Became a Real Estate Sales Agent

If the thought of working for yourself in a flexible and rewarding career such as real estate sounds exciting then you're not alone. Every year thousands of individuals are drawn to the real estate industry since the startup costs are relatively low compared to other career choices that require such as large investment in time and money.

Imagine the prospect of a new career where you can set your own work schedule, work from home and have the potential of making a six-figure or more annual income.


If getting your real estate license is something you are seriously considering, the steps to get there may be less challenging than you might think.

Below are the eight key steps you need to take to get a license of your own.

Step 1. Research Your State's Specific Licensing Requirements

Like many professions, real estate agents are governed by rules and regulations that vary from state to state. Because you take on significant financial responsibility during a real estate transaction, it is important to familiarize yourself with all of the applicable laws, and that starts with the licensing requirements imposed by your state.

Application procedures vary from state to state, and you may be required to pass more or less stringent background checks and place fingerprints on file (depending on your residency). Your state may check your credit, your criminal history, your other professional licenses, and more.

This needs to be the first step on your path to being licensed because there is no reason to waste your time if you discover some aspect of your personal history (e.g. a felony conviction) makes it impossible to get licensed. It is better to save your time and money by finding this out early.

Step 2. Research Your Real Estate School Options

In virtually every state, you have a wide range of different real estate licensing schools to pick from. Today the different programs are evenly split between classroom courses, online courses, and schools that employ a blend of both techniques.

Note that most good schools offer both "pre-licensing" and "post-licensing" courses. Post-licensing courses are designed to meet the continuing education requirements of already-licensed agents. In order to secure your license, you need to take pre-licensing courses.

Different states require different amounts of education prior to licensing approval.

Make sure that you verify that your chosen school's curriculum has been approved by your state.

This is especially important for online courses. Non-approved courses will end up wasting your time and money, and you would be forced to retake the classes at an approved school.

Step 3. Enroll with an Approved Real Estate School

In most states, you get a wide range of different scheduling options to suit your needs. Many real estate schools offer flexible scheduling to accommodate your needs. Sample schedules include full-time 9-to-5 classroom instruction, weekend-only classes, evening classes, and all-hours online courses.

Remember, the total amount of time required to finish your licensing course is going to depend on state regulations as well as your own resources. As a general rule of thumb, though, if you are in a hurry to get your education knocked out, you can go through the required courses in a span of two to three weeks.

The total cost of the real estate education is going to depend on the type of instruction you select. Classroom courses are typically the most expensive option thanks to the expense of operating a physical facility, purchasing books and hiring an instructor. Because they avoid these costs, taking online courses through an approved real estate education provider is usually the cheapest way to get educated.

It sometimes can be a good idea to check with the larger real estate brokers in your local community before you make any final schooling decisions. Many real estate firms will actually subsidize licensing education for their sales agents; others may tender job offers to students who score well in their studies.

Step 4. Take and Pass Qualifying Real Estate Courses

Your real estate education is complete after you have finished the school's course of instruction and secured a Certificate of Training by passing the school's own test.

The good news is that school tests are usually designed to closely mimic the licensing test administered by the state. Passing one is a strong indication that you will be able to pass the other.

With that being said, almost all students will find both tests challenging. The certified real estate training courses involve absorbing a tremendous amount of information and retaining it. Mastering the material requires a great deal of diligence.

Most schools are organized to break the material down into sections and they use quizzes to review your learning as you go. Review your exam questions carefully and ask for clarification if you need it to master tricky questions. Exam questions typically reappear on the final exam at the end of the course, and that exam prepares you for the state test.

Never forget that this is professional education that you are paying for and devoting your time to. Get the most out of your investment by asking questions whenever you need clarification.

Step 5. Schedule and Pass the State's Real Estate Exam

Despite the similarities between the two tests, you are not going to want to leap straight from the school exam into the state licensing exam. In order to maximize your performance, you need to study intensively for the state test. Most schools provide study guides to help you get ready.

Take a hint from some of the agents who have gone before you: Devote as much time as possible to studying the real estate terminology glossaries provided in your study material. Failure to study and confusion over the precise meaning of specific industry terms causes far too many aspiring agents to fail their required tests.

Step 6. Pass Your State's Licensing Exam

Oddly enough, few states now administer their licensing tests directly. This task is usually entrusted to a company specializing in education and testing. You will doubtless receive specific details for your own state in the course of your licensing classes.

One common thread running through all the states is that you must take the licensing exam in person; there are no online versions. You will have to supply documentation verifying your identity before you're allowed to take the test.

The test will involve paying a fee and having your photograph taken (this is another fraud-prevention measure). The test itself is administered via computer, and you will be allowed to work in a private cubicle. Although you'll have a limited amount of time to complete the multiple-choice questions offered to you, most agents find the time allotted more than sufficient to complete the test.

Good study materials will prepare you for the format of the test questions as well as their subject matter. With ample preparation, you should not experience any uncertainty in completing the test.

Licensing test results are delivered to you via mail. Failure at this point would oblige you to retake the test; rules on how frequently it can be taken vary from state to state. You will have to pay the testing fee each time you try to pass.

Step 7. Getting Your Inactive Real Estate Sales Agent License

The state will only conduct the necessary background checks on you after you formally apply for an agent's license, and this can only be done after you have passed the test.

(This is why it is smart to check your state's requirements at the very beginning of the process!)

Assuming the background checks do not turn up any problems, your inactive real estate license will be mailed to you after you complete your application.

Step 8. Working under the Sponsorship of a Broker

In order to keep newbie agents from making poor deals, they are not allowed to operate independently in the beginning. The next step in your career is to work under an established real estate broker who will sponsor you.

You and your sponsoring broker must complete and request sponsorship online by submitting a "Sales Agent Sponsorship Form". Once this has been received and accepted by the commission, an active real estate sales agent license will be issued. This will allow the license holder to actively practice real estate under the sponsorship of the broker.

As part of working with a broker, your license will be turned over and displayed publically in his or her office. This is the formal act referred to in the industry as "real estate license hanging."

The state could actually cancel your license if you behave in an unethical manner or fail to meet your continuing education requirements. Otherwise, your license will travel with you through your real estate career.

Though the amount of material you need to master is a lot, the process of earning your real estate license is very straightforward.

Study hard and do well with your licensing tests; earning your real estate license may be the first chapter in your story of success!

Dressing is the most effective part of an Interview

Soldiers do not have to think much about what they are going to wear when they wake up in the morning for duty. When a Soldier is transitioning off of Army active duty, this may not be the case. The civilian sector has a wide range of options for daily civilian work attire, which can be difficult to navigate during transition.

Shopping for new clothing does not have to be expensive. There are many stores that sell professional work-appropriate suits, skirts, and blouses. It is recommended to offset the initial cost of a new wardrobe by spreading out purchases over several months.

For a job interview, the rule of thumb is to normally dress one level higher than what the employees would wear on a normal day at the office, but don’t wear jeans. For corporate interviews, both men and women should wear a suit. During casual interviews, men could wear dress pants and a button-down shirt with a tie, while women might wear a dress or a skirt/dress pants with a dressy blouse. Women’s tops should always be conservative (no low tops, flashy jewelry, non-neutral hair or makeup, etc.) and skirts should be knee-length.

For women and men, regardless of whether the interview is corporate or casual, conservative is always best. Consider wearing neutral colors, such as navy, gray, or black. Wear solid colors or very simple patterns.

The same can be said for makeup. If an applicant is going to wear makeup to an interview, keep it modest. Hair can be left down or pulled up into a professional bun and earrings should also be non-distracting and simple.

Be sure to research the company before picking out an outfit. Applicants that know someone who works at the organization can ask them what would be appropriate to wear, or job seekers can ask what the daily attire is like during the phone interview.

Remember an interview is still a formal process and applicants should dress appropriately.
First impressions are lasting and an interviewer usually gets their sense of an applicant’s professionalism during the first few minutes of the meeting.

The Soldier for Life – Transition Assistance Program, or SFL-TAP, assists transitioning Soldiers with their civilian careers and offers tips to those looking to interview with organizations. Transitioning Soldiers are encouraged to start SFL-TAP 18 months prior to transition or 24 months prior for retirees. To learn more about the program, visit www.sfl-tap.army.mil or contact a local SFL-TAP Center.

Negotiate Salary in Engineering Job Interviews

How confident are you when negotiating your salary in Engineering job interviews?
Some of you may already have the knowledge, experience, and confidence but many engineers lack the self-assurance of negotiating their salary in engineering job interviews. For those of you who lack the confidence, here’s some help for you.

Below, I will talk about why you should negotiate at engineering job interviews and how you must do it, if you want to come out of the negotiation as the winner, getting what you want, getting what you deserve.

Negotiation means asking for more money, right? WRONG!

You can think of negotiation as an agreement, and never as an argument. Remember that before coming to an agreement at engineering job interviews, you need to talk first, ask a question and listen carefully to the response. The discussion can happen between two or more people. In this case, we are looking at an agreement between you and the employer or hiring manager(s).

Negotiations occur almost every single day of our personal and professional life. You can even think of negotiation as decision making. You are given situations to face, and you decide how you live them. It can be like choosing one thing from many options. You give options, and someone chooses from those options. Alternatively, someone gives you options, and you do the choosing.

In great negotiations, though, you do not just choose something out of many options. You choose one and then request for “add-ons” at a fair exchange value or with something in return that the other party cannot resist.

There are varying opinions about whether negotiation is an art and not science. There are also arguments that negotiation is both art and science, as in this article where Michael Ambühl, a professor at ETH Zurich, discusses how he is aiming to use ‘engineering’ to improve negotiating techniques.

Regardless of which you believe, understanding what negotiation is and how you can develop that skill is vital to your career. I personally think of negotiation as I think of Persuasion, meaning to get the other person to do what I want them to do.

What you must do, to become a strong negotiator, is to develop influence as an engineer.

Why is it important to Always negotiate in engineering job interviews?

First of all, when you negotiate, you have a better chance of getting paid what you need and want. You also get paid for your value, not just your time. Not negotiating your salary can lead to being underpaid. That is bad for your bank account, your health, and your job.

You will lose your authority and your influence, and along with that, you lose more money than your first offered salary if you do not start negotiating, now. According to a Salary.com report, about You could lose up to $1 million if you do not negotiate your salary.

If you have had a former job, you probably know by now that your previous salary had an effect on your present salary. This means that whatever your rate today at your current job will determine how much you will get paid for in your next job.

If you want to get paid right and fair based on your skills, education, workload, and your overall value, then start negotiating. Don’t plan on lying to the interviewer about your current salary, because they will find out the truth when they speak with your references (maybe that is why you never heard back from that recruiter!)

Don’t try to fool anyone, cause you are just fooling yourself. Instead be courageous and take your career seriously to invest some time to learn how to negotiate. There are training courses you can take and services you can acquire. Choose what’s best suited for you.

Is this why you are scared to negotiate your salary?
You are probably afraid to negotiate your salary because you do not think you can do it; which is most likely because you’ve never done it before; or possibly because you’re so desperate about actually getting the job that you “don’t wanna risk it.” Or maybe you are just chicken!

I am joking, but seriously, saying I am not confident or I do not know how to do it is not a good enough reason for choosing not to negotiate your true value.

• What will happen when the end of the year comes and you do not have enough money left in the bank to buy your kids the Christmas Gifts they really want?

• What happens when there’s an unexpected accident, and you have to take care of your parent’s medical expenses?

Perhaps you are scared there will be follow up questions you would not be able to answer. Of course, there will be more questions. Any negotiation is a two-way conversation. Moreover, you can fully predict, plan and prepare the right answers. The answers that will win you the negotiation. The only question that remains now is – Will you prepare and get ready for a negotiation?

Since 2010 when I started recruiting and coaching engineers, I have interviewed 1000s of engineers. So quite frankly I know that communication skills may not be one of our strongest skills (and don’t forget I am an engineer too, and I did not even speak English till I was 18 years old when I moved to Canada). However, that is not a good enough excuse neither.

Honestly, guys, I know exactly what kills your confidence?

1. It’s the feeling that you are not good enough as the others.
2. It’s the feeling that the other candidates may not negotiate so why would you?
3. Or it’s the feeling that, you may sound greedy when you negotiate for a higher salary so they might not want to hire you after all.

However, the biggest thing that makes salary negotiation impossible is when you think you are lucky to have been given a job offer compared to others and you are just dying to accept any job you are given. And the moment you start negotiating, you might lose that “luck”!

C’mon now that’s BS. Don’t give up on yourself. You can do it, and you deserve it. Get your act together and go learn how to negotiate; and then practice, practice, practice.

Overcoming your fear of salary negotiating in 2 easy steps

So how do you overcome those fears? How do you learn to embrace negotiation as part of all engineering job interviews?

1. It all starts with “thinking” and “feeling” fear, both in your mind and your emotion. Did you know that fear is a growth indicator? Regardless, to overcome your fear of negotiation, you must first re-wire your mindset and re-configure your emotions. How do you do that?

A. Learn everything about your field of work, and quantify how your skills directly add value to the business you are considering to work for. For example, if it is Electrical Engineering, you know that you have your Electrical Engineering degree and you have effectively learned the fundamentals of how to perform your job as an Electrical Designer. Look back throughout your career or university projects to evaluate the work you did and the results you created. Here’s a tip: Networking will help boost your confidence.

“Let us never negotiate our of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”, JFK
Keep reading about and researching the employer you are interviewing with and learn everything you can about the market they are in. Know who their competitors are – there may be changes in systems and processes that you can prepare for and be ahead of, for example, a new software that is set to be launched in the next three months.

If you have a particular company in mind (a competitor to the business you are going to start salary negotiations with), learn more about them and find out all that makes that company unique or strong. Then identify everything that makes that company ordinary or weak – Make a list of who their customers are, and their latest activities or innovations.

When you go into your final engineering job interviews (the negotiation stage) be prepared and take all your notes and findings with you. The last interview is where you are ought to present this information, not sooner, and not later. This information Package is your leverage for successfully negotiating a salary bump.

Personally, I have coached a software engineer who got a $30K increase in his salary – going from $90K to $120K.
B. Ask a mentor to help you. To find a suitable career coach or mentor, you need to consider their background. Have they worked as an Engineer before? Have they coached or mentored engineers? Can they relate to industry and company terms & conditions, though they may vary from one company to another or one industry to another one.

Have they experienced the fear of negotiation? If yes, then they will understand where you are coming from, and you have found yourself a personal teacher on the art of negotiation at engineering job interviews! If you do not know your own value, don’t expect someone else to calculate it for you. Employers primarily focus on how they can save their own money by offering you a lesser salary. Don’t expect them to be on your side during the salary negotiation in engineering job interviews. You need to know what you want before entering the salary negotiation and a career coach or mentor can be the differentiator.

C. Create a goal for yourself. If you know you need to get somewhere, you will make plans on how to get there. If making more money is important to you, you will find a way to negotiate what you are worth. And if it is not so important to you, well I guess you will just find an excuse to accept whatever’s being offered to you.

But if that is something on your mind, then know that without a plan or a goal, your mind will be boxed up to thinking you are comfortable with whatever comes your way. When you have a plan and a goal, you will be compelled to act in order to get to that goal. Your mindset will change from fearful to fearless because to get to your goal you need to be driven and motivated. When you are driven and motivated, you become fearless.

2. Learn how to negotiate. If you need to read an entire book about negotiation skills, then do so. If you are not fond of reading, then you should learn to embrace learning. Instead of spending hours on Facebook, read a book that will develop you professionally and will result in making more money in your next job.

There’s nothing wrong though with being on Facebook or LinkedIn all day if you are using these social platforms to develop new relationships and start new conversations. It is just that if you want to shift your mindset towards negotiating a higher salary successfully, you need something more direct and informative; something that will lead you to accomplish your goal of becoming a better salary negotiator.

Here’s how you negotiate your salary in engineering job interviews

Now that you understand a few things about negotiation, why you need to start negotiating your salary, what makes you scared at negotiating, and how you can change your mindset to embrace negotiation, let’s dive into how you negotiate salary in Engineering Job Interviews.

1. Use the Noel Smith-Wenkle Salary Negotiation Method

The main aim of this method is to stall the mention of actual figures when asked about how much you want to get paid. This method advises that when asked about how much you want to get paid, you say something similar to, “I will consider any reasonable price you can offer” rather than “I will take $___ as fair pay.” No matter how many times they ask or how many times they change the same question, never offer an actual figure.

2. Try the Jack Chapman Salary Negotiation Method

The Jack Chapman Salary Negotiation Method also advises not accepting a salary discussion until you are offered the job. Clearly because if you have not been offered the job yet and you start negotiating, once the hiring manager learns that your price is high, you can be out of their short list.

This method is also similar to Noel Smith-Wenkle’s method. Your aim is to let the hiring manager give the first offer/figure – not you.


3. Use my own personal method – I call it: Always Be Prepared & In control.

Less technical than the first two methods, preparedness and control are the keys to successful negotiation. Remember that negotiation is a give-and-take process but being in control is the only way to come out the winner. So you may use methods one and two, but they cannot be effective without preparation. If the other person is more experienced and skilled at negotiating tactics, or if they use a scarcity technique or a bluff on you, then you might just crash in a second and accept his low offer right away.

So be prepared by doing your research on websites such as Glassdoor Salaries or LinkedIn Salary. Don’t be cheap and subscribe to their paid or premium services so you can get all the details and information that’s available.

Also, make sure to speak with people who work in that company right now as they are your best source of information. How do you get to speak with them? Well, you should have been networking with them from before you approached that company and decided to apply for a job there. You should be reaching out to their staff proactively and start a conversation with them – make friends.

Knowledge is power, and power practiced correctly will give you control, which should use that to your advantage. If being in control scares you, perhaps it is a good idea to practice this salary negotiation exercise with someone who’s unbiased and can give you constructive criticism as well as being direct and ruthless with you while negotiating to land on a salary amount that represents a win/win situation. Connect with me on LinkedIn and I’ll help you practice your negotiation skills.

SEE ALSO: Top 3 Jobs for Highest Mechanical Engineer Salary
[Featured Image Source: Pixabay]

About The Contributing Author:

Nader Mowlaee is an Electronics Engineer, Engineering Career Coach and Recruiter who’s inspired by Motivating Confidence in Engineers and helping them reach their career goals. Engineers LOVE working with Nader because he knows exactly what it takes to match job seekers with hiring managers & open jobs instantly. Reach out and connect with him on Facebook if you want learn the secrets to negotiating what you’re worth in engineering job interviews.

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The Man Booker Prizes were created to reward the finest in fiction, and to bring great books to avid readers. Starting this year, the 11-year-old Man Booker International Prize will be awarded annually for a single book, translated into English and published in the UK. As such, it mirrors the long-established Man Booker Prize for fiction which does the same for a book written in English.

The Man Group has sponsored the original prize since 2002 and the international prize since it was started in 2005. The symmetrical relationship between the two prizes will ensure that “Man Booker” can now honour fiction on a global basis - the name will be synonymous with choosing the year’s very best books in English.

But, given that only a tiny percentage of novels in English have been translated from another language, is it really worth all this effort?

The short answer is yes. The extraordinary success of Karl Ove Knausgård and Elena Ferrante in recent years is proof that fiction from other lands has a global following. Last year a new report from Literature Across Frontiers (LAF) finally put some figures on this. The statistics show a steady growth of literary translations over the past two decades, both in absolute numbers and as a share of the whole. The number of literary translations into English grew by two-thirds between 1990 and 2012, accounting for a peak of 5.23% of the whole in 2011 against an average of just 3%. Specialist foreign-fiction publishers, such as Quercus, Pereine and Pushkin, have all sprung up in the past decade or so.capital hill cashgate scandal, cashgate scandal malawi, cashgate scandal joyce banda, scandal joyce banda, Capital Hill Cashgate Scandal Officer

Apartment for Rent in DLF Beverly Park by Aurumestates.com

About the project
If you find yourself in tight economic condition but want to enjoy the comfortable living at reasonable cost, then DLF Beverly Park will serve you with the actual solution. The Beverly Park offer world class amenities within your budget with their residential apartment complex that are also meant to be available on rent. DLF City has launched its residential apartment complex Beverly Park in which the rented apartments are presented combined with all the comforts and needed amenities of daily life.

Location of the project
Gurgaon properties accommodate the property related solution for almost every demand. The demand could be for residential apartments, flats, or even villas. The residential apartment complex introduced by Beverly Park is located in one of the main location of Gurgaon. The location is near NH-8 and has close connections to M.G. Road. Also, the apartments could be easily reached through easy to go through routes. One is through NH-8 and other is through Mehrauli-Gurgaon road. One could also reach the IGI airport from the apartments within minutes.

Amenities and facilities of the project
The Properties in Gurgaon are known for their world class amenities and facilities being provided in the living spaces. Beverly Park also offers the fully furnished apartments for rent to the people. The apartments are completely air conditioned with the needed amenities like 100% power and water supply and high security system. Also, the tenants can enjoy the other facilities which are quite prominent in today’s living culture like club house, swimming pool and other sporting facilities.

Project size and scope
With the exclusive residential apartments by Beverly Park, the tenants could avail the 3bhk apartments on rent which comes in the size of 2600 square ft. The apartments are made available with all the furnishings and amenities and facilities and are made available at very reasonable rates.

Contact Us 
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Aurum Estates
Shop No 1 Main Sohna Road
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Email : vijay@aurumestates.com
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