Recruiters In Multifamily: Understanding People Management With Neyda Urias

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Recruiters In Multifamily: Understanding People Management With Neyda Urias

In this episode, our guest is Neyda Urias. Welcome to the show, Neyda.

Adrian, thank you so much for having me again.

You mentioned that this is your second time on the show. I'm very excited to have you back. Neyda is the Talent and Engagement Manager with Dweck Properties. I want to start by asking you to share a little bit with us about what you do at Dweck.

I do everything recruiting. My title is a fancy title for a recruiting manager. We're multifamily. I am leading the department or the team of recruiters. We're a team of two. We're always hiring for concierges, leasing, maintenance, property managers, and even corporate positions. I've added a new responsibility, which is overseeing benefits. That's something new that I'm tapping into, which is different because my last few years have been all recruiting. Now, I'm tapping into benefits. It's nice that I'll be expanding a little bit further out into other areas of HR.

Congratulations. It sounds like it's a promotion.



Thank you.

I want to go a little bit back in time and ask you a question. Why multifamily? How did you end up in multifamily?

By accident. This was many years ago. My first job was in account payables. Accounting numbers are not my thing. I knew that I wanted to get out of that. I stayed in that position for two and a half years. I don't know how I stayed in it so long. I did not like what I did, but I knew that I needed to get out of there. It was also a toxic environment, a toxic leadership, and things like that. I knew I needed to get out. Back in those days, CareerBuilder was hot. People were using CareerBuilder to find opportunities. I remember putting my resume out. I got hit up by my old boss who recruited me, Olivia Hunter. She said, "I have an accounts payables position. You should be interested." It was for more money and everything.

I was like, "If this is what I have to do, then this is what I'm going to have to do," but after our conversation over the phone, she was like, "You have way too much personality for accounting. How would you consider working in recruiting?" I never had done recruiting. I didn't even know recruiting was such a thing. I knew about HR, but I always thought HR were the bad guys. They hire, fire, and rate you up. That's how it happened. I came on board, started as a recruiting assistant, and learned as much as I could. I became a sponge up to where I'm now.

That's an amazing journey. If I ask probably 90% of the people I know how they ended up in multifamily, they will answer the same thing, "By accident." It's unfortunate. It's great that we ended up here. We love the industry, but it's unfortunate the way we ended up and that we're not doing a better job at advertising this industry as a career as a real opportunity so people know what people in property management do.

We all need a place to live. That's something that is not going anywhere. People are always looking at other industries that seem to be doing it big, like the tech industry, even warehousing, any other industry, or hospitality, but they don't think about real estate. We're not going anywhere. A lot of us suffered through the pandemic in the industry because people weren't paying their rent and such, but at the end of the day, we also need a place to live. There was help that was provided to people to help them to get back on track. One of the things in life that we need is shelter, but we're not going anywhere.

That's a great way to advertise. We're always going to be around. People are always going to need a place to live. I want you to share with us a few great things that are happening currently at your company.

We're a young company. We hit our anniversary. We're doing a lot of great things. Being a young company, I'm excited to see where we're going and where we're headed. We're still learning and growing. There are things that as we go along, we're figuring out. The culture or what we have is top-notch. It's one of the best places that I've worked. It starts with our CEO and trickles down to the rest of us. Nowadays, people are no longer wanting to stay or work in toxic environments. Culture is very important to people. I know that what we have is something amazing. We will get better. I'm excited to see it.

You mentioned toxic environments a few times. I want to say that probably people never enjoy being in those types of environments. First of all, there are way more opportunities than ever before in our history. Second of all, the level of awareness is the highest that we ever experienced in our lifetimes as far as how many opportunities are out there for all of us. That makes companies that might not have a great culture reevaluate, look within, and say, "We had to make changes. Otherwise, we're going to have a serious problem. The problem that we have with labor shortages is going to get worse."

Even from my first experience in the workplace when I knew it was a toxic environment, I told myself, "I have to get out of here." I knew I couldn't thrive in an environment like that. Once I got out of that and went into an environment where I was embraced and I was supported, the team that I had was amazing and they all wanted the best for me. That solidified that you can never thrive in a negative or toxic environment. You have to be in a positive place, a place that is welcoming, and a place that is going to support you because that's when the best of you comes out.



I want to emphasize high performance. People have the drive. They don't need encouragement or a kick all the time so they could perform. High performers don't stick around in those types of environments. They live for bigger and better things. A toxic environment only gets stuck with C-players. Unfortunately, that is the reality of people that don't necessarily have a high level of drive and goals and perform at the top of their capabilities. That's the choice out there. If you want to build a great team, then you have to look at the culture. It's the thing. It's not something that companies can't avoid. It's not like that proverbial candidate could kick down the road any longer because people more than ever know that they have options. They act upon it.

It starts in the recruiting process. As a candidate, you have a negative experience already from the recruiting process, meaning maybe it has been weeks since you heard from a recruiter. We all get those auto emails and everything, but sometimes hearing from the recruiter either, "You're moving forward. There's a delay. You're not fit for this role," we all want closure. When we don't get that as a candidate or an applicant, we're like, "Maybe there's another place I want to work at because you took too long to respond." Even the recruiting experience can also say a lot about a company.

You're making a great point there. If I'm a candidate, and then I don't get a timely response, in my mind is this, "When I'm not even an employee of yours even before I join your group, you're so slow at responding. Chances are things are not going to go better after I start working with you. Therefore, should I want to work for you?" Probably the answer is no than yes.

You're making a great point. Red flags are starting from the recruiting process and the first touches. It's about the touches. If the first 2 to 3 touches don't feel right, that's a huge red flag for you as a candidate to say, "As much as this sounds like a great opportunity, I have to move on." If this happens at the very beginning, things are not going to go further better later on.

I've been on that side as well. I'm a recruiter. I know what it's like to be on this end, but I've also been on the candidate side. I've applied for jobs before. I felt like maybe the recruiters were not as friendly. It tells me a lot, "I don't think I vibe. I don't think I connect with the recruiter." As a recruiter, you are the middle person between the candidate and the hiring manager. You're the advocate for both sides. You have to make that connection because you're like a matchmaker. Our role is very important, especially for any company to function.



I always tell people, "Recruiters are overlooked often." We don't bring in the dollars. We're not the sales team. We're not bringing the dollars, but we bring the talent that brings you the dollars. We're important in this process. As a recruiter, it's our job to make sure that we can connect with that applicant or candidate so that they have a great experience because they're going to take that experience, hold onto that, and expect that every single experience through their journey with us is going to be the same. If there's already a disconnect at the beginning of the process, you might be a great candidate, but you're going to take your talents somewhere else because that recruiter is not it for you.

You have to be the matchmaker. You have to be the salesperson, too, because you have to sell them on the job and the company. It's not like, "What do you have to offer?" This is a two-way street. People believe that nowadays, people are going to come knocking on our doors down and begging to work for our companies. That's not happening. It's not a reality. If you have that type of expectation, you will be in for a painful wait not having candidates knocking on your door. That's why it's very important. You have the top recruiters, and they're doing a top job. They're performing at the top to make a great first impression on a candidate.

I want to go back to the part of the conversation we had when we first met. This was a while back. We talked at length about the Great Resignation at the time. Whether that's going on or not going on is called a different way. I want to touch on the labor market currently and the challenges that we have with labor shortages because all companies have certain levels of challenges with labor shortages. We have to be very honest about it. Tell me a little bit about watching the market as far as labor shortages. How do you see that evolving within the next six months to a year?

Honestly, from what I've been seeing, we are getting much better luck with newbies, people that are green, and people that have not worked in the industry or have less than a year in the industry because they are hungry. They want to learn and grow. They're excited about the opportunity. People that have experience are like, "If you don't pay me this dollar amount, I'm not going there."

It has become way over expensive now. I understand that life is expensive. The experience pool is more so looking toward what's going to benefit them, not so much what's going to benefit the company or the overall picture, but someone who's new and who's interested in growing is like, "Show me the ropes. Show me everything." We have gotten better luck doing that because they are more open and more willing to learn and grow. That has been one that I've noticed.

You also have to let your managers know, "This is what's out there. I suggest that we look into hiring someone that we can train." Managers have said, "That was the best hire that I've had in a while, and I've been hiring for 10 to 15 years or so. I haven't had a hire like that." That is what makes a recruiter's job feel like it's worth it. You're like, "We're finding quality." It's amazing.

A lot of times, we do want experience, which is understandable for certain positions, but for an entry-level job like leasing, a concierge, or any sort of customer service or sales opportunity, you can train someone. They have to have that personality and the willingness to learn and grow. They will learn the rest. The hardest part is finding someone with that.

In other words, there's always hope. There's a principle. I'm a mainly optimistic person. I'm also a person that will tell you, "You know what the challenges are all the time. They could come across as negative," but I'm also very optimistic because their opportunities had to match or overcome the challenges. We have a great future ahead of us. There are so many opportunities for us as an industry to do better and for each company individually. I know that you're doing also career coaching. I would like to take the opportunity and ask you. What type of advice would you have for someone ready to elevate their career?

You have to ask yourself a few questions. Are you trying to stay in the same industry or get promoted? Most likely, a lot of times, we're looking for a new job because we want to make more money. What is it? Is what you are doing now something that you enjoy? Are you willing to start fresh, start over, or start new in the areas of the industry that you would prefer? You have to first find out from yourself what you want to do, and then you can start looking up different job opportunities.

Once you look at the job descriptions, you will know what they look for. You want to set up your resume or LinkedIn to make sure that you have certain keywords and bullet points within your resume and the responsibilities that you've held in your roles like giving numbers, "In an X amount of time, I increased X amount of sales." Those are numbers that companies and recruiters want to see because it shows that, "You work hard and bring us profit or money. How did you decrease delinquency and things like that?"

Nowadays in your resume, you want to show numbers. How many calls a day do you respond to? Maybe you're in a call center. How many calls a day do you handle, emails, and things like that? Anything that you can think of that you can put into numbers is going to be important. Once you fix up your resume with all of that, I guide my clients as well in that process. I have a one-on-one conversation with them to say, "Tell me all about yourself, what you've done, your roles, and what you want to do."

I also look at that job to make sure that I align the resume and the job description so that way when a recruiter or even through the application system your resume goes through, you're going to stand out. You're going to be seen. It's not a one-time thing. It's a process. It takes time to put all of that together. I take the hard part away from my clients. I do that for them. It's one of those things that you first have to find out what you want to do and look at the job opportunities. Does it align with your skillset?

One thing I always tell people is you don't have to have all of the requirements on the job description because no one is perfect. In any of these jobs, we don't all know everything, but as long as you have the basics and the foundation based on the level of role you're looking at, then that's when you can start to think, "My experience here is transferrable to this role, this industry, and things like that."

For example, in leasing, maybe you haven't worked in property management, but you've done sales. It could be phone sales. It could be working at a luxury store. It could be any type of sale like car sales. Those skills transfer over into leasing because leasing at the end of the day is sales. It's customer service. It's sales. You have to think about how are your skills transferable.

There are three takeaways that I'm taking from this topic. You will show transferable skills and keywords in application system search and also when a human checks that. The third one is KPIs. You said numbers. What you can measure, you can't improve. If someone says, "I am a great salesperson. I am a great manager," tell me what makes you great. Numbers are turning into a very powerful story. I'm a big proponent of KPIs in all aspects, especially in maintenance because that's my field. My main expertise lies in maintenance.

I have built KPI systems for maintenance teams to be able to track performance because it's easy to say, "We're having a lot of work," but it's also the lazy approach, to be honest. It doesn't bring a lot of value, pointing at a problem. Everybody could tell it was a problem. When you have 300 work orders, it's a problem. What brings value is finding out how many are incoming every day, how many we're completing, and how many per person we're completing. You break it down if that's an acceptable outcome or not and make things stronger.

The same applies across the board for everybody. I completely agree that those are three very important points when it comes to career coaching, resume building, and brand building. Speaking of resumes, on average, employers are looking at a resume for 6 to 7 seconds. That's little. When you think about the amount of work that's put into resumes, you have to be right on the money and the attention span. You're dealing with a lot. You're up against a lot. What practical advice besides what you already mentioned do you have for someone when they're putting their resume to be noticed by the hiring managers and recruiters?

The structure is important. You have to have an easy-to-read resume. Long gone are the days that you needed to have 2, 3, 4, or 5 pages worth of resumes. Now, 1 to 3 is ideal, maybe 3 if you're more at an executive level, but for entry-level roles and mid-level management, 1 to 2 pages are enough. Long gone are the days when you needed to write long paragraphs or have 50 bullet points per each job that you held. Now, between 5 to 7 bullet points are enough to tell your story.

When you tell those stories and bullet points, you're focusing on the data and your specifics. If you were a manager, how many people did you manage? If you work at a property, how many units? Is it class A, class D, garden-style, midrise, or highrise? These are things that we look for as well. We want to know, "Did you work at a highrise before? Do you have experience with garden-style?" They're completely different, "Have you worked at a small community of 200 units? Is it over 900 units?" That's completely different. Those experiences when we're looking at your resume can help to tell your story.

You also want to have a section for your education, whether it's your degree or any certifications. Those help you to stand out as long as they're relevant to the job that you're applying for. Nothing is not important. Let's say there's a CPR certification in an administrative role. Does that matter for you to get the job? It doesn't. It's great to know that you have it in case we have an emergency, but it doesn't qualify you for the job. You have to make sure that your certifications and education align with that.

You also want to have a section for your key skills. These are hard and soft skills. It could be from communication. It's a key skills list to say that. You could say, "Communications. Oriented." It could be even anything from the organization and things like that because those are things that we look for. You may also want to have a section for any software that you have experienced using. In the industry, we use Yardi, ONEsite, Microsoft, and all these different software. You want to list that on there because we're also looking to see, "Do you have that experience? What software have you used?"

Sometimes you need to use one software, and you've known them all. You've used them all because they're all similar. They all do the same end result. They might navigate differently and look different, but at the end of the day, they do the same thing. It's showing what you have and what you know. At the top, you want to have your contact information. You don't need to list your address. You can list your city and state, but don't list your full address. We don't need to see that.

You want to show your number, your email, and your LinkedIn profile link there because we are going to your LinkedIn profile. We want to connect with you or see your experience there as well as things like that. Even in your professional summary, you want to make sure that you are not repeating what is on your resume, but more so your professional summary is talking about you and what you can bring to the team. It doesn't have to be five sentences. It could be between 2 to 3 sentences, but those sentences have to have substance. They should be enough to be able to describe your story, who you are, and what you bring to the team. It has to be easy to read.

Within all of that, you want to make sure keywords are spread throughout the resume because as a recruiter, we're glimpsing through your resume. The first thing I'm looking at is contact information. Let me look at your summary quickly. I might skim through your job. I'm looking at your titles and maybe the first few words in there. I'm looking at your education, skills, software, or anything that you have. I'm skimming. I'm honestly not reading all of that. I'm looking to see what stands out for me. You want to make sure that your resume will stand out for the job that you're looking for.

It's a lot like speed dating. You have to make an impression. It's speed dating on steroids when you have to make an impression in the first 6 to 7 seconds. That's a lot, but you have to find ways to impress. A lot of candidates in the market don't have advanced interviewing skills. They don't interview well. Especially entry-level and mid-level positions. What type of advice would you have for someone? How would you coach someone to do well in an interview? What are some tips that you want to share?

I want to remind people, too, that I was in their shoes before. I didn't know what I was saying and what I was doing. I didn't know if it was right or whatnot. Back when I started interviewing early in my career, there wasn't all this information accessible as we have now. You can go on Google or social media and have people sharing tips and whatnot. If you're entry-level, that's always the hardest because you don't know how to sell yourself. After you've grown in your career and experience, you're a little bit more confident in yourself and your experience, but still, I know that there are people who get nervous.

I like to start with those that have little to no experience. You know yourself. You are telling your story. No one knows you better than you. The recruiter and the hiring manager want to get to know you. When they ask you, "Tell me about yourself," you don't want to go into a whole tangent, "Let me tell you about my family and my kids. I'm divorced. I'm this and that." You don't want to go into that.

When we're asking you, "Tell me about yourself," we want to know more about your work experience more so what you've done. How long have you been in the industry? How long have you been doing what you've been doing? You don't have to go all the way back into your career. If you're a newbie and you've had internships and volunteered, talk about those stories because that also counts as experience. You want to mention those things. You want to highlight any achievements that you've had in your role. If you won Team Member of the Month, talk about that.

Tell them, "I'm a great leader. I was named lead on this project," or anything like that because these are things that we want to hear. Maybe you got out of high school, "I've never worked." That's fine. The recruiter will know this is your first job. You can say, "This is my first opportunity. I got out of high school. I'm looking to make a career. This role interests me. This industry interests me. That's why I applied. I want to learn and grow. I can see myself long-term in this role."

When a recruiter hears those things, it's like keywords. We read the keywords on the resume. You also have to say keywords in our conversation as well. That's going to make you stand out. Are you a high performer? Are you a high achiever? Tell us about yourself. You don't have to get personal because that's not what we want to know, not yet. Don't tell us about any personal things. Keep it to your work. You know yourself. Be confident in yourself and what you bring to the table.

Good recruiters should make you feel comfortable speaking to them. A good recruiter will pretty much have an icebreaker with you, set the tone for the meeting, and ask you about your day, "How is the weather outside?" You're in a different state than them, "How is it over there?" It's things like that. Recruiters should set the tone for you and make you feel comfortable. Be confident in yourself, talk about your work self, and listen to the questions. When the question is being asked, don't go around telling a whole different story to then bring it back. You want to stick to the question because you're going to lose the recruiter if you're talking in circles.



The next topic that I wanted to touch on is this. Most people would talk about it, but nobody feels comfortable talking about it. Nobody wants to talk about it. That's pay. It starts with companies. A lot of companies are still not advertising the pay or what the position pays at least a range. When in the interviewing process, this conversation should come up. What I do want to ask you and what I should elaborate on is this. What would you advise someone that is in the interviewing process? When it comes down to pay, how do they get the best pay that they could get out of that particular situation? What are some ways to get the best that you can on the deal?

First, I want to say I don't like when I see job postings that do not share pay. All my entire career, I've always posted pay for my job postings. I learned that from the beginning of my career and my old team. We were very open about it. That always stuck with me because I learned that people will make the decision right then and there if they want to apply or not, and if the money seems like something that they can work with or not. You will save yourself and save people's time when you post even if it's the starting number. It doesn't have to be the full range, "Our base pay is $50,000-plus."

That gives a person an understanding, "This is the bottom end. This is the low end of the pay. That means that there's room for more." I cringe whenever I see job postings. I'm like, "You're probably missing out on candidates because this is a secret. Why are you keeping it a secret? Put it out there." That's one thing, but I feel like it's very important to know about pay.

As a recruiter, you're going to save yourself. When a candidate knows about their pay, they feel better having a conversation with you versus going in where they're like, "Is this going to be the right fit for me?" They're having a conversation with you because they want to find out about the role, but they also want to hear about the pay. One thing about me is that I always advocate for those, especially when there's a range for the role. I always like to make sure that they get paid for what they're asking for or maybe even a little bit more depending on their level of experience.

I've seen companies and people do this where they try to lowball people. They try to pay them the low end of the pay. How are you trying to bring talent in if you're not paying them properly? We all like to make money. A lot of these people that make these hiring decisions have a nice salary or maybe a six-figure salary. You remember when you were in their shoes. Why are you limiting them on their pay?

There are some people who are overly ambitious, and they don't meet necessarily the pay range or pay rate that they're asking for, but I explain to them, "I can't offer you that dollar amount, but I can offer you this because this is more in line with your experience." I always go back to experience. I never pay a person if I like them or not. I don't consider those things. I look at the pay.

Even though we post our pay rates on our job openings, I always like to tell people, "This is our starting pay XYZ, but there is room for more. We pay based on experience." I ask them, "How much are you looking for?" That allows the person to say, "That base number works for me. I'm looking for more. This is why." I put that out on them and ask them what would make them happy and what would make them bring their talents over to us if we pay them what they're asking for. That's very important.

When companies don't do that and they try to lowball people, they're doing a disservice to themselves. That's how they end up having a high turnover. People will take the job because it's money. We need money, but trust and believe they're on LinkedIn, Indeed, and online googling and looking for the next job. People will wonder, "This person got here a few months ago. Why are they already leaving?" You pay them on a low end. You lowball them.

That's something that we have to remember as a company. Especially nowadays, life is expensive. There's inflation. All this is going on. People are trying to get paid for what they're worth. No longer are the days when people will take whatever is offered to them. People negotiate now, people will say, "The next company over there is offering me that. My company is counteroffering me. What are you going to do?" What we have to do as a company is to keep up with that.

We like to make good money. We're making the company money, but you have to pay your people properly because, at the end of the day, we all need money to survive. We need money to pay our bills and to be able to eat and take care of our families. Everyone does it from the top end of the company all the way to the bottom end. We all need money. That's something that we have to always remember. Let's pay people based on their experience and post even the starting pay on your job posting. You're going to save yourself a lot of time by doing something.

All I could say is you're preaching. I love everything that you said. Life is not cheap. People need to get paid what they're worth. I never as a hiring manager would look at someone and say this person deserves $25 an hour. Their perception of themselves is $27. I'm thinking, "If I like this person, and they could do the job, I have to make $27 happen or at least come close to it."

I don't ever feel like I can tell the person, "You deserve this much based on your resume." I don't think it's the right way to go. They might accept something because they don't have an alternative now, but then there's the level of awareness. There's an awakening happening. Back in the day years ago if you worked at a property, you wouldn't know what people five miles down the street from you make.

They know everything and what your accounts are making. People are talking to people and networking. There are so many tools out there available for people to find out what a fair rate or a marketplace is. You can't chip out and say, "We're going to save money," because you're not saving. It's a matter of time. When you made that offer and the person accepted, the countdown starts to their departure. It's not going to be probably a long state because people are going to go where the money is.

Companies hate that. Companies for a long time would keep it a secret, "Don't tell your coworkers how much you're making. Don't tell each other how much you got." They created conflict, but nowadays, people still talk to each other and tell each other, "You're making $0.50, $1, or $5 more than me. What? How?" Nowadays, we got companies like Glassdoor and other places where they're sharing salary information. People can go online and compare to see, "How much am I making? Is my pay comparable to the pay in the DC area, New York, California, or wherever?"

You can go to Salary.com nowadays, put your job title and how much you're making, and see what the average pay is for your role in your area. It's out there. Companies have to be more transparent because of this generation, the Millennials, and especially Gen Z-ers. We were the trailblazers, but Gen Z-ers are like, "Move out of the way. I'm taking over." They don't want to even give two weeks' notice. They just leave. Companies are like, "That's standard." It's not a standard because most companies are at-will states. You can get fired, and you don't need to get noticed.

Gen Z-ers feel the same way. They're like, "You can fire me tomorrow and replace me the next day. I'm not going to give notice now either. I'm going to quit the same day, and I'm gone." We're so used to two weeks' notice, three weeks' notice, or even a month's notice depending on your role. You're like, "I want to prepare them and help the company." Gen Z-ers are like, "To heck with that. I'm worried about me, myself, and I. They're going to replace me anyway. I'm gone." Times have changed. Companies have to keep up.

Some of them do. What's going to happen with the ones that do is they're going to attract the most talent because advertising jobs are selling. You can't blame it on people not applying and saying, "People are lazy. They don't want to put in work." You never blame the lack of appeal of your product. You never blame it on your customer. It would be like Apple saying, "We're not selling phones. The reason is that the customers suck." You have to go back to the drawing board and build a better product.

The same goes for jobs. It goes way more than how you package the job. It's what the job is. It's not what you say it is. It's what people's perception of the job is. In other words, you could say, "We're a great place to work. We're a family." Everybody says that. The internet is flooded with, "We're the best place to work. We're a great place to work. We're a family."

When it comes down to it, the candidate is not looking at that. They look beyond what you're advertising. They go to online reviews and Glassdoor. They speak with your current employees or former employees. If they don't have great things to say about your great place to work, then chances are they're not going to apply. You're going to be in full weight.

Counteroffers are something that happens. You get a candidate. They sign up with you. Days or weeks later before they start, they come back and say, "My current employer made me a counteroffer. I decided to stay." Tell me in your experience how common it is for your candidates to get counteroffers. Secondly, what is your opinion of counteroffers? What would you advise candidates if you were to be a consultant for them?

Counteroffers in my experience have spiked in the last few years. It's because companies don't want to lose their high performers. A lot of times, it could even be for a dollar more and people will leave because they're like, "That dollar is going to make a difference." Before it was rare whenever we would have counteroffers, but the last few years have spiked. An awakening happened after COVID or the pandemic. After 2020, an awakening happened. People had a lot of time on their hands. People were getting laid off. People were like, "I'm replaceable."

It started to change people's perspectives on their work and their everything toward working at certain companies and whatnot. Things have changed. Now, I've gotten counteroffers more often than before. If you receive a counteroffer, don't take it. I tell my clients, "Don't take it. Leave. Go to the new company you were going to." The company that did keep you is always going to have that in the back of their head and say, "They wanted to leave already anyway. How long are we going to keep them? Are we going to invest much into them?" You have this not-so-great feeling where you're like, "Maybe I should have left."

I've talked to many people who have not accepted their new job over their counteroffer. They go back, and they're like, "I regret it. I should have taken that new opportunity." In my experience even before, I've been counteroffered too. I'm like, "I don't want to because now I need that new money, but I also want that new experience. I want something much more. This role or this company is going to offer me more than what I'm getting now. You had to wait until I told you that I was leaving for you to pay me what I deserve to get paid. No, thank you. If you didn't pay what you know I deserve to get paid, I would have not even been in the situation of trying to leave your company."

I don't advise my clients to take the counteroffers. I always advise them to leave. I know it's scary and uncomfortable sometimes to start something new but leave because you're going to gain new experiences. You're going to have new skills you're going to pick up on. You're going to have something else that you can list on the resume that's going to make you stand out. You're going to make the money that you wanted. You didn't have to beg and plead for it. That new company saw that you were worth it and that you were valued at that price or rate for a reason. If your current company doesn't see that, then it's time to go. That's my advice on counteroffers. I'm against counteroffers.

I feel the same way. If there was something that your current employer could have done and should have done, they shouldn't wait until you hand them your notice to come back and rectify the situation. I have more questions that I wanted to ask. What do you see as the main reason or the top reasons that they're telling you for them being on the job market and looking at changing their current job, where are they looking? What are the top reasons why people are looking nowadays in the current market?

A lot of what I'm hearing is about culture and the environment. That's a lot of what I'm hearing. People are now standing up for themselves. They are not staying in a place where they do not feel wanted or where they feel like they're not being used to their utmost potential or that they're not valued. Before, a lot of people felt like, "I want to be loyal to a company and be there for X money years that I retire."

Now, people are like, "What are you going to give to me, company? What are you going to give me? Are you going to invest in my education? Are you going to pay me right? Are you going to make me feel like I belong in your workplace? Are you going to make me feel comfortable? Is my boss going to be a micromanager or not? Are they going to allow me to be independent and get to do my job how I want to do my job?"

These are things that people want nowadays. People no longer want to stay loyal to a company for pay or longevity. That's why nowadays, we see a lot of job hoppers. Years ago, job hoppers were seen in a bad or negative way, "You're job hopping. You're not loyal. You are quick to leave." It is so normal nowadays because people are trying to find the place that they do belong in.

Sometimes it may not necessarily be the first company that they go to. It may take them 2, 3, or 4 tries to get to that company, but when you are a company where a person fits in, they will stay, be loyal to your company, refer friends and family, and put the word out there to say that you're a great company to work at. People want the emotional piece of it nowadays. It's not just a transactional thing. It's more of, "What's in it for me? What are you going to give me?"

For the next section, I have a few rapid-fire questions for you. How did a failure or an apparent failure set you out for future success?

It lit that fire in me. I said, "I am not going to go through this again. I know my worth and my value. I will leave if I have to. I do." That's very important. It's rare when I have those experiences, but the time that I've had those experiences, I'm like, "I'm gone."

Next one, what advice do you have for a young person stepping into the real world? They just finished high school or college. They're ready to take their first job and live on their own.

My advice is if school is not for you, that is okay. A lot of times, once we get out of high school, our parents and all these people instill into us, "You have to go to college. You have to get a degree. You have to do this or that." I'm here to tell you that you can follow what you would like to do. If you want to work, make money, and then go to college later, you can do that. Maybe you want to go the untraditional route. You want to go to a trade school or cosmetology school. You want to become a maintenance person or whatnot. That is okay nowadays.



There was even an article that I saw earlier where they were saying, "Are college degrees even worth it nowadays?" That was a serious question. It's great if you have the education, but that experience does not beat anything that you learn in the class unless you're a doctor or something like that. I don't want anyone performing surgery on me that has no idea what they're doing, but I'll talk about these other jobs where you can learn it on the job and then eventually get the experience.

I will use myself as an example. I started in HR without my HR degree. I thought I was going to go a different route. Once I got into HR, I realized that was something that I loved. I loved HR. It was a great field for me. Eventually, after years of experience, I decided, "I'm going to get my HR degree." I did, and I have it, but my experience beats having my degree at the end of the day. I get asked, "How many years of experience do you have? What have you done?" It's not about, "What courses did you take in school?" They don't ask me that.

If you have to be the black sheep in your family and go a different route, do it. It is okay. Find out what you want to do. Maybe you want to be an entrepreneur. You want to start a clothing line or a t-shirt. Do it because, at the end of the day, you have to make yourself happy and do what you want to do or whatever is in your heart. Sometimes we may go through school to please our parents or whomever, and we're unhappy. Think about yourself. Make yourself happy.

That's an excellent message. In the last few years, what behavior or habit has most improved your life?

Setting boundaries did something for me, both personally and professionally. Professionally, I was always like, "I can do that. I can take care of that. I can do that project." I'm working on all these different things, and I'm like, "What the hell? I'm overworking myself." Now, if I cannot handle or take on another project or whatnot, I'll say, "I can't do that." I have set that in my life, even in my personal life where it's like, "I can't attend that event, and I don't feel guilty for it. I can't hang out with you this weekend, and I don't feel guilty about it."

Before, I was always like, "I'll do that. I'll do this. I'll go here. I'll go there." I learned that I have to have boundaries. A lot of times before, I used to feel guilty if I said no, and now I'm like, "I have to take care of myself, my mental, and my everything." It becomes exhausting when you're always a yes person and put yourself on the back burner. You put everyone else or everything else first. Boundaries have been a big thing for me.

When you feel that you lose focus or you feel overwhelmed, what's your solution? What's your trick to get back on track?

I experienced that. I'm full of jobs, tasks, and everything. I have my blog, my podcast, my social media accounts that I run, my 9:00 to 5:00, and my coaching on the side. I have all these things. I have a family. My life is so busy. I got to a moment where I was very physically and emotionally exhausted. I know I did that to myself. It's the ambitious person in me and the perfectionist in me. We talk about high achievers. I am it. I'm the poster child for high achievers.

I felt like I went through a moment where I was exhausted. Even though I felt guilty, I took time off to not touch my blog or not record an episode on my podcast. I did not do anything. I would post on social media here and there, but I wasn't giving it my all as I was before. I also started listening to motivational speakers, podcasters, or people who also were sharing their experiences of burnout because that's how I felt. I was burnt out. They were sharing their experiences with burnout and giving tips on how to take time for yourself, continue to rest, and do nothing.

It's okay. There's no schedule or calendar for you. It's just yourself. It's your imaginary calendar or timer. I started listening to all of that. It helped me. I took a lot of rest and decided, "Starting in the new year, I'm going to pick it back up and get back into my routine and my groove." I'm back into it, but I'm slowly easing myself into it. I don't want to burn myself out.

I know that I'm going to probably eventually have to outsource certain things so that way, I'm not doing everything because I'm a team of one doing everything. Aside from my day job, I'm talking about outside of that like my podcast. I edit, I record, I do this, I post, I publish, I blog, I write, and I publish them as well. I do my newsletter, emails, and all these things myself. I know that I have to take time to outsource as needed, so I'm not burning myself out again. Taking a rest is very important.

I've listened to several episodes of your podcast. It carries a great message. What can we expect from Neyda in 2023 from a podcast host standpoint?

I'll begin dropping new episodes weekly. My episodes drop on Sundays. It's called Livin' La Vida de Luxury where I talk about career, money, traveling, family, and life. I talk about all these different things because I feel like luxury is not a nice handbag, a fancy trip, or anything like that. It's all of those things. Having good health and an amazing family and loving family are luxuries in life. Money and all that enhances the experience, but all those things are a luxury.

Especially me coming from an immigrant family living in a one-bedroom apartment for four people, I know what it's like to be there in the struggle and think, "Am I ever going to enjoy a better life? This is all that I know." I like to talk about those things. My first episode is going to be talking about my mental health, what I went through, and how it's okay to rest. It's okay if you ghost for a while and separate yourself from people or from doing things to eventually find yourself again and what makes you happy.

For me, it's talking about all those things. I want to continue sharing my experience of growing up in an immigrant family, low-income, middle class, and talking about career tips. I'll talk about even my experience because I am where I am, thank God, but I didn't see myself in my 30s being where I am. I saw myself here maybe in my 40s and 50s.

I'm very grateful that I'm ahead of the game. I want to talk about all of that to be able to inspire other people who are in the same situation that I was in. When you come from an immigrant background, those things seem almost impossible because you don't see anyone in your family living it up the way that we think we should or the way that we see on TV. Those are things I like to talk about. I like to share lifestyle topics, career topics, travel, and all of that. I talk about all of those things.

This was an amazing conversation. I had more questions that I wanted to ask you, but I know that you have to go back to your day. I do want to thank you very much for coming. I want to give you the opportunity. Highlight something in closing that you didn't have a chance to do during our conversation.

It's a new year. I know that we all set goals for ourselves. We should achieve those goals. Believe in yourself. My word of the year is believe. I've been putting it out there. I'm on the road to becoming a millionaire. I'm doing whatever I can to do that. I'm believing in that. It seems so far away. I don't know how I'm going to get there, but I'll get there. I know that believing is a big part of anything that you do.

If you believe in yourself, you've taken off. The hardest part of the work is believing in yourself. Believe in yourself, no matter how crazy, how big, or how almost impossible your goal or your dream is. Do it. Believe in yourself. Even if you have negative people around you, family, friends, or whoever around you that may not believe in or support your dream, it's okay. As long as you believe it, you got it.

Invest in learning and networking with other people that are where you want to be or where you see yourself. Surround yourself with the right people because those are the people that are going to be able to support you. They're also going to help guide you in the right way that you want. That's for me, but then also for you out there to remind you that if you believe in yourself, your goals, and your dreams, nothing is impossible. Nothing is too big. The word impossible is, "I'm possible." I will leave you with that.

I couldn't think of a better message to close the conversation and also start 2023. That's a very positive message. Thank you again. It has been a real pleasure to have you on. I enjoyed our conversation, your wisdom, and your expertise. Thank you for sharing here with the audience. I hope to get you back here for a third episode because there's a lot more that we haven't touched on yet. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. We hope to see you back here soon. Have a great day.

Important Links

• Dweck Properties
• CareerBuilder
• Glassdoor
• Salary.com
• Livin' La Vida de Luxury

About Neyda Urias