Recruitment Process for Resident Manager in Lower Manhattan Co-Op Becomes More Complex

A committed resident manager or super can have a big impact on the quality of life for residents in a co-op or condo. That’s why getting the hiring process right is so important. At a 425-unit co-op in Lower Manhattan, the board recently struggled with this and consequently turned to James Park, managing director of Spark Super, a third-party staffing company, to find a permanent resident manager to fill the position. 

Filling the Gap

The recruitment process for a resident super can take several months, so the co-op needed a temporary staffing solution to take care of maintenance issues and also to manage the building staff of 16. The experience of a resident manager can range from having expertise with mechanical systems to managing large numbers of staff. The board will also have its own special requirements. “Maybe they will look for certain attributes that are special to the type of candidate that they’re looking for. So finding a resident manager, it’s not an easy thing,” Park says. Because of the size and complexity of the building, the co-op needed someone living on-site. Spark Super tapped one of its own staff members, Albert Laracuente, to provide temporary cover while the search for a permanent replacement got underway. 

Filtering Candidates

The first step in finding the right resident manager was to gather résumés of candidates with the right experience. “Once you filter those candidates who have the experience to take on that size of a building, the board will then have to meet them in person and perform an interview,” Park says.  The interview is an opportunity to match the candidate with the experience they’ve outlined on paper and ask questions about their skills. “We went through over 250 resumes and ended up narrowing down to the top few candidates for the board to interview,” Park says. 

Everything progressed to the point where the hiring was imminent, but at the last moment there was an issue that prevented the arrangement going forward. This put the board back to square one in trying to find another candidate. “All this time Laracuente was running the building and making sure the day-to-day activities and tasks were being handled properly,” Park says.

An Unusual Solution

Park revisited some of the previous candidates and began collecting new résumés to start the hiring process again. Although a new candidate was found, Park says the board ended up doing something out of the ordinary — they asked if they could hire the temporary super to a permanent position. “What made Albert Laracuente appealing to the board was that during the time he was there, they really got to know him and to like him, and the shareholders took to him because he had the personality and energy to fit what they were looking for in a permanent resident manager,” Park says. However, Laracuente needed some persuading to take on the permanent live-in position, largely because he needed to discuss the new living arrangement with his family. “It usually is the resident manager that’s trying to persuade the board to hire them and not the other way around. But because the board was enamored with Albert, they sweetened the deal to entice him, and after some thought, he finally accepted,” Park says. 

Building staff turnover, especially of a resident manager, can be complicated for the board and unsettling for residents. Generally the cost of having a super or a resident manager at this type of building runs from about $55 to over $70 per hour. Spark Super’s services cost the co-op around $60 per hour. “As a result the board avoided the costs of hiring a resident manager that didn’t match the building,” Park says. He points out the hiring process can be very long and full of surprises. “Never put all of your faith in a decision until the final offering letters are signed — and sometimes a temporary-to permanent position can work well,” he says.