When filling real estate assistant roles, I hunt, but I never chase, candidates. Finding the perfect candidate for a client is not an act of coincidence. It is a clever strategy of seeing beyond resumes and job descriptions. It is all about understanding the nuances of human interdependence.
What’s the difference between hunt and chase?
So glad you asked!
Hunting is a decisive plan to determine who is worthy of the hunt. Not any warm body will suffice. The hunt isn’t about closing a deal and cashing in. It isn’t about the immediate need to feed or feast on that hunt; after all, this isn’t a lion hunting a gazelle. But the wildlife analogy does bring me to why we don’t chase. Chasing candidates is like chasing gazelles: the ones that run have no interest in the job, so why chase them?
The clever headhunter is an articulate marketer selling the client’s brand to promising talent in an effort to create a space where two individuals, who mutually need and benefit from one another, can meet. It isn’t about one benefiting at the expense of another.
What can a recruiter do differently?
Realtors often spin their wheels floating around the job descriptions and finding candidates who don’t fit the bill. Candidates run around with their resumes, looking for the right placement, only to end up with dead end roles. This high tech world of ours, with what seems like less time and even lesser attention spans, requires a middleman or woman who is able to decipher and extract information from both sides in order to find the perfect fit.
I have placed candidates with clients where the candidate originally applied to the client directly but was overlooked based on keyword searches of the resumes. Realtors, and most managers in general, can get stuck on a job description and be unable to see beyond it. If the CV doesn’t say this or that, the candidate is not a good fit. But that’s so often not the case and it requires solid recruiting experience to be able to see the forest for the trees, when it comes to skills and candidates.
As human beings, we cannot be summarized into a two page resume, nor can the realtor’s needs and expectations be summarized into a one page job description. Someone has to invest the time to learn more about each party. Someone has to be dedicated to understanding the intricate details of a realtor’s business. Someone has to know how to hunt, sift, screen, and assess candidates, with a keen eye for detail and nuances of what is said and what is left unsaid.
Thank goodness that someone is AGENTC! If you would like more information on how we can help you with that perfect fit, contact us! Happy Hiring!
