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Will Alexa find your office’s next top producer?

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ZipRecruiter.com launched it’s voice-activated job search app on Amazon’s Echo last August.

The app, or “skill,” in Echo parlance, has received only four reviews on Amazon’s page so far, averaging 2.3 stars.

Only four people have offered reviews, which might suggest the skill isn’t getting the attention the job search portal hoped it would.

CareerAdvisor also has search skill for the Amazon device. Only one person has reviewed it.

How effective these tools are in helping people find unique jobs may still be in question, but that didn’t stop Albany, NY-based broker Miguel Berger and his Voiceter Pro team from adding a “real estate careers” skill to their line-up of Alexa-narrated software.

Berger’s “Real Estate” home search skill for Echo has been adopted in ten markets to date.

Offices pay to be the brokerage of record on the app in however many ZIP codes they feel is necessary. The same format is used for the job search.

A person can ask the talking metal tube to help them get started in real estate with, “Alexa, open real estate careers.”

After some pleasantries are exchanged and a ZIP code is established, Alexa will inquire about license status.

If a person is not yet a card-carrying member of the industry, the software tells them a bit about the agency of record and promises someone will contact them about the next steps.

If you’re already an agent and looking for a new place to hang your shingle, “real estate careers” conducts the same verbal steps minus the bit about licensing.

I expressed some skepticism to Mr. Berger about this new skill. It seems rudimentary.

The skill merely offers a brokerage name and promises someone will be in touch. I have a hard time finding the overarching value.

“This is how millennials will look for real estate jobs,” Berger assured me. He also reminded me that no one thought his Alexa home search skill would catch on, either.

Berger said that a firm’s presence on Echo demonstrates that they better understand how to leverage technology, which will attract more experienced agents and aspiring young professionals.

ZipRecuiter’s Facebook chatbot produced twice as many job applications than its other methods, including its voice skill, according to this article on Mashable.com.

Facebook’s JobBot has recorded more than 250,000 unique chats, according to a May 23 post on its page.

Thus, it’s easy to agree with Berger’s point that younger professionals are looking for gigs in ways many of us didn’t.

Website StatisticBrain.com reports that 77 percent of job seekers in the U.S. use a mobile app, and that 85 percent of hiring managers use social networking sites like LinkedIn to find candidates.

The modern job search definitely happens online.

Even though I’m wary of the authenticity of a job finder that promises someone a “fulfilling career” with a company that has paid to be referenced, Berger might very well be ahead of the curve.

Alexa, where did the term, “Still on the fence” originate?

Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.