CRE Job Candidates Have One Big Advantage In The Current Hiring Market

There are many more Americans looking for work today across all industries than there were a year ago, and commercial real estate is no exception. Layoffs and furloughs that came at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic have still not been erased across CRE. And with companies hiring back slowly, it remains largely a buyer’s market for talent, with employers having their pick of candidates. 

However, the current hiring market does have one silver lining for candidates: Job seekers have more leverage to negotiate how, where and when they are going to work. 

The majority of CRE firms, albeit some begrudgingly, have found a way to adapt to remote work. While they may not consider working from home a permanent solution, they are offering a certain level of flexibility to candidates to determine their own work atmosphere and schedules. Even as their employers return to offices, new candidates will likely continue to have some say over where and how they work.

“If recruiters and managers have invested the time and energy to hire, onboard and train a candidate, it’s likely that they’ll let that candidate continue working from home even when the office return becomes a reality,” said Marc Torrey, principal at SelectLeaders, a real estate job site and network. “That’s a negotiating power that candidates have rarely had before.”

This new hiring paradigm could give candidates more flexibility to work remotely full time, relocate or break into markets where they have never worked before.

CRE remains a highly localized business, and employers may want to continue hiring in the cities where they have always been headquartered, with the expectation that candidates will be able to rejoin them in their offices when the pandemic is through. However, Torrey said, many employers have begun listing new roles as remote-friendly, especially as search engines and other job boards have been prioritizing roles that are open to remote work. 

Getting Hired In a Distanced World

The pandemic has changed the nature of getting hired in CRE, and candidates may want to change their approach. While there are still networking opportunities to be had in the socially distanced world, the conferences and cocktail hours where candidates can forge new connections have largely disappeared. The result is that candidates may be applying for more roles online rather than being referred to a role through personal contact. 

The result, according to SelectLeaders Director of Operations Oliver Medcalf, is that candidates need to focus more than ever on their résumés, cover letters and even their presence on social media to give a well-rounded and positive impression to hiring managers. 

Especially if they are going to be pursuing a remote role, candidates may want to mention any experience or skills they have developed that have prepared them to work better in a distributed team, including any specialized cloud-based software. As the pandemic has changed what hiring managers are looking for, Medcalf said, résumé writing services have become more popular to help candidates focus on what managers will want to see. Other beneficiaries of the digital hiring market include companies like Sizigi, which helps creators build digital portfolios that they can show off to hiring managers.

Career coaching services have also taken off, he added, as the pandemic has made employees across all industries re-evaluate whether or not they are on the correct path toward a fulfilling career. 

“It may feel as though the pandemic has slowed everything down and pushed employees to keep their current roles,” Torrey said. “But there is, in fact, a widespread appetite to make a change.”

This article was produced in collaboration between SelectLeaders and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

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