CRE Recruiting for a Career - crazy?

As we all know, the last several years of CRE have been brutal, especially those of us who were around during the golden years (luckily I caught the tail of it). I personally don't find the industry as enjoyable as it once was, for reasons we all know, and I am not 100% committed to continuing my career in it.

One career path that is never discussed is recruiting done by those who have extensive industry (transaction, management, etc.) experience. I am specifically referring to CRE placement for junior and mid level professionals. 

I have over 8 YoE, mostly on the debt originations side, but have been through countless interviews across the board and know what kind of candidate and background firms are looking for. Why don't more people consider this route? You inherently have a leg up on your colleagues and competitors if they are your classic HR personality, you understand how it actually feels to be in the candidate's position and what their goals are (they likely were yours at one point), and can truly be honest immediately if their background doesn't fit the position. Not sure about you, but I would definitely rather work with someone like that than the classic one call -> ghosting. 

Not 100% certain on pay, but assuming you learn the recruiting game, you can really crush it. I bet we all have friends who were recruiters out of school, and some of mine at this point take home $250k+ working 20-30 hours a week. Not saying it's easy, but sure seems like a nice lifestyle change. 

Curious what you guys have to say. 

13 Comments
 

you're probably right.  i've seen it done and i think those guys are pretty happy/doing pretty well.  nobody on here likely knows the answer to that or wants to do that, but you're prob right.  not sure how long it takes to ramp up.  it's probably not the easiest thing on earth right now when there are a few guys already doing this and not as much hiring as there likely was a few years ago.  heck i'm starting to wonder why i am not doing it as i'm typing this.

 

Not sure how you pay the bills right now when you're paid on commission and no one is hiring. If you're third party you also have zero control over your own destiny. A company can exercise you endlessly and never hire a new applicant. 

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

CRE

Not sure how you pay the bills right now when you're paid on commission and no one is hiring. If you're third party you also have zero control over your own destiny. A company can exercise you endlessly and never hire a new applicant. 

While true today, the exact opposite is possible when times are good. Besides, what you are saying is true for many other RE roles, not just recruiting. Some risk is simply necessary to reach personal goals. 

 
Most Helpful

You just used 36 words to say absolutely nothing. 
 

“Good times are good. Bad times are bad. Reach for the stars.” 

Save it for LinkedIn. 

...but is it REPE?
 

Honestly, you're onto something, but recruiting in this market is just trading one headache for another. Wait until transaction volume picks back up, then make the jump!

 

I think there’s definitely an angle if you are able to grind the ladder for a while before being a recruiter.

My dad has a buddy who is a tech recruiter and has had years where he has made multiple M as his retirement job. To get there, he climbed the ladder and lived to work for 30 years and knew the people + industry.

On the other hand, I know a few recruiters by trade and they are all fighting to make it. They get no benefits or 401k and their income is incredibly variable. Without an established network to 1) know the people and 2) know the industry it seems like survivors bias.

Also, if someone has a recruitment firm recommendation that isn’t full of clowns trying to get a check, please comment.

 

It's 100% a sales job, so just like any sales job infinite upside/downside, so be ready to wake up at 2am with insane anxiety because you haven't gotten a paycheck in a couple years.  And don't look at the top 1% as a sign of what's possible.  You me and everyone else is in the middle of the bell curve bud.  

In the current market, the prospective employees are paying the recruiters to blast their resumes/credentials to prospective employers.  If that isn't a sign of hard times, I don't know what is.  

 

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