Whether you’re a new real estate professional or a broker, you can learn from the brokerage employment process. As a new agent, it helps to know what you can expect from the recruitment and hiring process to better prepare yourself. As a broker, you can improve your recruiting and hiring process to find the best new agents.
Generally, the real estate employment process will consist of:
- Recruiting
- Prescreening
- Interviewing
- Selecting
- Hiring
- Recruiting
Any brokerage needs to be able to recruit from a position of strength, which is why company image is so important. Recruiting is the process of assembling a pool of candidates for consideration.
That means the company’s business reputation and its workplace environment play a vital role in attracting the best people in the pool, which gives management good candidates to consider. Recruiting, therefore, can begin internally or externally.
Prescreening
The prescreening process is meant to gather basic information in order to decide whether an applicant meets the position requirements. Prescreening is often done with an application, a resume, a brief face-to-face, and a phone call or videoconference conversation.
Sometimes a candidate will be required to answer a few questions that require written answers. This exercise is useful not only for analyzing the content of the answer, but also for evaluating the candidate’s communication skills.
Interviewing
Candidates who make it through the prescreening process will move forward to a formal interview, the most important information-gathering part of the process. If the brokerage hasn’t found any suitable candidates to interview, then it’s better to go back to the recruiting process rather than waste everybody’s time with an interview with a candidate who doesn’t meet the qualifications.
Best practices for interviews
A good interview will include some common elements that the interviewer will use to find the best candidate.
Introduction
The opening question can be used to put the candidate at ease with an icebreaker. For example, get the conversation going with an easy question such as, “How did you become interested in our company?”
Work Experience
Questions about previous work experience can reveal the candidate's skills, motivations, initiative, and problem-solving ability. Questions might include:
“What have you done best in previous jobs?”
“How have you handled job-related problems in the past?”
“What are your major work accomplishments?”
Education
Questions about education can reveal the candidate’s level of accomplishment, professional interests, and potential for growth and development. Questions might include:
“What have you learned related to your desired career in real estate?”
“What made you choose to work in real estate?”
“How do you feel about getting additional education?”
“What do you want to learn next?”
Check back next time for part 2!
To sign up for classes, give us a call at 239-344-7510 or visit our website,
www.LarsonEd.com.
About Larson Educational Services:
Utilizing 30 years of real estate training and professional education experience, Florida real estate school Larson Educational Services is the premier provider of Florida real estate licensing, exam preparation, post-licensing, CAM licensing, mortgage loan originator licensing, and continuing education in Southwest Florida. Classes are available in Fort Myers, Naples, Sarasota, and online.
Brad Larson
Larson Educational Services
1400 Colonial Blvd. #44
Fort Myers, Florida
33907
239-344-7510
