
Personality Plus: How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself, by Florence Littauer, the majority of people did not study psychology, so this book gives you a good framework on understanding people. By understanding your personality, you will see how to improve how you deal with the other 3 personalities. In an interview, it is important to understand the personality of who you’re interviewing with, to improve your chances of getting the job.
The Magic of Thinking Big, by David J. Schwartz, It will help your career if you understand where you want to go, having a vision and then the actions to get you there. Finding a job is stressful, takes time, so a clarity of why you’re doing this drives you to get results.
I look forward to your comments on how these books have helped your career. These books will not only help your process of interviewing, but how to be a better executive, wife, husband, dad, and leader by influencing positively on the lives of people you touch.
Jorge’s work focuses on helping clients acquire, develop and transition leadership talent through a combination of research, executive search, cultural & leadership assessment, and other talent advisory services.
Prior to joining Alder Koten, Jorge worked in the UK, Mexico, US and Spain. He has performed work mainly in the US and Mexico. His experience in manufacturing and operations includes working for clients such as Metalsa, Global Safety Textiles (airbags), Greenbriar (Gunderson GIMSA), Novocast, Novalink (near shore manufacturing), Ruhrpumpen, HP Pelzer, Newpek, NPS Dover, Torrey, Whirlpool, SMP Automotive, Zanini, VCST industrial products, and Kia Motors. Among others.
His professional experience also includes various leadership positions in strategy and business consulting with Amrop, Deloitte, Vision Consulting / Business Design Associates.
Jorge’s work in strategy and business design brings experience that supports acquiring supply chain and operations talent that has cross-functional experience in product innovation; customer-facing functions; broader P&L responsibility; knowledge of current automation and systems technologies; multi-industry or channel backgrounds; and a balance of vision, and result focused execution.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. He holds a Global Masters in Business Administration from IESE Business School. Jorge is a British and Mexican Citizen. He is fluent in English and Spanish
About Alder Koten
Alder Koten helps shape organizations through a combination of research, executive search, cultural & leadership assessment, and other talent advisory services. The firm was founded in 2011 and currently, includes 6 partners and over 28 consultants in 4 cities. The firm’s headquarters are located in Houston and it has offices in Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City with partner firms in New York, Boston, Chicago, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and United Kingdom. We know where to find the executives you need and how to attract top talent to your organization. Our approach to executive search is based on a thorough understanding of the strategic, cultural, financial and operational issues our clients face. Our executive search engagements are targeted and focused on the specific requirements of the position including industry and functional experience, skills, competencies, cultural fit, and leadership style. Our process is rigorous. We take a disciplined and structured approach to identifying potential candidates that meet the position requirements including subject-matter, functional and regional expertise. We use our high-level professional networks, industry knowledge, and internal research resources to achieve results in every executive search engagement.
