Over the last few
years, we’ve worked with several real estate hiring managers who insist on
seeing a resume before meeting with a candidate. When our account
managers ask for an explanation, the conversation usually goes something like
this:

"My time is
valuable, so I want to make sure the person is both serious and qualified to
become a real estate agent.” 

One manager recently
said:

"If they can't send me a resume, I don't want to waste my time on
them." 

Is this a good
policy?  Let’s investigate the pros and
cons of this stance.

First consider that every
business practice is an expression of various underlying assumptions.  From that premise, let’s try to surmise what
possible assumptions are being made in the “resume first” stance and then assess
their validity. 

Assumption #1: Any candidate worth
interviewing will have a resume handy and be eager to show it to me before a
meeting. 

I want you to
consider the best people who have entered and thrived in your organization. How
many of them would have sent a resume or even had a resume handy when they were
first hired?  How many of them would have
come to an interview if you asked them for one?

It appears to me (for reasons I
will go into below) that only the most desperate (and perhaps confused), would
feel compelled to bring a resume to the first interview when considering
becoming an independent contractor within the real estate industry. 

Assumption #2: You interviewing them is
more important than them interviewing you.

This assumption is
clearly communicated in the request for a resume. In many highly competitive
corporate jobs where a salary, benefits, and security are provided, this is
certainly to be expected. But, in the real estate industry, there is a
different set of expectations. 

Most
candidates know that becoming a real estate agent means signing up to invest
significant resources to become an independent contractor.  From this perspective, it only makes sense that the first interview would be a two-way street of reciprocal respect.

Remember, you need
great candidates as much as they need you. If, after the first interview, you
have doubts about the person’s potential to perform, asking for a  resume
would seem reasonable.  At this juncture,
it makes sense to test a weak candidate’s follow-through or investigate their background.

But if you ask a savvy candidate for a resume, you run the risk of alienating them because they are often employed successfully and want to assess you (and the real estate career) before you assess them.  

Assumption #3 Your time is more
important than their time.

Most working
professionals do not have an updated resume in hand.  Most people do not prepare a resume until
they are unemployed, or think they will soon be unemployed. I know many people
who have never needed a resume because their reputation and professional
performance speaks for itself.

How do you think the most
capable candidates will respond to this request? Do you believe that they will
spend the time necessary to prepare a resume just for you? They will only do so
if you have earned the right to make such a request.  Instead, most candidates will interpret your request in
one way:   "My time is more
important than yours." 

Assumption #4: You're in the power
position not them.

The very act of
requesting a resume communicates a great deal about your assessment (or your
insistence) of the balance of power in the relationship. You might as well be
saying: "Yes… I think I'm more important than you".  Even in competitive corporate America when an
important executive is being courted for hiring, the resume is not requested until
it makes sense to everyone involved.

In order to attract
the best candidates you must not assume this power position.  The relationship has to feel peer-to-peer,
especially in the first meeting.  In my
opinion, some managers who request resumes before the first interviews have
issues around fearing vulnerability. 
This technique may help them from exposing this apprehension.

Assumption #5 : You don't expect to
interview successful candidates.

This assumption could
be based on past experiences of interviewing terrible candidates. The problem
with this assumption is that protecting against “wasting time” with unqualified
candidates kills the chances of engaging better candidates in the future. It would
be similar to a fisherman giving up casting because previous casts were
unproductive.  Yes, he’ll save a lot of
time.  But, the chances of catching fish
have diminished to zero.

In our experience
working with real estate hiring, about one third (33%) of interviews result in
an engagement where the managers is truly excited about the candidate’s
potential.  Of the third who fit into
this category, usually one half (50%) of those candidates end up joining their team as an agent.   Working backwards on these percentages, it
takes an average of six interviews to hire one high-potential “new to real
estate” agent.*

If you disagree with
my analysis of this problem, don't hesitate to let me know. I have been wrong
before and expect I will be again. But, in my view so far, the basic rule of
thumb is this: 

If you want to
attract the best talent to your team, you must treat everyone, initially, like he/she might
be the best candidate you've ever seen. 

*Note: The overall
hire/interview percentage is higher than 17% (1 hire in 6 interviews) for most high- performing real estate organizations.  This happens because some
of the “not-so-great candidates” also become agents.  Overall, high- performing real estate companies
see 25% of their total interviews eventually convert to hires.  This data is based on the companies who are
clients of Tidemark.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

I recently had the
pleasure of visiting our long time clients at Prudential Carolinas, Prudential
York Simpson Underwood, and Prudential Yost-Little Realty, all under the same
roof in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I had spoken to this executive team
and group of managers on at least two previous occasions and have always
enjoyed our interactions. 

Part of my
presentation involved a refresher course on the psychology of a good interview.
Most of this section emphasizes the vital importance of listening to the
candidate and eliciting as much information as possible during the first
interview.  The process involves asking a
lot of open-ended questions about who they are, what’s their story, what’s
causing them to make a career change now, what they hope to gain from working, etc.

My emphasis on the
power of listening comes from volumes of research on how people make decisions
concerning any important topic in their lives. To emphasize this point I used several
non-hiring examples such as dating or making an important purchase.

Think back to when you
were dating—would you rather hear your dates drone on about themselves or ask
some thoughtful questions along the way? When you buy a computer, do you want
the tech-sales-geek to expound on all the details of each machine, or would you
rather he ask a few questions first and then focus on your needs?

Here is a counter-intuitive
principle that is true of all human interactions:  As people talk about themselves, they will learn
more about themselves and feel more attached to you (the listener) in the
process. 

No matter how many
times I deliver this presentation, managers continue to report how difficult it is to put this into practice.  But, the group
in North Carolina is starting to crack the code and seeing some incredible
results.

During the
presentation, one of the managers (Player Murray) gave the group some feedback
on how this technique was working during his recent interviews.

"I'm not sure
that I said much of anything in my last interview, and the candidate decided to
come work for us!”

He went on to say that
when he finally began to trust the process of first asking questions and listening,
many interviews proceed with little need to describe much of what
differentiates his company from others in the first interview.

"I am convinced
that this is the number one principle to practice in the first meeting, and
without it, I would not have hired many of the high quality candidates who came
through HiringCenter.  They feel valued
and connected when I listen to them first and foremost."

Player has learned the
magic of asking and listening. He has seen first-hand how people become
attached to those who are interested in them. He doesn't do this to be
manipulative, he does it because it’s the right thing to do—that’s why it
works. 

This story has been
repeated with other managers across the country. Savvy, early-in-the- pipeline
candidates who know little about the real estate industry will ask questions
when they are ready. Even if they do ask some questions intially, don't be sucked into
talking about yourself and your company too much.  Instead, answer briefly and get back to
asking and listening.

In fact, here is a
good rule of thumb:  Always assume you
are not listening enough. At this point, you’ll probably be at the right level, and the magic will soon start happening in your interviews.

Question:  How have you learned to become a more effective listener (in interviews or other situations)? When using these techiques, how have you noticed your relationships change?    

Join the WorkPuzzle Discussion at the Tidemark Online Community (TMOC)

Engage in the WorkPuzzle discussion by joining the TMOC private social network.  Commenting on a public blog like WorkPuzzle can be a little intimidating, so why not join the discussion inside the privacy of the TMOC discussion group?  

By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust.   Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes).   To get started, click here.

Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.