Mine Every Vein When You’re Looking To Hire Talented LOs

Mine Every Vein When You’re Looking To Hire Talented LOs

Don’t bail on up-and-comers because you’re lacking a good training program.

BY DAVE HERSHMAN | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL

Clearly, you know that your present loan offices and staff are an important tool within the recruiting process. Potential recruits want to know with whom and where they’ll work, and both of those elements can be good drivers of getting new employees. But there are a few additional components of your sphere which should not be ignored. In fact, they should be leveraged.

VENDORS

Your vendors are a very important component of your sphere for both producing and recruiting. Meet with them every time they visit your office. They keep asking what they can do of value for you. Let them know—network and help recruit.

Don’t just put them in the position of recruiting from your competitors that are their other customers. On the other hand, they should know when other companies are having problems and their loan officers are looking. With regard to novice loan officers, they have contacts outside the industry as well – including some that are vendors to the industry.

These vendors can help with other tasks such as training. Synergy rule number three indicates that some targets are more effective than others—and those who service the industry will logically be the best targets—if utilized in the right way. They also have significant knowledge of industry candidates which will help in the assessment phase. For example, it would be good to know how their closings go before you hire them.

A basic synergy rule: Stop purchasing from those who are not helping you succeed!

Your job is to let your vendors know what you need and be very specific about this need, so they know where to look and when to recognize the opportunity. Having your goals set with regard to the type of loan officer candidate you are looking for, will help tremendously in this regard, as you must let the vendor specifically know the types of loan officers you are targeting.

YOUR PREVIOUS COWORKERS

We have already discussed the target of boomerang loan officers – originators who’ve exited the business, but who might want to get back in. If this is a target you have decided to focus upon, you should first start with those you have worked with who are no longer in the business. Assuming you have been in the industry for a long time, this list should be quite extensive.

This is not to say that everyone you have worked with in the past are no longer in the business. Those previous coworkers who are still working in the business also know other loan officers who are no longer in the business. And they may be candidates themselves and/or know additional experienced loan officers that may be looking.

Going back to the concept of cold calling, certainly those you have worked with over the years represent a better base of candidates and referral sources, as compared to those who you don’t know. Some of these loan officers you have done favors for and may have mentored.

YOUR OLD RESUME FILE

Those you have tried to recruit in the past may have not been ready at that time, but months or years later, the timing could be right. You should have been keeping in touch by calls or by delivering content value on a regular basis, including newsletters, articles, referrals or marketing ideas. The more value you provide, the better position you will be in when the time is right.

At the same time, you should be networking with these previous candidates on a regular basis regarding other candidates of whom they are aware. Continuous and consistent leveraging of this “farm” will yield results in the long run.

Dave Hershman, senior vice-president of sales for Weichert Financial Services.