It is word of mouth and the actual contract/consulting work I have had has come from friends in the industry who know me and pass the lead on.
Having said that some of this is just me being negative and beat down - I've had two positions to fill on a freelance basis and that lead to the CFO recommending me for a third role which was enough to launch a llc!
Then the pandemic happened.
So I'm starting again.
Except now it's five years instead of three since I've been in the game, and really now eight years since my troubles started so contacts start to wane and move on and forget you.
I'm not the guy who can play golf and entertain anymore.
Just do good work.
Hopefully that will be enough.
Lots of new areas and ideas floating around right now, and it'd be worth looking around before setting your sights on an old career trajectory.
How common is it for recruiters to work with commercial real estate agents? It's weird how little I know about your industry.
From HN earlier, thought it was on topic: https://allenpike.com/2022/giving-a-shit
I don't know nearly enough about your industry to know where reputation fits into the system but it's certainly not a concern from my point of view.