5 Tips To Make Real Estate Recruitment Faster And More Efficient

For real estate brokerages—indeed, for all companies in any industry—recruiting talented employees is an on-going endeavor that is often challenging. Aside from the struggle for differentiation, there are also times when there’s a shortage of qualified candidates.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of steps you can take to make your real estate recruitment programs a little easier and more efficient. Here are a few suggestions so you can find the best agents and other real estate professionals to join your team:

Simplify the Application Process

Let’s face it: no one wants to deal with complexities. Perhaps it’s an indirect product of the convenience brought about by modern technology; nevertheless, it’s a fact that many of us now have no patience for long and elaborate processes. To attract and retain clients, the key is to keep things simple. This principle applies to most, if not all things—including your real estate recruitment process.

For example, if you have digital application forms (which you should), make sure they’re accessible through mobile devices. In addition, don’t add too many fields; most of the information can be found on the candidates’ resumes, anyway, so only ask for details that will help you categorize applications.

In addition, you should tailor-fit your screening process based on the needs of the position. At times, a lot of background information is unnecessary for a specific role so it’s best to skip them altogether. Remember: the faster a candidate progresses from one recruitment step to another, the better their impression of your brokerage will be.

Use Tech Tools

Earlier, it was mentioned that modern technology has brought about convenience to human lives. This convenience also translates to the recruitment process, thanks to a variety of tools that are designed to improve the efficiency of sourcing and hiring. You can check this website for an example of a customer relationship management (CRM) software, which can, among others:

• Load pre-built templates for recruitment campaigns
• Automate sending of drip emails
• Schedule appointments and interviews
• Integrate SMS texting and email clients
• Cleanse and import leads from reliable data sources
• Capture and segment leads
• Automate social media lookup

Aside from a CRM, you should also take a look at getting an applicant tracking system (ATS), a project management software, and an assessment tool. Of course, messaging apps will always come in handy for keeping in touch with candidates.

Practice Collaborative Hiring

Many if not all jobs in the real estate industry involve working with other people. For example, a real estate agent has to coordinate with fellow agents, brokers, and administrative staff in the office. In short, one’s work will have an impact on another’s. This means that there are multiple stakeholders in your hiring decisions.

Thus, it’s important to involve the people who are going to be affected by your recruitment plans. They can provide insight about the job and what kind of candidate will be the best fit. Another thing that collaborative hiring provides is the reduction or elimination of cognitive biases by providing different perspectives.

Of course, collaborative hiring doesn’t mean you need the signed approval of every stakeholder. Rather, it simply means that you have to be more conscious of involving not just the hiring staff when a new job opening is available in your brokerage.

Structure Your Interviews

One of the longest and most crucial parts of the recruitment process is the interview. This gives you the opportunity to get to know the candidate better, so that you can more effectively gauge if they’re “the one” for the job. As such, it’s important to do this step right. If you don’t, you might make the wrong choice, wasting both time and money.

To make the interview process more streamlined and effective, make sure that you have structured interviews. Having a single set of questions for all applicants for a certain position is not only practical, but it also allows you to conduct an apples-to-apples comparison. This helps improve the quality of your hires.

Polish Your Onboarding Process

Last but certainly not least, keep in mind that the recruitment process doesn’t end when the candidate signs their contract. There’s so much left to do afterwards, including onboarding. The first few weeks are crucial, as these can dictate how engaged your newly hired agents will be. What’s more, the onboarding process is a great opportunity to show what working in your brokerage is truly like.

This means that it’s not just productivity at stake with onboarding. Your brokerage’s ability to retain good employees is also affected by this process. Review your onboarding program regularly and ask for feedback from fresh hires so that you can make necessary changes.

In order to grow your brokerage and achieve your goals, you need a good team of agents and real estate professionals. This hinges on an effective and efficient recruitment program. Hopefully, these tips can help you develop a more straightforward process that will produce better results for your brokerage.