Recruiting directors

How hard this is depends on the owners and residents that live in the condo and on how hard the existing directors try to attract new people to join the board, become an officer or to join a committee. Many boards complain that no one is interested but I am not sure how much effort they put into trying to encourage interest. The opposite is often true. The existing directors are happy the way things are and don't want any challengers. Recruit from the residents Of course you have to recruit from the people who live in your building. Many condo corporations make being an owner on title a prerequisite to being on the board.

Most often, there is no requirement for an officer to be an owner so renters can become a treasurer or a secretary that serves the board. They can also hold positions on one or more committees.

Meet the new owners
Ask all new owners to come and meet the board prior to the start of a board meeting. When they moved in, the manager should have given them a welcome document explaining the condo's rules and safety instructions.

Included in that document should have been a a form asking if they were interested in becoming involved in their new community. This meeting with the board is to see if the new owners show any interest and what contributions they can bring to their new committee.

Recruit busy people
People who are busy are exactly the people that you want. They have energy, are interesting in learning and know how to get things done.

Canadian work experience
Promote the benefits of being a director on your board.

Working as a volunteer on a non-profit corporation that has a monthly cash-flow of anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000 is practical work experience that could help a new immigrant or a recent college or university graduate get a better job.

Condo directors interview contractors, property management companies, tender contracts that can run in the millions, hire, discipline and fire employees, help write employee job descriptions, work as a team making important decisions and get involved with real-life emergencies.

The personal-relations experiences can be outstanding as you will deal with residents, suppliers and employees in some very difficult situations.

Directors also learn how to make unpopular decisions such as raising the monthly expenses and unpleasant decisions such as terminating an employee or having a lien put on a family's home.

It sure will make a resume look a lot better than if you spend all your spare time watching TV, playing video games or hanging around a donut shop.

References
Your fellow directors should provide hard working directors job skills, training, mentoring and written references that would be worth gold during a job interview.


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