The CAM Employment Process

The Recruiting Process

By Marcy Kravit, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, CFCAM / Published November 2021

In the first part of this series, we discussed the CAM’s role and provided a comprehensive overview of the position. CAMs are professionals and are provided the opportunity to enhance the lifestyle of the residents in maintaining, preserving, protecting, and increasing property values. Serving as a CAM for 20-plus years has been gratifying; however, circumstances often change and can lead one to seeking a new position. It is a known fact that when new boards are elected, they often wish to make a change and seek to hire a new CAM.

For general purposes, this article will provide tips and helpful advice regarding the recruiting process, roles, requirements, and responsibilities of all parties involved. Consult with your association attorney, recruiter, and professional HR personnel when seeking and contracting with new employees.

The CAM Recruiting website outlines some fun facts:

• Nearly 1,700 new CAM licenses are awarded annually.
• Only 30 percent of those who pass the exam use their license.
• Nearly 10 million people in Florida live in a community association.
• With nearly 50,000 community associations in the state, this makes up more than 70 percent of new home building in Florida!

Florida law requires CAM licensure for individuals who, for compensation, provide management services for community associations with more than ten units, or those with annual budgets that exceed $100,000. Currently, Florida has over 10,000 licensed community association managers. It is a priority that your association do its due diligence before, during, and after the hiring of a manager.

Under the laws enforced by EEOC (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), it is illegal to discriminate against someone (applicant or employee) because of that person’s race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information. It is also illegal to retaliate against a person because he or she complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. There are certain questions related to discrimination that the employer can and cannot ask.

Recruiting and job searching for a CAM is very much like dating. First impressions are critical. The candidate is excited about getting to know more about the job opening, the company, the property, the staff, and the board. The board and/or management company wants to ensure that they find the right fit. Both are interviewing each other. Boards should allow the management company’s talent acquisition department recruiters to post the job description or utilize a third-party recruiting firm. These professionals are experienced in recruiting, have working knowledge of employment laws, and can review potential candidates’ resumes to conduct different types of interviews.

The board may want to appoint a search committee to work directly with the recruiters. The recruiter is much like a match maker. The best date happens when both the candidates and the recruiters are prepared and do their homework beforehand!

The job description should include the following:

• Strong, attention-grabbing summary with an overview and details of the association/company and expectations of the position
• The exact job location to optimize the job posting
• Core responsibilities of the position
• List of required hard and soft skills
• Qualifications that are concise and specific number of years’ experience required
• Salary range
• Perks and benefits

Determine your posting budget and decide if you are willing to pay an outside recruiter to draft the job description/posting and sift through the resumes. They can provide a professional job search in utilizing premium listings. Your management company’s talent acquisition department has experience in providing these services as well.

Create an approach that gets your job seen and drives your response. Job search engines such as Indeed, LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, Zip Recruiter, Glass Door, Simply Hired, Monster, etc. help match job seekers with suitable opportunities.

For the job seeker, it is advised to set up job alerts, receive emails daily, and put your best foot forward. When it comes to the job search process, the job seeker must keep in mind that the recruiter is the stakeholder and is an integral part of the hiring process.

According to Glass Door, here are six phrases never to say to a recruiter:

• I will take anything.
• My previous employer was horrible.
• That sounds like a good salary.
• My former boss was threatened by me and most likely will not give me a recommendation.
• I know my interview is scheduled for today, but can we reschedule?
• It has been three weeks since I applied, and I thought my application had gone through a black hole.

Here are questions you should ask the recruiter:

• Can you tell me more about the job?
• What are the details of the role?
• Why did the last person in this job leave?
• How long has the job been open?
• What are the top skills needed?
• What is the company culture like?
• What are the steps in and timeline for the interview process?

Is it okay to ask a recruiter about a job’s salary before applying to it? You can absolutely ask a recruiter for a job’s pay range before you apply to it. In asking this question, you’re doing recruiters a favor by saving everyone time—yours, theirs, and the hiring team! (CAM Recruiting)

In Part 3, we will cover the following:

• The Application Process
• Applying for the Position
• Applying for the Job
• A CAM’s Preparation for the Open Position
• os & Don’ts of LinkedIn & Social Media Posts

Job seekers should perform their research and homework about the hiring company and the role. This will help the job seeker determine if it is a “good fit” and prepare the job seeker for the screening phone and/or Zoom interview. The recruiter can offer sound advice and determine if the role is the right fit during the interview.

Marcy Kravit, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, CFCAM

Education Program Director

Marcy Kravit has 20-plus years’ experience managing community associations in South Florida. She has established a reputation as being passionate about service, driven by challenges, and undeterred by obstacles. Marcy is committed to providing five-star service and educating others in raising the level of professionalism in the industry. She works for Hotwire as director of community association relations. Marcy has earned every higher education credential offered by CAI and is recognized by Florida Community Association Professionals (FCAP) as a CFCAM. Marcy is a contributing writer to the Florida Community Association Journal (FLCAJ) and serves FCAP as their Education Program Director.

This article is part of a multi-part series as an overview of the CAM profession and the employment process.