Why lazy recruiters are a problem for estate agency

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It’s interesting when I meet with my property clients as they often explain what they don’t like about using recruiters and why lazy recruiters are a problem. Very often they say it’s people throwing irrelevant CVs at them or meeting inappropriate candidates and wasting their time.

It’s also interesting  when candidates say they have spoken to recruiters and have 3 interviews lined up with various different estate agents – having never met the recruiter. Then once I have met the candidate I have no idea why they were put forward to those companies, it might be that they don’t fit the brand, aren’t qualified or just won’t fit in with the team.

At Cherry Pick People we spend a lot of time making sure we find the right opportunity for our candidate’s and the right candidate for our clients. As I’m sure you’re aware, finding the right candidate is not an easy task. If it were I’d be out of a job. The right candidate isn’t just someone with a good CV it’s so much more than that which is why I believe all good recruiters should meet their candidates.

Every company is different and has something unique to them whether it be the way in which they operate, the culture, or their brand, and whether someone is going to be suitable can only truly be ascertained upon a face to face meeting. Particularly in the estate agency industry where personality is so important. I often meet sales and Lettings Negotiators with lots of estate agency experience thinking they’re going to be a fantastic candidate for my client but upon meeting them I quickly realise that they’re not the right fit at all.  This stops my client wasting their time interviewing the wrong people and stops my candidate wasting their time seeing the wrong companies.

I think lazy recruitment is becoming a problem within our industry and is taking away some of the hard work and effort we do as recruiters. After all, I provide sales and lettings negotiators who make in some cases huge amounts of money for estate agents so the difference between the right candidate and not the right candidate might mean you make an extra £100,000 revenue at the end of the year.

If you are looking to recruit a sales or lettings negotiator or looking to get into estate agency, start here with Cherry Pick People – we will do our best to find you the RIGHT candidate or RIGHT opportunity.

Brexit – Is the panic real?

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Brexit – Is the panic real?  It might seem like a long time ago now but just over a month ago on the 23rd of June, the people of Britain voted on whether or not they wanted to stay in the European Union. The result shook Britain but in particular, it shook London.

Now, I work in property recruitment and have seen the impact of the post-Brexit vote, I would be lying if I said it had no effect. But have I seen the result of Brexit, or have I witnessed what panic can do to a city? I have spoken to many people involved in property across London and the opinions have differed hugely, some believe this is the end of the world and others see this as an exciting challenge with exciting opportunities.

What have we heard?

  • London will become like a desert with no food or water, just pure despair
  • London house prices will plummet
  • The pound will plummet so much we can never holiday again
  • Everyone is now a racist
  • Nobody will ever invest in England again
  • Without Europe we are nobody
  • Looting and rioting in the streets
  • Jobs will vanish – literally, there will not be any jobs – ANYWHERE

These are some examples of panic and misunderstanding of the issues. Now some of these are valid points and I’m sure if we look at any situation from various angles we can see things differently. Before the referendum, an out vote wasn’t considered pure doom and gloom but when it happened and everyone panicked (especially in London) for many it was an opportunity to say “I told you so” and use a week of chaos to project this as the future of Britain. What I think people on both sides forgot after the debate is there were clear positive arguments for both sides.

Well, I am optimistic and positive, and it seems so are many of my clients. I spoke to a client last week who said Residential Sales in Prime Central London had increased by 10% and said the 2nd week of July was the best month for sales he had in 2 years. I’m not here to pretend there are not challenges to the Sales market but I believe much of this is through panic (To be honest if I was buying my first home I might be a bit nervous – because of the panic). On the Lettings side, it is booming with many clients saying it’s as good if not better than this time last year. They are open for business as usual.

Are we finally seeing a bit of calm in the market since the Brexit? I believe so, at least LinkedIn isn’t as depressing as it was a month ago. With the IMF (supposedly “experts”) coming out and saying that they made a mistake and now a recession doesn’t look likely, that will surely boost confidence (BUT let’s not forget they got it wrong on their last forecast). But what I have found most interesting are in areas where the majority of people voted Brexit have seen an increase in house price and the opposite for where people voted to remain. This, in my opinion, shows the effect of panic.

What we must realise is there will always be scaremongers we saw it before and after the vote.  But most importantly there will always be change, history tells us this – whether it be to leave or remain. The property industry is not doom and gloom, although with every industry there will be good and bad times.

If you are currently working for a company that is making you feel that deals can’t be done or is using Brexit as a reason to not push forward don’t let them hold you back, there are PLENTY of great agencies still making money, still employing and still moving forward.