CXR Recommends: Steal Like An Artist

Books every recruiting professional should read

Steal Like An Artist, written by Austin Kleon, is the quickest book you’ll read this year (and also happens to be a New York Times bestseller).  Austin is an artist and writer based in Austin, TX.  He’s known for his “Newspaper Blackout” collection and several books on creativity and branding (you should read them all).  You can watch his TED Talk on the book here.

Steal Like an Artist is a creative manifesto. It challenges the notion of “original ideas”, and suggests many of the great works of art, literature, etc. were actually built on a diverse web of muses that inspired the work. It challenges assumptions that creativity is an individual endeavor, and makes a case for surrounding yourself with a diverse and eclectic mix to broaden your perspective and inspiration. Austin demystifies the notion of creativity being some magic genius that’s only in the DNA of a chosen few and provides tangible examples of how to develop a creative process. “You don’t need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself.

Inspiration for the creative areas of recruiting

I think this is particularly relevant in recruiting, particularly for those who work in creative areas like employer brand. It will inspire you to seek perspectives and information outside of your niche. It teaches you the difference between “good theft” (honor, credit, steal from many) and “bad theft” (degrade, plagiarize, steal from one). Most importantly it will challenge and inspire your thinking around injecting more creativity into your work.

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Chris Hoyt

A veteran of recruiting and HR, Hoyt is a sought-after speaker with presentations including national conferences with SHRM, LinkedIn, HR Technology, ERE and others in the USA as well as UNLEASH, iRecruit, Australasian Talent Conference and more abroad. Chris has been promoting and leading full scale and enterprise-wide integrations of social media and mobile marketing within workforce strategies for his entire career. His expertise and passion for interactive/social recruiting, candidate experience, and both national and international recruiting strategies are all areas that Hoyt now leverages as co-owner and President at CareerXroads, a Recruiting/Staffing consulting and think tank organization that works with corporate leaders from around the world to break out of traditional recruitment practices and push the envelope in an effort to win the ongoing war for top talent.

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