griebcw1, Author at Building Careers

4 Ways to Overcome the First-Day Jitters

Prepare

Part of the stress that comes with starting a new job is 100% avoidable if you prepare ahead of time. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep, have everything ready that you’ll need for the morning including your clothes, plan to wake up earlier than normal to account for traffic or the unexpected, eat a good breakfast… these common sense preparations will allow you to focus only on the job and getting to know your new colleagues.

Ask Questions

Whether you’re looking for the copy room or having trouble accessing your email, don’t let the “newness” of everything throw you off. Don’t hesitate to ask for help. Everyone was new once and knows what it’s like to feel a little lost on that first day

Take Notes

Your first few days at any new job are a real learning curve, and you’ll be taking in a lot of new information, from the mundane to the really important. Take notes so you don’t forget anything, and you can reference them when you have a question that comes up a few weeks or months down the line.

Be Friendly

First impressions matter when starting a new job, and you want to build positive, collaborative relationships from the beginning. In other words, don’t be shy about approaching people you don’t know; don’t wait for them to come to you. Introduce yourself, ask what department they’re in, what their position is, or where they’re from. They’ll appreciate your interest and the friendly gesture, which can go a long way to establishing trust and a good rapport (both key things you need to have a good working relationship).

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How CRE Is Assessing Salaries During COVID-19

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Building Careers President Carly Glova said companies seeking executives or leadership positions have been much more willing to get creative with compensation structure, allowing candidates to get larger pieces of deals. Historically limited to C-suite positions, more performance-based compensation, such as giving restricted shares, has filtered down to vice presidents and others to entice them to make a move. These shifts come after decades where compensation structures had slowly been shifting toward a great reliance on annual salaries; between 2005 and 2020, CREW found that base salaries for men and women in CRE have increased, while commissions and profit-sharing have decreased by roughly the same amount.

What should commercial real estate brokers and execs think about as the uncertain COVID situation continues to evolve and impact the search for top talent? A Deloitte research paper suggests that firms take this moment to broaden their talent searches and modernize technology to attract younger workers: For every Gen Z hire, CRE companies recruited three baby boomers.

Glova has seen surging demand for anybody with life sciences experience, and comp packages are market-agnostic, meaning those with experience in established markets such as San Francisco and the Bay Area can look at relocating to rising markets like Denver and enjoy a big cost-of-living benefit.

“There’s still a small pool of companies doing this, and folks with this kind of specialty are few and far between,” she said.

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5 Keys to Effective Business Communication

What is Business Communication?

Business communication is the process of aligning expectations, sharing information, and fostering understanding between internal and external parties. In short, it’s how effective companies maintain an effective team and consistently satisfy client needs.

Every business should prioritize communication in their core values. Not only does it lead to more productive and beneficial relationships, but it helps the bottom line. Research indicates companies that focus on clear communication outperform their competitors by orders of magnitude. It’s a proven way to differentiate your firm or agency and enhance the customer experience.

Yet many businesses overlook it or take it for granted. It’s tempting to assume your business communication is clear and effective. But according to the research, well over half of internal communications professionals aren’t even measuring their efforts or success in this realm.

Key Tips for Better Business Communication

Here at Building Careers, one of our core values is open, constant, and timely communication. Our team relies on key communications principles and strategies to stand out among our competitors in the commercial real estate niche.

But regardless of the industry you serve, we believe the following tips will help you achieve measurable success internally and externally.

1. Constant Feedback

The feedback loop is vitally important to improvement. Even negative feedback can be helpful when taken to heart and applied to future situations. Being open to feedback shows others you are interested in being the best you can be.

In our searches, we routinely request feedback from our clients and our candidates. This constant stream of input allows us to make real-time adjustments for better performance and the best use of everyone’s time. Likewise, we provide regular feedback as we are constantly thinking about the interests of those we serve. Even if there are no updates, checking in with candidates and clients to let them know that allows us to build trust and put everyone at ease that they know what to expect from the process.

2. Clarity

There’s a an old saying that, if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it. In your business communication with clients, keep it short and sweet. Provide clear answers to their questions. With employees, don’t send mixed messages. Make sure everyone knows what the priorities are.

3. Over Communication

The average professional overestimates their success in communicating. To be understood, you must over communicate just to make par.

In one remarkable study, people were asked to tap out popular songs while others listened and tried to make out what songs were being tapped. Those tapping estimated that about half of the songs were successfully communicated to the listeners. But in reality, only 2.5% were. State the obvious. Then repeat. Don’t assume you are understood.

4. Open and Honest

Transparency should be a given. Yet there is a surprising amount of misdirection and cloaking that take place in business discussions and communications. In fact, around 80% of workplace problems can be traced back to a lack of open and honest communication.

At no point should you mislead members of your team or clients. Proactively ask open-ended questions about potential problems or concerns and always respond genuinely. If you don’t immediately know the answer, be up front about it and then do the proper research to deliver the information requested.

5. Communication Culture

Clear and effective business communication doesn’t happen by accident. Make it a part of your company’s DNA by enshrining it in your core company values.

Emphasize to your team how important it is that they participate in open, constant, and timely communication – both internally and with clients. Let your clients know they can expect the highest communication standards from your team. This will keep you accountable and motivated.

Reward and encourage clear communication, and in the long run, it will reward you and your business.

Below we are proud to have been a part of a CREW Program Recording called Winning Communication. Please click here for the link to the program recording.

If you would like to learn more about Building Careers, contact us or email Carly Glova directly!

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Not Getting Hired? Here is Why and How to Change That

Leave a Comment / Blog, Industry Insights, Interview Tips, Job Search

An inevitable aspect of the job search is not getting hired for the job you hoped for. It’s not always clear why you weren’t able to secure a position you felt fit your experience and skills perfectly. Knowing the reasons why you weren’t hired will help you better prepare for the remainder of your job search and obtain an exceptional position. In this article, we explain why knowing the reasons you didn’t get the job is important for your future job search success, the most common reasons why and what to do to fix them.

You’re Not Being Proactive

Having a proactive personality is directly correlated with career success. If you are applying to jobs without following up or simply applying to too few jobs, you are missing a key piece of the job search.

Work on strengthening your proactive approach to job searching by applying to more jobs a week, actively pursuing any possible leads by reaching out after interviews and strategizing your search. Strategies include knowing what type of job you’re looking for and what areas you are willing to adjust, such as salary, benefits, location and duties. It also entails knowing your strengths and weaknesses, setting time aside daily to search and apply and refining your resume. To get in front of a hiring manager, your resume needs to be written specifically to the job you are applying for.

Another way to be proactive is by connecting with our team. With years of direct commercial real estate experience in-hand, Building Careers, LLC is focused on making a difference in other’s careers utilizing passion for and knowledge of the industry along with a robust personal network in commercial real estate. We are here to help you succeed!

You’re Not Showing Passion for the Position

Employers can sense if excitement for a position isn’t quite there. Skills can be taught, but employers desire to see passion and enthusiasm when considering applicants.

Convey how excited you are for a position in your cover letter and during your initial interview. When you apply for a job, read through the description and research the company thoroughly. From there, you can generate a list of questions to ask the interviewer. This will show you are genuinely interested in learning more about the organization and your passion through the position can shine through.

You will also want to make a list of all the details that make you eager to work for that company and be sure to explain why you love your work and how you can be beneficial to the company’s mission and objectives

You’re Underrating Your Skills

Job searching is one of the most important times to show confidence and pride in your skills, knowledge and education. If you don’t demonstrate your greatest strengths and accomplishments, you may be overlooked for a role you are otherwise well-suited for.

Improve your ability to sell yourself by first understanding what your greatest strengths and accomplishments are and how they relate to the job you’re applying to. Then, carefully choose the traits and achievements that show the value you bring to a company and detail them in your resume and cover letter. Echo these in your interview with a balance of pride and humility.

To read more, click this link. If you would like to learn more about Building Careers, contact us or email Carly Glova directly!

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Building Careers – Top 12 LinkedIn Profile Tips

Leave a Comment / Ask An Expert, Blog, Set Yourself Up For Success

1. LinkedIn will search your profile from the top-down

a. Concentrate on displaying key words at the top of your page

2. Edit your profile headline instead of having it pull from your work history

3. Provide relevant person or professional contact information

4. Update your LinkedIn URL to be your name so it is easily found and identified. Ex: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlyglova

5. Use all 2,000 characters in the summary/about section. While people may not read everything you write, the more key words you have everywhere in your profile, the more searches you will show up in.

a. Write about what you do and how that appeals to people looking at your profile

b. Include contact information

c. If you still have remaining space, string together key search words (specialties, skill set, etc.)

6. Provide as much information for each position you have held, including educational institutions

a. Copy + paste verbiage from their website

b. Thorough description of your role

c. Media

i. Upload/link pictures, videos, blogs, SlideShare presentations, websites

ii. Your work product and company stock media (2 per job)

7. Add certifications, licenses, courses, publications, projects, awards, organizations, volunteer activities etc.

Follow the same process as with your jobs and include boilerplate information from the organizations website, your role in the organization, and any additional media/links

8. Personalize your LinkedIn with your birthdate (month and day are fine) and interests. The more information the better because it gives viewers more opportunities to relate to you.

9. Request and provide recommendations

10. Arrange your Skills and Endorsements in the way you want them presented, highlighting those most relevant to the job you are interested in

11. Interests – join and follow the maximum number of relevant Influencers, Companies, and Groups.

a. This will exponentially grow your network as being in the same group as someone constitutes a connection

b. Follow Relevant Companies – their activity will show up on your news feed and you can interact with their posts and employees

12. Interactive updates

a. Publish Posts

b. Mention connections and/or companies in LinkedIn updates

c. Respond to comments

d. Like and comment on others’ posts

Complementary Posts:

Contact Carly Glova: CGlova@BuildingRECareers.com

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CREW Network Study Calls Industry for Greater Diversity in Commercial Real Estate

Leave a Comment / Blog, Industry Insights

Lawrence, Kansas – The 2020 CREW Network Benchmark Study: Gender and Diversity in Commercial Real Estate, is a wakeup call—and a call to action for the commercial real estate industry. Study results indicate that our collective efforts to achieve parity in the industry are far from complete—in fact, very little progress has been made in the last five years.

The study, conducted in partnership with the MIT Center for Real Estate, measures progress for women over the last 15 years, capturing critical industry-wide data and benchmarking diversity in commercial real estate. It is the fourth comprehensive study by Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network, the leading producer of research on gender and diversity in the industry, since 2005.

“We are calling on executives who can affect change to take this study seriously and take action in their company and in the industry,” said CREW Network CEO Wendy Mann. “CREW Network remains committed to creating a more diverse, equal and inclusive industry—but we can’t do it alone. Industry leaders must address these issues as a business imperative—and take action now to make this important investment in our companies, our employees, and the future of our industry to remain a competitive and attractive employer.”

“As an industry, commercial real estate clearly has a lot of work ahead in order to create a level playing field for women and minorities,” said Sadhvi Subramanian, a Capital One senior vice president and Mid-Atlantic Market Manager who helped facilitate the bank’s support of the research. “CREW Network’s work in shining a light on these disparities is crucial. Capital One is happy to serve as CREW Network Industry Research Program Partner and underwriter of this year’s study. Change can only happen when we work together as an industry.”

Key findings from the study:

Women occupy 36.7% of the commercial real estate industry. This percentage has remained between 35-37% over the last 15 years.
The study saw a 5.4% increase in women respondents 39 years old and younger, indicating a growing generation of young and emerging women professionals in the industry.
More women occupy brokerage than ever before (29%), a 6% increase from 2015.

Contact Carly Glova: CGlova@BuildingRECareers.com

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Want to Become a Successful Commercial Real Estate Broker? Here’s How!

Leave a Comment / Blog, Industry Insights, Set Yourself Up For Success

Are you looking to make the switch to becoming a commercial real estate broker? It’s not hard to see why. Being a successful commercial real estate broker usually means making a lot more money. After all, the price for a commercial property typically dwarfs that of your average home.

Successful Commercial Real Estate Broker

However, this isn’t an easy field. Those rewards attract swarms of people, so becoming a successful commercial real estate agent requires that you understand what’s required and then waste no time putting in the work.

The majority of your success will rely on one thing: persistence. There is no well-worn path toward becoming a commercial real estate agent, so expect yours to wind back and forth a bit.

That said, if you remain persistent and do your best to implement the following steps, you’ll find success a lot sooner than most.

Use Your Time Wisely

Just because you’re in the midst of a commercial real estate deal – even a big deal – that doesn’t mean you should kick back and take it easy. Do everything necessary to ensure its completion, but you should still have plenty of time during the rest of your week to look for new opportunities.

Aside from having another skill on your resume, one way to stand out from the crowd will be simply knowing more than any of your fellow agents.

Whatever you do, don’t call it a day before you’ve put in eight hours. You should never work fewer than 40 hours a week. In fact, many commercial real estate brokers would advise against that for your first year or two.

If you find you haven’t reached at least 40 hours by the end of the week, either work on refining your speciality or invest more time in networking, the two priorities we’re going to cover next.

Networking is Key

In many ways, commercial real estate is still a very traditional profession. If you want to get ahead – in terms of knowing where opportunities lie and turning leads into client – you need to know how to network. Just like with filling your workweek, this is something you’ll always need to do. The moment you decide your network is sufficient, you risk losing it.

Keep in mind, too, networking isn’t just a game of numbers. Connecting with people has become easier than ever thanks to the opportunities provided by LinkedIn and other social media platforms, but sending out requests isn’t enough.

You need to develop your network. Check in with people regularly, even socialize with them at events that have nothing to do with work. The goal is to ensure you stay top-of-mind with them so when a deal presents itself, you’re at the front of the line.

Don’t forget about your fellow commercial real estate agents, either. Just like asking those above you in your firm for tips, try to get some free advice from other agents who are doing well. You should even connect with agents from other firms over LinkedIn and introduce yourself when the opportunity presents itself.

Contact Carly Glova: CGlova@BuildingRECareers.com

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4 Solid Reasons Your Company Should Partner with a Recruitment Firm

Leave a Comment / Blog, Building Careers, Employers, Industry Insights

Search firms oftentimes get a bad rap. For some companies, they’re just a necessary evil. But successful firms in commercial real estate know that throwing a failed job opening at a recruiter once in a while isn’t the path to hiring success. Instead, they partner with a recruitment firm to achieve long-term results and so much more than an occasional hire.

A Good Hire

Employee turnover is a huge concern in the different fields of CRE. In property management, for example, companies have to overcome a staggering 33% employee turnover rate. Across most industries, the national average is nearly 25%.

Why?

The reason so many employees are walking is they simply weren’t a good fit for their position. They weren’t a good hire. Sure, they looked good on paper, or maybe they interviewed well. But somehow, they weren’t the right fit.

Unfortunately, the cost of a bad hire is rather high. Estimates vary from half their annual salary to over two years annual salary when all factors are considered. But the point is that the recruitment process correlates directly to the bottom line. Efforts after the fact to improve employee retention can only go so far if your employees aren’t the right hire to begin with.

Partner with a Recruitment Firm for Lasting Results

Hiring whichever contingency recruiter comes in as the lowest bidder whenever a role opens up shows a misunderstanding for the value and strategic importance the recruiter has in your overall business strategy.

Companies who partner with a recruitment firm for the long term, means moving beyond transactional decision making to a more trusted advisory role. In this position, a recruiting agency can develop a sense of your company’s culture, dynamic, business model, and hiring needs. They ask questions a one-off recruiter might not think to ask. They can see beyond the immediate need of your current opening to needs that might develop in the future.

A trusted recruiting partner can explore alternatives in a way that mutually benefits the hiring company as well as the eventual hires, growing both in the process. Considering the organizational relationship, managerial styles, and unstated values, a recruiting partner can better find the candidates you truly need vs. what you think you need.

Key Partnership Benefits

Below are four solid benefits your company can count on when you partner with a recruitment firm as a hiring advisor.

1. Company Advocacy and Confidentiality

Partnering with a recruiting firm that shares your company’s values will allow them to evangelize what you do and keep your best interests at heart. A recruitment firm that appreciates how you value the relationship with them will be able to paint your company in the best light to potential new hires.

And sure, even a one-off contingency headhunter will sign a confidentiality agreement, but a trusted recruitment partner will truly respect that confidentiality beyond the terms on paper. Searches often involve contact with competitors. A long-term partner will value their relationship with you and go the extra mile for your confidentiality.

2. Overlooked Roles

Often, people try to replace people. A job description may be a description of the person who left, when what is truly needed is a position the hiring company hasn’t even thought of. A tried-and-true relationship with a recruitment firm means a healthier dialogue in creating the role you truly need to fill based on what your industry has to offer.

3. A Better Talent Pool

A recruitment firm maintains and grows an immense pool of qualified talent that you may not need right this moment. But you’ll know about them should the need arise. Additionally, some of the best candidates aren’t actively in the market, but may have reached out to the recruitment firm to let them know when the right role for them comes up. Your role could be the right one fore the long-term, but you won’t know it unless you tap your recruitment firm’s relationship for these “off-market” candidates. With a strong relationship in place, your “right hire” won’t slip under your nose unnoticed. And you’ll enjoy a diverse set of options.

4. Future Success

Your company relies on long-term success plans and strategies. Your best employees have likely been with you for years. Likewise, working with a recruitment firm for years is a key factor in future success. You don’t know what hiring needs you’ll have down the road. But with a trusted recruiter partnership in place, the right hire when you need it is just a call away.

Contact Carly Glova: CGlova@BuildingRECareers.com

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Coming Soon to Manchester Pacific Gateway for $1.5B: Waterfront Life Science Campus

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Real estate firm IQHQ is taking over five city blocks along the bay for what it’s calling the San Diego Research and Development District.

(Courtesy of IQHQ)

Hoping to make a splash in downtown’s real estate market, a celebrated biotech office developer has purchased more than 8 acres of waterfront land to create a waterfront life science campus along San Diego’s Bay.

Friday, the newly formed IQHQ real estate investment group, started by storied life science builder Alan Gold, completed its acquisition of around two-thirds — or five city blocks — of the development site known as Manchester Pacific Gateway. The transaction paves the way for what IQHQ is calling the San Diego Research and Development District, or RaDD, as a massive lab-filled campus where ground-floor retail and unrivaled bay views work to recruit the biggest names in the pharmaceutical industry.

“What we’re seeing in San Diego as life science thrives and matures here, and the capital is flooding it, is that the central markets are constricted,” said Tracy Murphy, president of IQHQ, in an interview with the Union-Tribune. “So through our relationship with Doug Manchester, in an off-market transaction, we were able to come to terms right after COVID hit to acquire this site. Our vision for it was not that of a conference center or hotel, but really a dynamic, waterfront urban life science city.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The purchase is subject to various local and federal agreements. IQHQ plans to begin construction on site infrastructure immediately with a stated goal of completing the first phase of the district by the summer of 2023. The overall project includes a series of mid-rise structures and one 17-story tower, as well as a museum, and 3 acres of green space and rooftop decks. Development costs are expected to exceed $1.5 billion, the company said.

Manchester Financial Group, meanwhile, will retain two of the site’s eight blocks for a hotel and 1.9-acre plaza, although the firm did not share a timeline for construction.

San Diego Research and Development District

“This incredible development will be the catalyst for biotech to relocate to downtown San Diego and will be the driving force for life sciences growth and expansion,” Doug Manchester, chairman of Manchester Financial Group, said in a statement. “With the entrepreneurism and leadership of IQHQ, and Alan Gold, San Diego will be one of the largest biotech clusters in the world.”

Contact Carly Glova: CGlova@BuildingRECareers.com

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Everything You Need to Think about Before Moving for a New Job During COVID-19

1. Will Moving Boost Your Career?

Deciding how much opportunity there is to advance your career will help you determine if the potential risk of relocating is worth the reward. One common reason people move for a job is for career growth. However, given the high unemployment rates and economic uncertainty, making a career change during a time like this can be a risky move. While you might have an opportunity for upward mobility, job security is more important than ever.

As a result, you’ll want to first ask yourself if there’s growth potential in the city you’re planning to move to—and at the company you’re planning to work. As you consider moving and taking a new job, ask yourself: Is there more opportunity for career advancement in this new city than where I currently work? What positions are available there? How does career progress look at my new company?

You’ll also want to determine how much job security you believe you’ll have in your new role. Is the position, company, and industry known for being particularly recession-proof? Was the company’s industry impacted negatively by Covid-19? The good news is many companies are actually experiencing positive growth as a result of the pandemic. Information technology, online education, and entertainment are all industries that have benefited from the unfortunate state of current health affairs.

2. Is it Safe to Move?

If you land a new job that requires you to relocate immediately, there are circumstantial details that will impact you moving for a new job during COVID-19. For example, many moving companies are taking significant precautions to make sure they’re conducting business and providing services with health and safety top of mind. Do your research and make sure the moving company that you choose is engaging in safe moving practices like requiring you to pack boxes 24 hours prior to moving, contactless moving, wearing masks, and frequent sanitization of trucks and equipment.

3. Do you Actually HAVE to Move?

Finally, during your new job search, you might find that many companies are hiring, but due to Covid-19, their employees are working remotely. This could mean that you wouldn’t be required to go into an office space for a while, or maybe wouldn’t even have to relocate at all—many companies are now offering full-time remote-work arrangements. If this is the case, some of the risk and uncertainty around accepting a new job would be reduced. On the other hand, if you really want to move and it’s not required, then the position might not be the right one for you.

Contact Carly Glova: CGlova@BuildingRECareers.com

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