Northborough, MA, February 7, 2008 - Despite the current credit crunch facing the U.S. economy, the job market remains pretty competitive in Real Estate and Construction, says John Rainone, Project Operations Manager with MorganSullivan, Inc., an executive search firm that serves the Real Estate and Construction industries exclusively.

“People with strong management and interpersonal communication skills are very difficult to find,” says Rainone. “Often, real estate and construction firms discover the depth of an employees’ emotional intelligence or lack thereof after the hire is already made. The result is often costly turnover and low employee morale.”

Rainone recommends that firms make a better effort at screening for soft skills during the interview stage. Sample questions that he recommends asking prospective management hires include:

• How do you handle conflict?
• How would the people who report to you describe you?
• What accomplishments are you most proud of to date?
• Tell me about your greatest management challenge. How did you handle it?

Rainone says that it’s important for hiring managers to “listen” to candidate responses. “Do they credit their team or take all the credit for themselves and blame all their problems on others?” Rainone also recommends checking references from people who directly reported to the new management prospect. “Hiring the wrong manager i.e. someone with poor people management skills can be quite costly in the long-run,” says Rainone.

MorganSullivan is a strategic ally to its clients by way of its dedication solely to the Real Estate and Construction Industries. Its expertise is in identifying and recruiting top-notch technical and business development personnel to fill critical positions for its clients.

If you’d like to hear more on this topic, please contact John Rainone at 508-393-4933 extension 12 or John Kreiss at 312-265-5869.