Loan Officer Recruiting Blueprint Lessons

ERA3034

Headhunter’s Secrets Revealed Take Your Recruiting to a New Level

Recruitment Branding Strategies Workbook ERA3034

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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Loan Officer Recruiting Blueprint Lessons

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Introduction This is the participant’s workbook for Lesson ERA3034; it will also serve as your checklist for the planning. We seriously encourage you to take advantage of these planning tools and knowledge growth and retention activities. Some of the questions may seem to be repeats; this is only done to promote a really all-round 360ᵒ examination of all the facts! There are a higher percentage of personal branding questions. Why? Remember that people go to work for people; people they like and trust. Your brand is the most important

Self-assessment: What is your personal brand … what can a prospective candidate find out about you? If a prospective candidate did their due diligence and researched you in Google and various other professional organization sites what would they find? What personal brand do you have out there on the Internet for all to see? Do you have a current profile on LinkedIn? Is your LinkedIn profile up to date and comprehensive enough and provide sufficient detail to paint a vivid picture that you are someone of professionalism and integrity … and worth considering as a prospective employer. If a prospective candidate did their due diligence and researched you in Google and various other professional organization sites what would they find? What personal brand do you have out there on the Internet for all to see?

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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Do you have a current profile on LinkedIn? Is your LinkedIn profile up to date and comprehensive enough and provide sufficient detail to paint a vivid picture that you are someone of professionalism and integrity … and worth considering as a prospective employer. Ask yourself these 6 questions about your LinkedIn profile and be prepared to take immediate action if you honestly have a negative or indecisive response to the questions 1. How well does the profile promote me, both the person and the business professional? 2. Is my job history up to date … is my experience evident and compelling

3. What are the number, value and relevance of my connections? What do my connections say about me both professionally and personally? 4. What is the number and “strength” of the recommendations I have received; and who wrote them!

5. What message do the corporate and personal Websites, blogs and publications listed say about me? 6. Does the photograph published portray an image that is fairly recent? We are certain that there is no need to warn your of the perils of questionable (or deemed to be questionable by anyone) pictorial or written content on social media sites like Facebook. There has been enough written on this topic and sufficient lurid detail discussed on TV shows!

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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We want you to take the topic of your personal branding seriously. Your brand (supported by your companies) is one of the primary and most powerful recruiting assets you have. Make a list of the corrective actions you are now convinced you need to take to correct anything negative that the previous 6 questions uncovered.

A realistic look at your Personal Brand An honest self-assessment will provide invaluable and useful decision data to raise the bar on your personal and professional brand We at The EMAC Group believe that one of the most powerful ways to start each year is to conduct a “year in review” process taking a personal and professional inventory of where you are, evaluate and acknowledge your personal and professional accomplishments as well as areas which were disappointments or challenges that did not meet your expectations.

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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Loan Officer Recruiting Blueprint Lessons

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To help you in a substantive way we provide you with these exercises … Exercise 1: Recalling and learning from the components of the year that was! First Step: In (probably) 2 pages, or (potentially) 25 bullets, catalog the significant events that occurred in 2013. This is the “everything” list … inclusive of good, bad, new, thought-provoking, challenging and the “this-is-painful-to-recall” events! Avoid the temptation to extend this exercise beyond its focus; this is not the moment to start a self-analysis based on the list. This list is the initial gathering point for the majority of your planning components for the New Year. Also; do not spend time ranking the listed items for their impact … we will get to that! Second Step We always need to heed the now famous words of poet and logician George Santanya, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it” Now extract the top 5 “downers” … these are the occurrences that had a negative impact on both or either your personal and / or professional life. Events that happened by your own hand and those that were not anticipated! This is no time to be shy; every one you leave off is going to affect the value of this list to your planning activity. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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Exercise 2: Personal and Professional Wins and Key Accomplishments If you are like the majority of people; we dwell on the negatives from the past for too long then this step will get you back on the right path. Exercise 1’s Second Step (above) is our “cautionary” input for next year. This exercise will provide the list of occurrences that will fuel the raising of the bar in the exercises that follow … how do you repeat the positive? How do you make the positive event last longer or be more beneficial?

In (probably) 3 pages, or (potentially) 30 bullets, assemble and list the significant positive events that happened in 2013. This is also an “everything” list … the whole enchilada! Inclusive of everything personal and professional you are proud of. These are the achievements that you would brag about on your LinkedIn profile … the things you want your family, boss and peers to recognize as your triumphs. Strong contributions to image and brand! When the list of “triumphs” is done, extract the five most impactful professional “triumphs” and list them in significance priority …these may be something you grow or expand on or seek to repeat!

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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Now do the same for the most significant personal “triumphs” … again in priority order … 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Exercise 3: Planning logistics and focus Before we begin planning for the New Year we need to go supply “shopping” List the permissions, people and other resources or tools you will need to repeat the “triumphs” of last year or raise the bar even higher!

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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To give your planning a clear focus use the space below to write a description of your brand as you would like it to be perceived by others … it is really an objective for you to follow! It is the core of the planning you need to do!

Exercise 4: A catalog of the things that did not go well in the last year! In the same spirit of inquiry we used for cataloging the “triumphs” we now need to list the negatives for use as planning input components … answer the following questions; the information evidenced will be powerful decision data for you!

What are the three personal brand shortcomings you noticed? 1. 2. 3.

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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What are the three professional brand weaknesses that do not come up to par? 1. 2. 3.

What are the five issues that may slow or stop my plan to enhance my personal and professional brand? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

What do you plan to do about addressing the three earlier questions in this exercise? Write something real and tangible; not just “I will really make an effort to ……..” Your description must contain action verbs and an end-goal!

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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Describe and list the personal goals or targets that did not happen during the last year?

Professionally, which of your measurable goals and “stretch” challenges were not achieved? Especially those listed in your performance evaluation documentation agreed with your boss!

What is the “state of the union” with your relationships; both personal and professional? Although it may seem awkward to list both; remember they are interrelated in their influence on the future.

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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What do you plan to do to correct … or end the relationships that were deemed to be unworthy?

What else could possibly delay or reduce the quality of your plan for next year?

Exercise 5: You have a rich tapestry of decision data for next year’s plan! The 4 exercises that you have just completed should, if you gave it your best shot, provide you with a rich variety of straightforward planning input. As you proceed remember that your plan must always have the following elements … The old WUCAM formula returns; right from your first management course!

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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Loan Officer Recruiting Blueprint Lessons W

It must be written

U

It must be understandable (especially 4 months into a year!)

C

It must have an element of challenge

A

It must be realistically attainable

M

There must be an element of unambiguous measurement of the attainment

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Another Personal Brand checkup! Before we start to conclude the topic of personal branding for a while let us run one more check on ourselves. As we said earlier; first impressions count, especially online. It’s free and very simple to sign up for online networking sites and they are great tools for promoting your brand. Most professionals will have a profile on LinkedIn or Facebook to network. Try Googling your name and see what happens! Now consider that prospective customers (for instance) do the same. Are you happy with what they see? If you were a client, you would probably see dozens of profiles on Linkedin and Facebook. We know headhunters and recruiters are all over LinkedIn like a cheap suit. Cross reference yourself on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and other sites to see that you are not simply putting on a corporate act. Make sure the brand you project is consistent and well positioned.

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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Just like having 20 glowing recommendations on LinkedIn weighs in your favor, one ‘wrong’ photo can be a complete deal-breaker. An overall key point summary of all the exercises’ results … What did you find during this exercise … and what needs to be fixed urgently?

Let’s talk about the benefit of “additional” objectivity! All the self and business brand examination questions in this Workbook need, as we keep saying, you to be really honest … honest equals objective. You can really add significantly to this entire exercise activity if you take the time to seek the input of all the other interested parties. People who like you want to ensure that candidates and prospects see your company in the best possible light. The right candidates and prospects! Take all of the overall company or business aspects or results and “catalog” them in an easy to read document. Ask 4 or 5 five other sales managers to … 

Independently review the answers and results



Document what they find … just a few sentences that say that they agree or disagree with your results and planned actions



Offer suggestions to improve the “positives” they identify (agree with)

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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Loan Officer Recruiting Blueprint Lessons 

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Offer improvements or changes to get rid of what they see as the negatives or “errors” in your answers to the business or company questions.

This additional level of objectivity is going to be invaluable as you move into the Lessons that follow … where you move from [a] acquiring your baseline recruiting knowledge and understanding to [b] actually starting out upon your recruiting campaigns. This exercise will not add to your time burden if you [a] make sure everyone knows the objective … [b] works off the same facts and [c] respond in a structured way … [d] in a well planned meeting with a clear agenda and schedule!

If you have thoroughly and honestly completed all the question and assessment sections in this workbook then you have some really powerful and “fiber-filled” input to your recruiting planning

Good luck!

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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The EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

The EMAC Group has been serving clients like you since 2004. Our goal will always be to deliver innovative time, cost and process efficient recruiting solutions and training tools to companies and their management teams. We are one of the top executive search firms in the USA. We concentrate and specialize in the mortgage banking industry. EMAC has consistently and successfully placed thousands of mortgage professionals with top companies. The EMAC Team has the proven ability to unfailingly connect our clients with perfectly qualified mortgage professionals at the national level. Our systematic recruitment process warrants that each of your specifications is met in the quest to secure the ideal candidate. Our objective is to become your trusted advisor and business partner! We are the resource you will consistently rely upon for executive search services and recruitment training in the months and years ahead! To learn more about our recruiting Solutions please contact us at 888.801.3622 or [email protected]

©2014 EMAC Group Recruiting Academy

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