First, let's review some of the activities covered in my previous column:

• Having lunch with managers of other companies
• Finding commonality on LinkedIn.
• Developing relationships with personnel service companies, and
• Career Seminars

You must focus on recruiting activities other than just advertising and cold calling because these are less effective and more expensive. Plus, as we mentioned they don’t present the additional synergy opportunities your network can produce.

Here are some additional ways to help you recruit. 

Sponsor or present a seminar

Sponsoring seminars for loan officers and real estate agents is an activity which will provide a steady stream of potential recruits, as you demonstrate your ability to deliver value. The topic may be dictated by several factors and generally, the more advanced the topic, the more likely you are going to attract seasoned vets.

If these seminars are targeted to loan officers, be careful of recruiting at the event or other managers will be sure not to send their employees in the future. However, networking is always safe. You can always offer something of value that will help their production that they can request for free. In other words, get them on the mailing list.

If not presenting seminars, be sure to attend seminars which are frequented by your targets—such as loan officers and real estate agents. Your job is to be present where they are. Once again, you have a dual purpose. You are recruiting and learning something. And perhaps networking for loans as well. That would be a tri-purpose!

Get involved in local associations,

You can do this, perhaps as part of an education or finance committee so that you can give seminars. Meetings are an excellent way to network among more than one peer competitor at a time. Consider associations of your targets, such as real estate agents as well, which will add additional synergy.

Of course, to make this effective, you have to remember to let people know that you are looking for good candidates. You have to ask for the business by telling contacts what you need. It is not enough to join associations, such as your state or local association of mortgage brokers—you must participate and become a leader. Remember to go deeper, not wider.

Participate in a job fair.

In this case, someone else is advertising and attracting a multitude of candidates. Do not assume that the attendees will not have mortgage experience. If you are the only mortgage vendor, you will attract those with mortgage and/or financial services experience. And if you hire one successful candidate, it will be worth the cost.

As an alternative, you could hold your own open house. The response will be smaller, but the response will also be more on target. If you work for a larger company, perhaps several departments could participate simultaneously. Or you could just cold call or advertise…

Dave Hershman is Senior VP of Sales of Weichert Financial and the top author in the mortgage industry. Dave has published seven books, as well as hundreds of articles and is the founder of the OriginationPro Marketing System and Mortgage School – the online choice for expert mortgage learning and marketing content. His site is www.OriginationPro.com and he can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..