Why Are Hiring Practices Important?

• Real estate organizations rely on talented teams. With competition for talent, it’s important to have the best hiring practices to access and include the full pool of talent.

Step 1: Job Postings - Attract a Diverse Candidate Pool

• Create job descriptions that are detailed and informative. Underrepresented groups often do more research before applying for roles, to understand the fit and inclusiveness of the organization. Don’t make the candidates search too hard to understand position, company culture, and benefits.

• Tailor the job posting to the kind of people you’re trying to attract. Research shows some wording and phrases can deter diverse candidates from applying.

• When listing job qualifications, give directional guidance but keep it brief. Too many qualification requirements tend to deter diverse candidates from applying more than other candidates.

• Keep the hiring process straightforward. Be considerate of other obligations a candidate may have. Excessive hurdles or asks in the process may deter good candidates.

• Include in the job posting that the organization is looking for talented people to add to your culture and look for unique perspectives that candidates bring.

Step 2: Source Candidates from Underrepresented Groups

• Know where to look. Expecting a specific demographic to already be looking at your career page and using the same generic channels are unlikely to deliver results.

• Are there industry groups, events, or agencies where you are more likely to find your target candidates?

• Leverage diversity organizations and more diverse schools for entry-level and internship positions. Avoid unpaid internships which disadvantage those from less affluent backgrounds.

• Seek diversity in the candidate slate of similarly qualified candidates.

• Message the requirement to recruitment team and internal business managers.

• Consider recruiting from affiliated fields that have transferable skills and may have more diversity such as accounting, law, general finance.

• When using employee referrals, recognize that internal referrals could lead to the same types of employees. If you have referrals, offer more incentives for referrals in target diversity metrics (example more Black and women representation in leadership).

Step 3: Screening Applicants

• Set and standardize the criteria for evaluating and interviewing candidates before the process. Use performance review templates to identify major skills and weighting of their importance.

• Be specific on the reviews used in evaluating candidates.

  1. Good: “has assertive go-getter approach,” “able to convince others and build coalitions,” “strong analytic skills in complex data sets”

  2. Bad: “winner,” “someone I want to hang out with”

• Culture- look for people how “add to your culture” (not “fit your culture”)

• Remind team of tips to avoid unconscious bias at the start of the hiring process.

Step 4: Interviewing Best Practices

• Prior to interviews, set which skills, questions, and tasks are a priority and have a clear outline of what resembles a good answer.

• Ask the same interview questions to all candidates to be consistent.

• Focus the interviews on job competency skills rather than personal qualities. Consider having candidates do tasks similar to the job to gauge performance qualifications.

• Interview inclusively. Ensure interviewers represent the diversity you want to reflect and diverse points of view. If underrepresented employees are being asked to more involved in interview stages, ensure other colleagues balance the hiring workload in other areas.

• Provide candidates prior to interviewing insight in what qualifies as most important. For example, sharing if confidence is a key skill may provide encouragement to candidates who have been culturally encouraged to be more modest.