Recruiting the best and the brightest real estate professionals into your brokerage takes a lot of work. It can also be quite a challenge, considering that other real estate companies are also looking for top talent.
Thankfully, there’s a lot of helpful advice to improve your real estate recruiting. Getbrokerkit.com has plenty of ideas to get you started on your own recruiting program.
On the other hand, you also need to take note of mistakes that can result in less-than-stellar outcomes. Here are the most common ones that you should definitely avoid:
Dismissing Overqualified Candidates
Those in charge of hiring decisions are often inclined to reject overqualified candidates for a variety of reasons. It’s easy to assume that they might get bored or dissatisfied in a lower position. It’s also possible that they are only using the job a pitstop while they’re working toward a more prestigious post.
However, these so-called overqualified candidates can help develop your team by teaching them new skills learned through experience. It doesn’t matter how long they stay when what they leave is something more valuable. There are also plenty of things you can do to ensure the retention of these candidates, such as offering promotions and other career advancement opportunities.
Focusing on Skills Over Attitude
If you want to hire only the best people for your real estate company, then it’s only logical to scrutinize a candidate’s skills and experience. However, it’s not a good idea to focus on these qualifications alone and not take a look at their attitude and motivations. You’ll have no use for a real estate agent who’s been in the industry for years but doesn’t have the right school of thought.
What’s more, skills can be learned and experience can be gained. Attitude, on the other hand, is something irreplaceable. Ask applicants what motivates them. Then, make your decisions based on both qualifications and attitude.
Not Targeting Passive Candidates
As a hiring manager or recruiter, it’s your job to, obviously, hire people. Talking to real estate professionals who aren’t looking for a new brokerage to join can therefore seem like the complete opposite of your goal.
However, any hiring manager or recruiter worth their salt would know that building relationships with passive candidates is an important part of the process. That’s why it’s a good idea to create separate content and campaigns that specifically target passive candidates. Cultivate your connections with them, both online and offline. This way, once they’re ready for a change, your brokerage will then be top of mind.
No Specific Target Market
Another common recruiting mistake is creating a “general” post that targets “everyone.” It might feel more efficient, but doing this might get you a lot of applicants but only a small number of truly qualified candidates. This will definitely cost you time and money, which is simply not ideal.
Make sure that your job ads and other recruiting materials should be targeted towards a specific audience. This is especially true when it comes to social media content, which can be hyper-targeted down to details such as hobbies or personal interests.
Using Predictable Interview Questions
Predictable interview questions are things like “What would you say is your best asset?” or “What is your greatest weakness?” These are interview staples that many applicants have probably prepared for with rehearsed answers.
Obviously, these questions aren’t entirely useless. The key is to use them sparingly and contextualize them. For example, ask them their greatest weakness and a scenario where it “manifested” and affected the job.
You should also prepare questions that make the candidate think. This will reveal something about their personality, not to mention their capability to think fast. Some examples include, “What is something that you and your friends almost always disagree on?”
Ending Interviews After a Few Questions
Speaking of interviews, you should definitely not end an interview after only a few questions. Some recruiters do this because the answers to the initial questions may not be up to their tastes or expectations. However, there are some candidates who take a bit of time to “warm up.” In this case, you’ll miss out on a truly great hire.
Just remember that not every candidate is good at interviews. This is an inescapable fact and you should therefore practice just a little more patience during this phase of recruitment.
Failing to Follow Up
Much like how real estate agents follow up with their clients, real estate recruiters should also get in the habit of following up with candidates. It’s easy to just move on from a candidate who doesn’t get back to you, but the truth is that it usually takes more than one message to get the response you want.
The key is to craft an engaging message, tailor-fit to the candidate you’re talking to, to not only catch attention but hold it. You should also pay attention to your data and continuously refine your messaging based on what works and what doesn’t work. Of course, make sure that your follow-up messages are persistent but not annoyingly so.
Hopefully, this list can help you refine your real estate recruiting programs and end up with a team of best-suited candidates.
Good luck with your search!
