NEWPORT BEACH, CA-A sharp rise in executive search assignments for development professionals this year is a trend expected to increase in 2013. According to RETS Associates, a commercial real estate recruitment and staffing firm in the western US, improving market fundamentals in primary markets throughout the western states are the driving force behind employment demand in the development sector, and the challenge now is finding qualified development professionals to fill very specific jobs.

“Whenever a client comes to us, they describe the dream, the perfect person for the role,” Kent Elliott, a principal with RETS, tells GlobeSt.com. “Clients want candidates with experience in that geographic area with that specific product type. For example, in a search for a San Francisco-based development firm, they'll say they're looking for an accountant who has done development accounting for a vertical office building in San Francisco. They'll get very narrowly focused. The problem is there haven't been that many buildings developed like that in that market in the last ten years, so it's hard to find candidates that fit their qualifications.”

When clients have difficulty finding the right match for the job, what do they do? “Over time, they loosen up,” says Elliott. “If they're asking for something that's just not there, then it's not a good use of our time. They need to relax the standards or 'must-haves,' either with regard to compensation or the specific qualifications. Sometimes it's going back to relax the standards. If the client is very rigid on what they want, it makes our job more difficult—particularly if it's a needle in a haystack search.”