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“There is no one out there doing a great job hiring diverse candidates,” according to Allison Weiss, principal of CRE Recruiting, a Los Angeles-based recruitment firm that specializes in commercial real estate.

“[Senior brokers] tend to reach out to their personal networks, and the people in those networks tend to live near them and look like them,” she said. “That can edge out more diverse candidates, ones who don’t live in their neighborhoods or went to their schools. Our industry is one of great nepotism.”

CRE Recruiting founder Allison Weiss said she's advising brokerages and CRE firms that want employees to return to the office this year to begin thinking about how well their office environments take into account not just the physical needs of employees, but their mental health as well.

"As long as you give people an outlet, and you take their information into account, you can then sort of say based on what we heard, here are some themes, here are some things we are working on as a company, and these are the things we are going to make priorities," Weiss said.

“I certainly bring my creativity to what I do every single day.”

Allison Weiss, Founder/Principal of CRE Recruiting, a boutique firm with national expertise in commercial real estate recruiting and placement and of CRE at Work, a platform that helps driven professionals build resilience, improve performance, and grow the careers and companies of their dreams. We talked about recruiting in the time of Covid, how to make a good impression online, what being a scientist in the job search and discovery is all about, and how we can reflect on this year to better set us up for the next.

“For me, as an entrepreneur, it’s all about focusing on the things that are going to have the biggest impact.” - Allison Weiss

“Feeling at the end of the day that I made a difference. That for me is the ultimate success.” - Allison Weiss

But the landscape has dramatically shifted. It’s important for firms and employees to adjust their expectations and strategies, said Allison Weiss, founder and principal of CRE Recruiting, to avoid falling behind, especially as an increase in executive hiring signals firms are investing in long-term strategic shifts. She believes there’s an increase in attrition-driven hiring, as well as new chief diversity officer hires, such as Tim Dismond at CBRE.

“Firms need to be focused on retention and recruiting strategies and have those strategies in alignment, or you’re setting yourself up to be raided by firms that are doing both,” she said.

Weiss, who heads her CRE-focused recruiting firm primarily from Los Angeles, is considering becoming a digital nomad herself. “I’ve always wanted to be that person who has more flexibility,” she said. “I’ve toyed with the idea of being bicoastal, and now that everyone’s remote anyway, I’m thinking there are so many parts of the country and the world that I haven’t explored.”

CRE Recruiting principal Allison Weiss is not so worried for her candidates when it comes to the optics of being let go versus furloughed, at least during the pandemic. She said she assures her candidates: "The stigma behind not having a job right now is not a thing."

"Employers are incredibly understanding — probably more so than they ever have been — that if someone's on the market today, it has nothing to do with their skills and ability," she said. "It has everything to do with the pandemic."

CRE Recruiting principal and founder Allison Weiss boils 'I know greatness when I see it' bias down to human nature. But she added that when it comes to actually ending up with the best person for the job, these instincts are often wrong — resulting in the wrong candidate landing in a job as often as half the time, which is costly and inefficient.

"As a white male-dominated industry, we need to challenge gut feeling or first impression instincts if we are ever going to make meaningful strides for diversity, inclusion, and equity," Weiss said.