From the very first touch point with a potential candidate to their three-year anniversary at the company, the recruiting and courting process should always be top of mind for leaders at a company.
For Movement Mortgage Market Leader Steve Barker, recruiting is so much more than the initial discussions around a job opportunity. But he also knows that some recruiters still struggle to properly navigate even those beginning conversations, let alone the recruiting that happens post-hire.
Barker will take the stage at engage.talent in Dallas on Feb. 6 to speak on a panel titled, “An Open Discussion: What Lenders Need Recruiters to Understand.” Barker will be joined by Brian Covey, vice president of regional production for loanDepot, and John Palmiotto, chief retail production officer for Guaranteed Rate, and these three industry-leading recruiters will host a much-needed discussion to help recruiters and lenders communicate better.
Providing a glimpse into what that panel’s frank discussion will look like, Barker gave his thoughts on the No. 1 cardinal sin that recruiters make in an interview, explaining how recruiters need to be doing their research. “There’s enough information out there between LinkedIn, Facebook and the NMLA that you shouldn’t be asking me questions about what I like. You should know what I like. When it comes to the top recruiter mistake, that’s it to me. That’s the cardinal sin,” he said.
A better interview process, according to Barker, should not start out by focusing on all the benefits the company has. That comes into play a lot later.
“It’s not ‘just come work for this company because we have great programs, great products, great pricing, and great benefits,’” said Barker. “You better have that. It’s “come here and make a difference on the planet. Come here and make a difference to your family and come here to retire.’”
He suggested that better recruiter questions would be: “How are you?” and “How was your month?”
One of his favorite questions is “What gets you out of bed in the morning?”
“It’s such a cliche, but it’s so important to know that when you’re talking to somebody,” he stated.
Barker concluded by looking beyond the initial job discussions, something that companies often forget to do. There are four types of recruiting, he explained.
- Recruiting the people you haven’t met yet
- Recruiting the people you have met with that chose to go somewhere else
- Recruiting the people who worked for you and left
- Re-recruiting the people who you already hired (retention)
Companies need to be recruiting for the long game, which means paying attention to all four types of recruiting, especially No. 4.
Come hear Barker and the other experts dig deep into this subject and share their actionable tips that recruiters and lenders need to know to get more top talent into the industry. Register here.
