Insights & Resources

Expanding our Reach, Retaining our Commitment

By David Poline

While Poline’s new identity as Poline Search Partners includes a new name, a new office, and some new faces, one thing is sure to remain unchanged: our efficient, effective search process to place high-quality, well-suited professionals that help our clients achieve their business goals. Building upon 40 years as the shopping center industry’s leading resource for executive search and personnel advisory services, we are parlaying our expertise and knowledge into other commercial real estate sectors,…

Attracting Young Talent to the CRE Industry

By David Poline

Check-out my recent conversation with CRE Investor + Advisor Stan Sonenshine at PREF and Georgia State University Professor regarding future talent within our industry: https://bit.ly/3vd19Ho. What started off as a legacy hiring topic evolved into a conversation about exposure and education. Here are a few highlights. While it’s still a “who you know” business, we believe the best way to have a diverse and qualified talent pool is through exposure, education and connection. Here’s how we can make an…

Job Searching in a Pandemic: A Brave New World

By David Poline

There has been a significant shift in hiring and job searching since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, nearly 22 million Americans filed for unemployment, and it quickly became commonplace to see numerous candidates who we’ve worked with over the years posting on LinkedIn that they were available for new opportunities or sending us updated resumes in hopes of quickly getting back to work. It’s difficult to comprehend that merely days before…

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiatives

Improving Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I)

By David Poline

Poline Associates has been actively creating, evaluating and fine tuning its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives over this past year. Our recent blogs have commented on the recruiter’s role in DE&I, the inspiring work of Project REAP as well as our firm’s own DE&I efforts, including participating in ICSC’s Partners in Diversity and Inclusion (PIDI) initiative. One thing that’s become clear is that DE&I initiatives only achieve results from a long-term, ongoing commitment to facilitating…

Introducing the Hybrid Workplace

By David Poline

It’s 2019. You’re a business owner, and you’ve been toying around with allowing your employees to work remotely one to two days per week. But you’ve got a lot of questions —Will they still be productive? Will our company culture remain intact? Is this option even something employees want? Fast forward to March 2020 and that decision has been made for you. Future of Office Space Due to COVID-19 and the forced, immediate adoption of…

WFH Fatigue: It’s a Real Thing

By David Poline

Little did we know in March that when we packed our office essentials and shifted to a home work environment, we would still be there in early September. Most of us were probably thinking we would work-from-home (WFH) for six to eight weeks max. Obviously, that’s not been the case. At the onset, I’ll admit I almost enjoyed the slower pace—not having multiple meetings in various locations daily, being on time for dinner with the…

Poline Associates Diversity + Inclusion Statement

Diversity & Inclusion at Poline Associates

By David Poline

For more than a year now, Poline has been discussing diversity & inclusion behind the scenes with various organizations and individuals. But we want to do more than talk. We are ready to act. We want to help the shopping center industry better reflect the myriad of consumers it serves and know that in order to do that we must examine our own policies and procedures to ensure they promote diversity, inclusion and equality. Poline’s…

Project REAP: A Call to Action for Diversity

By David Poline

Project REAP has been serving the commercial real estate (CRE) industry for 20+ years, but considering the current social and professional climate, their work is more important today than ever. Located in nine cities, including Atlanta, REAP, the Real Estate Associate Program, is considered the “most successful diversity initiative in the commercial real estate industry.” Its mission is to connect minority professionals with commercial real estate companies in need of exceptional talent. How Does Project…

Recruiters' Role in Diversity & Inclusion

Recruiter Role in Diversity and Inclusion

By David Poline

In her recent article, “Recruiters Play a Key Role in Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace,” Tiffany Trotter labels recruiters the “diversity and inclusion gatekeepers.” This encouraged me to think about my own role as a recruiter in the commercial real estate industry, an industry that has long struggled with a lack of diversity, mainly due to successful industry entrance being based on personal connections. Recruiters Need Training Trotter claims that while recruiters do not…

How to Improve Your Resume Bullet Points

By David Poline

Copy originally produced by Resume Pilots. One of the most common mistakes applicants make on their resumes is simply listing the tasks they were responsible for in previous jobs without explaining their accomplishments. To truly differentiate yourself from other candidates with similar backgrounds, you need to go above and beyond the fundamentals. By structuring your bullet points as described below, you'll convey your skills and abilities in a more effective and believable way. Types of…

Five Resume Formatting Pitfalls to Avoid

By David Poline

Copy originally produced by Resume Pilots. Research shows recruiters spend just over seven seconds initially reading a resume, so you want yours to stand out – especially in today’s highly competitive job market. As you search for templates, you may find online resume builders that create documents with multiple columns, colors and symbols. We strongly recommend avoiding these gimmicks as they’re simply too risky a move for most applicants. Your resume is a professional document,…

Team Members Experience Fatigue, Managers Should Adjust

By David Poline

The readjustment of workforce expectations due to the fatigue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been in the news. Managers must evaluate their expectations of their teams, argues a recent Harvard Business Review article featured in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Shelter in place and, for many, work from home has been the norm over the past few months. Some of us have been work-from-home superstars and maintained equal or even higher levels of productivity in…

Job Searching Techniques Shift Amid Pandemic

Job Search Techniques Shift Amid Pandemic

By David Poline

Are you conducting a job search? You may be curious how this current environment is affecting recruiting and job searching. A Smart Brief article examines how the pandemic has affected networking, communicating, interviewing and onboarding, offering tips on each topic. Networking Networking is certainly not happening in-person, but it seems to be flourishing on LinkedIn and other virtual platforms. One good suggestion—also applicable to interviewing—is to brush up on your video skills. You wouldn't think…

Relocation: A Trend of the Past?

By David Poline

Considering relocation, the two most important questions we have asked candidates are: (1) Can you relocate? (2) If so, where? Candidates who were open-minded to relocation were immensely easier to place in new roles because the universe of potential opportunities available to them was exponentially larger than for those who could not. This had become particularly true during the last decade—as this era has been marked by people having the least amount of mobility since World…

Maximize the Value of Your Resources When Job Searching

Maximize the Value of References

By David Poline

A recent Inc. article about hiring in the age of COVID discussed the increased emphasis on references as one of its main points. In my world, reference checks have always been a critical part of the search process. Of course, that may be in part because the shopping center industry is so small. The question Poline Associates always asks is exactly what kind of VALUE do references really provide. If curated properly, a list of…

CRE Recruiters Offer Insight For Job Seekers During Pandemic

ICSC Webinar: Next Steps for Job Seekers

By David Poline

This article originally appeared here: https://www.icsc.com/news-and-views/icsc-exchange/webinar-next-steps-for-job-seekers. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented amount of uncertainty in today’s job market. Furloughed and laid-off development, leasing and marketing executives are polishing up resumes, dusting off deal sheets and updating their LinkedIn profiles. Persistent networking will remain the key to finding new employment, advised recruitment experts on an ICSC webinar titled Preparing for Your Next Job Opportunity. The newly unemployed fall into two categories: those who can…

How Job Seekers Can Stand Out in Today’s Market

By David Poline

It is hard to believe that in early March we were experiencing one of tightest job markets in recent memory. In today’s market, however, the supply of good candidates is starting to outpace demand. With this in mind, here are four key actions to help job seekers stand out as attractive candidates: Focus on Yourself: What are your unique skills and accomplishments? Too often, we see resumes full of buzz words that job seekers think people…

How to Execute a Job Search While Sheltering in Place

By David Poline

How to execute a job search from home is a tough question to answer since the number of companies hiring right now is reduced, particularly within the shopping center industry. Our advice for job searching while sheltering in place is to build your network as much as you possibly can. Start by thinking about: Firms you've done business with in the past Existing friends in the industry Companies you've admired from afar Anyone you've formed…

Recruiters Offer Confidentiality to Their Job Candidates

Importance of Recruiter-Candidate Confidentiality

By David Poline

What steps does Poline Associates take to ensure confidentiality? Both Poline’s clients and candidates require confidential communications at times, but this post focuses on confidentiality concerns from the candidate's perspective. One of the most important services a search firm provides a job seeker is the ability to learn about other opportunities that exist in the market while remaining secure in the knowledge their current employment will not be jeopardized. The recruiter-candidate relationship is analogous to…

Managing Expectations Is Key As We Work From Home

Managing Expectations as We Work from Home

By David Poline

So much of Poline & Associates’ business (and life in general) revolves around managing expectations. In fact, part of the value proposition in hiring a search firm is that the firm facilitates communication between a company and the candidates under consideration. When a hiring representative goes dark on you, it's easy to assume the worst. Your mind races to think of all the reasons you haven't heard back. More often than not, the delay has…

We have our finger on the pulse of the commercial real estate industry.