Newsletter | April 2010 | The Job Market

The Job Market

Anyone involved in the property business would be lying if they said that 2009 was not a disastrous year and I know from both my own experience, as well as from my associates, that it was just as tough in recruitment.  The end product of mixing property with recruitment leaves you with a particularly difficult year and that is exactly what 2009 was for property recruitment specialists.

 However, I am glad to say that 2010 has begun a lot more positively. Our records show that since January 2010, we have been instructed on more than 60 vacancies across N, NW, W and SW London in comparison to the same period last year, when we received a meagre 24 vacancies across the same geographical territory.  Since January 2010, we have received approximately 1.2 vacancies per day compared to the same period in 2009 when we received only one vacancy every two days. 

 Great news I hear you say but whilst this is certainly true, it would be a whole lot better if we had the quality of candidates that we needed in order to fill these positions. So, where have all the good candidates gone?

 As a company, we pride ourselves on the quality of candidates that we introduce to our clients and we personally interview every candidate in order to match the person to the employer and not the CV to the job description. On average, we interview approximately five possible candidates at our offices every day but out of every 10 meetings we only meet one star. This is not to say that so few people have the relevant experience to work in residential agency – previous experience is not always a prerequisite. What it does mean is that fewer and fewer people possess the charisma, attitude and desire that we generally look for. I am sorry to say that many of the applicants that we have met over the past few months greatly lack ambition and it’s incredibly transparent in an interview. We will not register these candidates and we will certainly not forward them to our clients as it would damage our reputation. At the initial interview stage we are looking for the skills that cannot be bought or taught – and a passion for the business will always shine through.  

 One of the best placements we have done this year was with a candidate who has never worked in residential lettings before.  She was very keen to secure a position in lettings and with a background working for a renowned interior designer in Chelsea, it was clear that she had a lot of transferable skills.  After we had interviewed her, we had no doubt that she would do well in this business and within a very short period of time she accepted a role within one of London’s most successful and prestigious independent property companies. 

 So when we say: “where have all the good candidates gone?” do not confuse this with “where are all the experienced candidates?” What we really need are the candidates that have the dynamic personality and evident drive to be successful. We want to speak to applicants that want a career in the property business and not just a job.