Looking ahead to 2026 and thinking of making a move? Derek Carlson offers five questions to help you think through your options and put your best face forward.
Between the numerous brokerages I’ve run, I have hired over 4,000 agents as well as a sizable support staff, and that experience has given me a lot of insight into what someone needs to know when choosing a new real estate office.
Most real estate professionals approach this haphazardly. They often fail to identify what they’re looking for or where they stand in the market, and as a result, they have a hard time finding a job that’s a good fit, and they tend to underperform in their interviews.
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I’ll assume that since you’re reading this, you want to avoid making those mistakes so you can find the job that’s right for you and continue advancing your career. If that sounds like you, keep reading and make sure you have the answers to these five questions.
This will help you to not only find the right job for your next career move, but also maximize your chances of landing that job once you do find it.
This advice is based on my own first-hand experience as an employer who has hired well over 4,000 employees between the numerous brokerages I’ve run throughout my career. If you apply what you learn here, it will put you in a significantly stronger position than your competition.
1. What do you really want from your career?
The phrase “out of the frying pan and into the fire” isn’t how you want to describe your next job, so you need to know exactly what you want before moving.
Are you looking to double down and go all in on your career, or are you looking to slow things down for a bit due to a major life event, like having a new baby or recovering from a health issue? Your answer here plays a big part in which jobs will be the best fit for you.
You’re not just looking for a job — you’re looking for an opportunity where you can contribute real value while meeting your own career needs and enjoying yourself along the way. If the job doesn’t align with what you want from your career, neither you nor your new employer will be happy, and that job likely won’t last long.
2. What kind of environment do you thrive best in?
Remember Glengarry Glen Ross and its “coffee is for closers” line? Does that excite you or scare you?
The work environment is different at every broker, in every market and even in every niche. Some jobs are laid back while others are intense and cutthroat, despite being in the same industry.
The reality is that both your personality and your personal life play a significant role in what type of work environment you’ll thrive best in.
If you’re young, ambitious and aggressive, a highly competitive environment may be a great fit if you want to make big career moves quickly. But keep in mind, this leaves little time for a personal life.
On the other hand, if you tend to freeze up under pressure or you need lots of flexibility and time for other commitments, like family, you’ll be far better suited in a less demanding environment.
Unfortunately, I often see people try to force themselves into the wrong job for a variety of reasons. Don’t do this. Employers can usually tell if it’s a fit anyway, and if you happen to slip by and find yourself in the wrong environment for your personality, I promise it will drive you crazy and hurt your performance, so it’s critical to choose correctly here.
3. What skills do you bring to the table?
Landing your dream job requires certain skills that your potential employer values.
This includes soft skills like problem solving, leadership and communication, as well as hard skills, like market analysis, closing and proficiency in a particular software. Both types are equally important because, while real estate is highly technical, we also have to deal with multiple people in each transaction.
But most people underestimate what they bring to the table — especially high performers. For average real estate professionals, this is often due to a lack of confidence. For high performers, it’s more often because, quite frankly, they suck at acknowledging their accomplishments, so they tend to assume the skills that enabled them to achieve their accomplishments are common.
The end result is the same. They have a hard time effectively articulating their skills, and that makes it difficult to demonstrate the value they bring to an organization.
I find that when I’m interviewing someone who has a hard time articulating their skills, I’m usually able to uncover them by asking how they’ve solved a difficult challenge. As they tell their story, they will demonstrate their skills without even realizing it.
If you’re someone who has a hard time articulating your own skills, you can use this principle by having another experienced professional interview you and make note of the skills they identify.
As the real estate market continues to contract and the job market continues to get more competitive, this foundational element becomes even more essential to your career growth.
4. How proficient are you with technology?
I’m a huge fan of technology because when used properly, it gives my agents tremendous leverage. That’s why I invest so heavily in both technology and training for it — and it’s why I only hire agents who are tech savvy.
Most brokers feel the same way, though perhaps not quite as intensely as I do, because they know technology plays such an important role in real estate today.
Between CRMs, email, the MLS system and countless other software applications, the days of the old school Rolodex are over. Brokers want to know what technology you’re proficient in because it determines if you’ll be able to work in their tech stack, the collection of software applications used to manage the workflow within a company’s documented processes.
At a bare minimum, you need to be proficient in the applications most commonly used in the real estate industry, including the MLS system, spreadsheets like Excel and Google Sheets, and email platforms like G Suite and Outlook, for example. Ideally, you should also be proficient in additional applications that are useful as a real estate professional.
Here are a few examples;
* Canva
* Photoshop
* InDesign
* Dreamweaver
* ChatGPT
* Sora
* Quickbooks
* Go High Level
* REI Blackbook
* Salesforce
* Follow Up Boss
* Docusign
* Zapier
* IFTTT
You need to make a comprehensive list of the technology you’re proficient in because you likely won’t remember them all on the spot when asked. This info will also be useful for your resume.
5. What skills do you need to land your next job?
At this point, you should have a pretty good idea of what you want in your next job, as well as the skills you currently have, so your next step is to identify your skills gap.
This is a list of skills you’ll need to develop in order to succeed in your next role.
An easy way to find out what skills employers are looking for in a particular role is to look at existing job listings and talk to other people already in that role.
Ideally, you should already be pursuing these skills, but in some cases, employers may be willing to train you on the job provided that you proactively acknowledge the deficiency up front and everything else lines up.
