8 Real Estate Recruitment Strategies to Attract the Best Talent

If you work in real estate recruitment, you know how difficult it can be to find and retain talented and qualified agents. With the unemployment rate falling from 7.5% to 3.5% over the past two years, Australia’s labour market has never been so competitive. Along with this, the real estate industry has a high staff turnover rate, and many agencies struggle to retain and replace employees in this fast-paced market. In light of these conditions, real estate recruiters would do well to brush up on their strategies to ensure they’re going the extra mile to identify and hire the best available candidates.

Here are 8 useful tips to help you attract the best and brightest real estate talent in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

1. Highlight your company’s perks

Working as a real estate agent comes with significant advantages over other white-collar professions. Perks such as a flexible work schedule and the ability to earn more through commission are baked into the role. As a hiring manager, you want candidates to know that your agency is committed to providing flexibility, freedom, and plenty of room for growth to future employees.

Other soft benefits can also be emphasised to separate your agency from your competitors. Since many agents are focused on advancing their careers and improving their earnings, providing opportunities for continued education, seminars and networking events can be a meaningful drawcard to help attract and retain talented staff.

2. Create and incentivise a referral program

Your existing agents are tapped into the real estate talent pool and are a valuable resource to source the right agents for your team. Yet, while your agents have valuable connections, there may be a lot on their agenda already. That’s why it can be tremendously beneficial to incentivise referrals with cash bonuses, gift cards or holiday packages.

These incentives can either be based on each referral or created through a competition that rewards the staff member who refers the most agents. Keep in mind that the incentive system should be based on your hiring needs. If temporary recruitment is your goal, then incentives for onboarding will be more appropriate. If your goal is permanent recruitment, then incentives can be rewarded after your team has retained the referred staff member for a given period.

3. Utilise social media to fill vacancies

You don’t have to be an industry expert to know how important social media has become to the real estate market. In 2022, a majority of agents are extremely active on social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn to advertise their listings and build their client base. It’s time that hiring managers embrace this shift too, as these platforms also provide excellent opportunities for real estate recruitment.

Using sponsored ads on Facebook and Instagram or posting job vacancies on LinkedIn are effective ways to attract top talent without breaking the bank. If you want to have a real impact on your audience, make sure that before you use social media for recruitment, you have worked to build your agency’s brand and image on social media (more on this in step 6!).

4. Grow your network through social media

Along with providing a tool to advertise available positions, social media is also an excellent way to grow your network in the real estate market.

A simple and effective way to reach out to real estate agents over social media is to start by making a short list of 15-20 agents that have a strong personal brand and following on social media. Be observant of their activity, and engage with them through likes and comments on their posts. It may go without saying, but a friendly, professional tone is essential.

After this initial engagement, you can connect with them through a direct message to establish a connection, and let them know about any opportunities that might interest them.

5. Speed up your recruitment process

Through our years of experience working with hiring managers, we’ve seen companies lose countless potential agents because they take too long to contact their candidates. With a high turnover rate and a tight job market, real estate recruiters cannot afford these lengthy delays, as your preferred candidate will quickly fill a vacant role with your competitors.

It’s important to show your candidate that you value their time and that your organisation operates swiftly and effectively. Don’t let them wait for weeks or months – select your preferred candidates and contact them within a week of your application closing date. If you want to attract the best and brightest agents, our message to you is simple: speed up your recruitment services now, or get left behind in the race for talent.

6. Establish your brand, with a focus on diversity and inclusivity

Your ads and job vacancies may be attracting attention, but is your message sinking in with potential candidates? This is where branding comes in as a critical element in recruitment. If you want to stand out from your competitors, your company needs a professional and unique image.

Here are some key ways your agency can solidify its brand:

• Get a professional look for your website, social media pages, and any of your other platforms to ensure they are kept up to date with recent content. This is likely to be a candidate’s first impression, so your company must get it right.
• Apply consistent messaging across your job boards and platforms. Is your message friendly, professional, innovative, or a mixture of these? Solidifying your message will help candidates know exactly what your company stands for.
• Emphasize your company’s focus on diversity and inclusion. The Australian real estate industry has never been so diverse. It’s important to show candidates that your company reflects this, and that you provide an inclusive environment for people from all walks of life.

7. Help your agents build their personal brands

Personality goes a long way in the real estate industry, and agents can boost their sales and grow their network by branding themselves alongside their agency. Real estate recruiters can use this as a drawcard to attract talented agents by emphasizing how they will help their new employees build and strengthen their own brands.

This will involve investing time, energy, and resources into your staff to work on their brand. Once your agency adopts these practices, however, this investment will pay for itself, as candidates will admire the personal brands of your agents and become eager to engage with your firm.

8. Hire a recruitment agency

With a high turnover rate and labour market pressures, recruitment can be one of the biggest challenges for real estate agencies. Hiring staff can take up so much energy and resources from an agency, as many of those involved in the process are not recruitment specialists. Utilising the services of a reputable real estate recruitment company has some key benefits, such as finding higher quality candidates, saving time and recruiting candidates faster, and adapting more quickly to changes in the recruitment labour market.

Looking you looking to hire real estate candidates?

Gough Recruitment offers premium real estate and property recruitment services and can help your company attract talented agents throughout Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

You can find out more about our services here.