A real estate candidate who is hungry for work can be extraordinarily successful. Realtors must ask themselves this question when they are hiring: is the candidate desperate or determined?
Hunger isn’t about a desire for money, nor is it seeking any job with an ‘anything for money’ philosophy that doesn’t usually work to the advantage of the realtor who employs them.
Instead, determination is a drive that pushes employees to give their best and aim for excellence in anything you ask them to do. They want to grow in the job, not so they can grow out of it, but so that they can perfect their skills within it.
There is a fine balance between a candidate who is desperate and one who is too ambitious. The sweet spot for the ideal candidate is somewhere in the middle, so understanding the extremes will help you find the right person.
Spotting the desperate candidate
The desperate candidate will take on any job, even one she might be over or underqualified for, just to make money. Typically, she isn’t happy and will continue to look for another job with another real estate office because she needs more money, or thinks another position will bring both money and satisfaction. This candidate doesn’t realize that the root of her dissatisfaction and desperation begins and ends with her own attitude.
Employment counsellor Kelly Mitchell put it succinctly in his blog post:
“Here’s the thought process that I as an Employment Counsellor go through each time I hear someone make the statement, “I’ll do anything.”:
- You’re saying this because you’re desperate.
- If you get this job, you’ll no longer be as desperate.
- As you’ll no longer be desperate, you’ll want something better.
- Because you’ll want something better, you’ll quit.
- Because you’ll quit, you’ll be right back here repeating history.”
My thoughts, exactly. As a recruiter, I don’t want to work with candidates who will go through this cycle on a repeating loop, to the disadvantage and dismay of my clients. Investing time and money training a candidate who will ultimately leave because the job is not one they actually wanted is a waste for everyone. So if a candidate ever tells you that they’ll ‘do anything’, run for the hills!
Spotting the ambitious candidate
Ambition is a fine thing but the too ambitious candidate is only concerned with her personal best interest, and not the interests of the real estate office that employs her. She will want more money, career advancement, and will want to learn the trade inside and out; not so that she can do a better job but so that she is worth more and can get a better job elsewhere.
Typically, her resume will reflect a steady trend of job hopping from one assistant position to the next, without much time invested in any of them. This kind of candidate will typically fake her enthusiasm for the role, persuading you that she is genuinely interested in it, the growth of your real estate business and you, all in one fell swoop.
Fake enthusiasm manifests in a couple of ways:
- Watch out for the CV that claims the candidate is only interested in working for you, because she has heard “such good things about you and your real estate office that it would be an honour to work there!”. It’s time to get out the shovel and dig out of that pile! If you think her love of your business is a plus, make sure you ask about it at the interview. If she is truly interested, she will have done her research. If she’s just ambitious, she’ll be flummoxed by your questions!
- Someone who is appropriately ambitious will signal, in an interview, that she is interested in growth in the role that you are looking to fill. If she seems unwilling to learn or change, thinking that she already knows it all and really, she is doing YOU a favour by considering working for you, it’s time to run for the hills (again).
- Overly ambitious people will be very interested in the compensation package and the hours, wanting a lot of the former and as little of the latter as possible. She won’t focus her answers to your questions on how she can help your organization, but rather on how the organization can help her.
Finding the sweet spot candidate
Having read that, you can see for yourself that a sweet spot candidate will be eager and interested, engaged and prepared to answer your questions. Someone who is desperate or too ambitious will be none of those things or too much of those things. Either way, a lot about what works in finding the right person is experience. There is a gut instinct aspect to hiring that you should never, ever dismiss!
Better yet, place your trust in AGENTC to find the right candidate for your real estate office. We have the industry experience and market knowledge that you need to get the job done right.
