Candidate Resources

What to Expect During the Application and Interview Process

Choose Your Pathway:

Creating (or Updating) Your Resume

This is your chance to brag and celebrate all the reasons you are a good fit for New Western.

You should tailor your resume for this role.

List employers, groups, clubs, or classes that show you have the experience and/or potential to work with the best in the industry.

If you have experience that shows leadership, networking, sales/persuasion, and/or communication skills, you should include it on your resume.

Having your state real estate license is a HUGE plus and you should include this. If you have started real estate school and are pending graduation and licensing, you should include this as well. If you don’t have it, that’s ok. It isn’t required to receive a conditional offer, but you must obtain your real estate license before you can start working.

Preparing for your Interview

Since our real estate investment agent roles are unlike any other role, we look to evaluate your potential, not just your current skill level. To effectively do that, we focus on four (4) key competencies that are the essential ingredients of success at New Western.

You will likely have at least one, if not two, structured interviews focusing on competencies.

To prepare, think about a recent work or life experience where you demonstrated one of the competencies below. Be prepared to tell us your story about the experience. Your examples should include what happened, what you did, how it turned out, and what (if anything) you learned from the experience.

Here are the four (4) key competencies so you can think of examples to discuss in advance.

Drives Results

You were focused. You were goal oriented. You realized that it wasn’t good enough to just do the activity, your results mattered. You did not let the external environment create excuses for you. You found a way to get it done, no matter what.

Being Resilient

You had to rebound from setbacks and adversity in difficult situations. You had to anticipate them, meet them head-on, and withstand them. You remained in control, kept positive, and found a way to move forward.

Builds Networks

You had to lean on a relationship to get help with something. You had to maintain relationships with different people in different areas. You built a set of relationships and kept them active. You had to connect the dots across multiple different people to get something accomplished.

Communicates Effectively

You had to deliver messages to people in a clear and concise way. You had to listen to other viewpoints. You worked together on a team to accomplish a goal. Your difficult message was heard correctly by your audience.

Your Interview

Whether your interview is in person or virtual, please make sure you are on time. If interviewing at one of our locations, arrive for the meeting at least 10 minutes early to account for traffic and parking. If you are meeting virtually, please ensure you have a stable internet connection and are in a quiet place.

Our office environment is business casual. To make a great first impression, we encourage you to dress a step above business casual. General interview attire guidance includes no denim, no wrinkles and no sneakers – the most important thing is to look neat, polished, and put together. You should probably also have a pen and notebook with you. If you are meeting virtually please be prepared to take notes and dress the same as if you were meeting in person.

Real estate is a relationship-based career. How quickly you build rapport and earn trust in a conversation is a good indicator of how you will interact with potential clients and perform on the job. Be confident and friendly.

In addition to the competency based examples, be prepared to speak about your prior experience. This could be with an employer, club, class, or anything where you gained experience.

During the interview, keep the following in mind:

Never speak negatively about a former employer.
Be prepared to talk about why you left (or are planning to leave) positions. Don’t blame others for your departure.
Avoid being too casual – this may lead to saying something inappropriate.
Reiterate your interest and make sure your interviewer knows you are excited, and fully committed to the opportunity.

When I am interviewing potential agents for a position, I look for someone who is quick on their feet, competitive and able to be personable in most any situation. You don’t have to have real estate experience to be great at this job, but you do need to have confidence and be able to adapt quickly.

Ryan O., Recruiter

When I talk to potential agents, I look for highly-motivated professionals who are confident. You should have examples of how you were successful and what you did to make it happen. You should also be on time or early and not distracted. If the interview is virtual, make sure you have strong internet connection and know how to use your camera ahead of time.

Lillian S., Recruiter

When I am interviewing a candidate, I look for two very important things. First, I want the candidate to be prepared. They should understand the basics of the job, some information about the company, and the interviewer. Second, be sure you can talk about yourself. I want to understand your background and it’s even better if you can talk about things you have done that would help you in this role.

Alex B., Recruiter

Find Yourself in Good Company

Apply Online

Expressing interest is easy, just complete our short online application and attach your resume. Then our talent acquisition team will review the information you provide and let you know if you are moving on to the next step. We appreciate everyone who takes the time to apply and commit to communicating our decision. We will not leave you without a response.

Recruiter Interview

If your application is selected, a recruiter will reach out via email to schedule a thirty (30) minute phone conversation with you. During this call we take time to understand your background and experiences to evaluate your fit with New Western. We also want to make sure you understand the role, our culture and what it takes to be successful.

Field Leadership Interview

If you are selected to move past the recruiter interview, your next step will be an opportunity to meet with the hiring manager. We want to make sure we have a great mutual connection. Our Field Leadership team has first-hand experience and knows what it takes to succeed. Either virtually or in person, we will evaluate whether you have the traits necessary for success at New Western and give you the opportunity to ask questions that you need answered in order to evaluate where we are the right fit for you.

Realistic Work Preview

If you are selected to move to this step, it is your chance to observe and experience many of the things our agents do everyday. You can join us for a team meeting, shadow an agent, experience a taste of our culture, visit a property to see how we operate in the field and meet with the hiring manager one last time to address any additional questions you may have.

Offer

If the hiring manager determines that you have the potential to be a successful New Western investment real estate agent, they will reach out to extend a formal offer to join our team and discuss potential start dates. We appreciate the time you invested in evaluating our opportunity and commit to communicating our decision to you quickly, often the same day as your final interview or within a few days.

Preboarding

Before you start, you will be assigned to one of our preboarding specialists. They help walk you through all the steps you need to complete before you start with us. We will complete a background check and license verification. If you are currently with a brokerage, you’ll want to be sure you close out any work with them, since you will not be able to bring it with you. You will also need to move your license under the New Western brokerage and complete all of our paperwork necessary to ensure you are set up and ready to go in all our systems on your first day.