How to Apply to Colliers International

16 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 2 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Colliers is the world's #3 commercial real estate services firm by revenue, behind CBRE and JLL — a Toronto-headquartered, NYSE/TSX-listed (CIGI), founder-led platform with ~22,000 people across 70+ countries and ~US$4.8B in annual revenue.
  • The real career site is the Workday board at https://colliers.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Colliers-External-Career-Site. The marketing site at colliers.com/en/careers is a front door that routes everyone to the same place.
  • Read the role's service line carefully. Brokerage and capital markets producer seats are commission-driven, partnership-flavored, and often sponsor-introduced. Corporate, finance, technology, marketing, property management, project management, valuation, engineering, and investment management seats are conventional salaried roles with bonus structures.
  • Workday rewards clean, single-column PDF resumes with explicit section headings, exact-match license and software keywords, and fully populated profile fields. Verify the parsed output after upload — what the parser captured is what the recruiter searches.
  • Quantify producer credentials (deal count, square footage, transaction value, AUM touched, capital deployed, schedule and budget variance) and list every license and designation in full, with issuing body and jurisdiction.
  • Interview prep maps to four people-first values. Have an evidence-rich CAR/STAR story for Be Enterprising, Do What's Right, See It Through, and the team-collaboration pillar, and be ready to talk credibly about adjacent service lines and ESG/sustainable real estate trends.
  • The fastest-growing strategic pillar is Investment Management — Harrison Street and PIMCO Prime Real Estate together push AUM well past US$100B. If you are interviewing into that pillar, your resume and conversation should sound like asset management, not brokerage.
  • Colliers does run standard pre-employment checks (criminal, employment, education, and — for fiduciary roles — credit). Offers are contingent on those clearing. Be transparent about anything that might surface.

About Colliers International

Colliers International Group Inc. is a Toronto-headquartered global commercial real estate services and investment management firm and one of only three truly global, full-service CRE platforms — typically ranked third in the world by revenue behind CBRE and JLL. The firm operates from 181 Bay Street in downtown Toronto's financial district, with roughly 22,000 employees (including affiliates and contractors) across more than 70 countries on six continents, and reported approximately US$4.8 billion in annual revenue in its most recently completed fiscal year. Colliers is dual-listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker CIGI, and was spun off from FirstService Corporation in 2015 as an independent public company under the long-running leadership of founder and Global Chairman Jay S. Hennick. The Hennick family and management collectively retain a substantial ownership stake, which gives the company a distinctive 'enterprising professionals who think like owners' identity that you will hear referenced repeatedly in interviews and recruiting materials. The business is structured around several integrated service lines. Brokerage — sales (capital markets transactions, investment sales) and leasing (office, industrial, retail) — remains the most visible revenue engine and the lane most candidates think of when they imagine 'working at Colliers.' Around that sit Property Management (sometimes branded Real Estate Management Services), Project Management (driven heavily by the Colliers Project Leaders brand, particularly strong in Canada and the public sector), Valuation & Advisory Services, Engineering & Design (delivered through Colliers Engineering & Design, the former Maser Consulting platform acquired in 2021 and grown via subsequent tuck-ins), and Workforce / Occupier Solutions for corporate tenants. The faster-growing strategic pillar is Investment Management, anchored by the 2022 acquisition of a controlling interest in Harrison Street (a leading alternative real assets manager focused on healthcare, education, and storage real estate) and the 2024 acquisition of PIMCO Prime Real Estate (formerly Allianz Real Estate's external manager). Together these have pushed Colliers' assets under management well past US$100 billion and rebalanced the firm toward higher-margin, recurring-fee revenue — a strategic shift you should be ready to discuss intelligently if you are interviewing for any role tied to the Investment Management segment. Geographically, the strongest concentrations of headcount sit in the United States (the largest country by revenue), Canada (the spiritual home of the company), the United Kingdom, Australia, and Asia Pacific, with deepening operations across continental Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and India. Some markets — for example certain US regions — operate substantially through affiliate or franchise relationships rather than wholly owned offices, which matters because the hiring entity, payroll, and even the ATS may differ in those cases. Always read the legal-entity disclosure on the job posting before you assume you are being hired by Colliers International Group itself versus a Colliers-branded affiliate. Culturally, Colliers presents itself around a 'people-first' values framework — Be Enterprising, Do What's Right, See It Through, and similar pillars — and emphasizes a partnership culture in which top brokers, advisors, and producers behave more like business owners running a P&L than like employees executing a job description. This is genuinely felt on the brokerage and capital markets side, where revenue producers operate with significant autonomy and are compensated primarily through commission. On the corporate, technology, finance, marketing, property management, and project management sides, the experience is closer to a more conventional global professional services firm, with structured roles, base salary plus bonus, and clear functional career ladders. Understanding which of those two worlds your target role lives in is the single most useful piece of preparation you can do before applying.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Start at the public careers homepage at https://www

    Start at the public careers homepage at https://www.colliers.com/en/careers, which serves as the marketing and culture front door but is not where you actually submit an application. Use the navigation to find 'Search jobs' or one of the service-line entry points (Sales and brokerage, Valuations and advisory, Real estate management, Marketing and communications, Operations and administration, Building operations, etc.) — every single one of those buttons routes you to the same underlying job board.

  2. 2
    That job board is hosted on Workday at https://colliers

    That job board is hosted on Workday at https://colliers.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Colliers-External-Career-Site. Bookmark this URL directly — it is the canonical, real Colliers career site for the parent corporation and most operating geographies, and it currently lists hundreds of open roles globally (the live API returns the full requisition count, which moves daily). Affiliate offices may occasionally post on separate sites, but the Workday board is the authoritative starting point.

  3. 3
    Filter the Workday board using the left-side facets

    Filter the Workday board using the left-side facets. Useful ones include Country/Location, Job Family Group (for example Sales & Leasing Brokerage, Valuations & Advisory, Real Estate Management, Marketing & Communications, Operations & Administration, Building Operations, Engineering, Investment Management, Technology), Time Type (Full time, Part time, Contractor), and Posted On. If you are open to relocation, do not over-filter — Colliers regularly hires within job families across multiple cities.

  4. 4
    Click into a requisition to read the full description

    Click into a requisition to read the full description. Workday postings at Colliers typically include a 'Who you are' or 'About you' section listing required and preferred qualifications, a 'What you bring' or 'What you'll do' section describing day-to-day responsibilities, and a closing block on Colliers' people-first values, EEO/equal opportunity language, and (in some jurisdictions) pay transparency disclosures. Read all of this before applying — interviewers expect you to have absorbed it.

  5. 5
    Hit 'Apply' and you will be prompted to either sign in to an existing Workday ca

    Hit 'Apply' and you will be prompted to either sign in to an existing Workday candidate profile or create a new one. Create the account using a personal email you will keep for years; Colliers (like most Workday employers) ties future applications, internal mobility, and offer letters to that single candidate identity. Use a real, professional email — [email protected] or similar — not a throwaway address.

  6. 6
    Workday will offer to autofill your profile from a resume upload or, in many cas

    Workday will offer to autofill your profile from a resume upload or, in many cases, from a LinkedIn or Indeed import. The resume parser is decent but not perfect. After it finishes, manually walk through every section — Personal Information, Experience, Education, Languages, Certifications, Websites — and fix anything that came in wrong. Pay particular attention to job titles, employment dates, and bullet text, because the parsed values are what recruiters actually search and screen on, not the PDF you uploaded.

  7. 7
    Answer the application questionnaire honestly

    Answer the application questionnaire honestly. Expect questions on work authorization in the country of the role, willingness to relocate, real-estate license status (for brokerage, property management, and valuation roles in jurisdictions that require it), referral source, and voluntary self-identification (EEO in the US, employment equity in Canada, etc.). Self-identification is voluntary and not used in selection decisions; whether you complete it is entirely your call.

  8. 8
    For producer-track brokerage and capital markets roles, expect an additional dia

    For producer-track brokerage and capital markets roles, expect an additional dialogue outside of Workday. Many brokerage hires happen through 'sponsored' introductions — a Managing Director, market leader, or existing top producer identifies you (often via referral, a competitor poach, or an industry event) and then routes you through the formal Workday application as a documentation step. If you are cold-applying to a brokerage role without a sponsor, your odds improve dramatically if you can name a specific team, practice group, or geography you want to join in your cover letter and follow up via LinkedIn with the named market leader.

  9. 9
    After submission, you will get an automated Workday confirmation email

    After submission, you will get an automated Workday confirmation email. Realistic timelines: corporate, finance, technology, marketing, operations, and property management roles typically hear back within one to three weeks if there is interest, and silence beyond four weeks usually means the role moved on. Brokerage producer roles can move much faster (days, if a team has decided to hire you) or much slower (months, if the team is building a long-term pipeline). Valuations and project management sit in between.

  10. 10
    Track your status by signing back into the Workday candidate portal

    Track your status by signing back into the Workday candidate portal. Stages typically progress from Under Consideration through Recruiter Screen, Hiring Manager Interview, Panel/Loop, Reference Check, Offer, and Background Check. Colliers does conduct standard pre-employment checks — criminal background, employment verification, education verification, and credit checks for roles with fiduciary responsibility — and offers are formally contingent on those clearing.

  11. 11
    If you do not get the role, your Workday profile remains active and Colliers rec

    If you do not get the role, your Workday profile remains active and Colliers recruiters search it for future requisitions. Update it when you change jobs, get a new license or certification, or want to be considered for a different geography. You can apply to multiple Colliers requisitions simultaneously without prejudice, but be selective — applying to twelve roles in three countries in one week looks unfocused.

Resume Tips for Colliers International

recommended

Tailor your headline and summary to the specific service line

Tailor your headline and summary to the specific service line. A brokerage resume should lead with deal volume, transaction count, square footage executed, and named anchor clients; a valuation resume should lead with appraisal types, property classes, and licensing (MAI, AACI, RICS); a project management resume should lead with capital deployed, schedule performance, and procurement methods (CCDC, AIA, design-build, IPD); a corporate finance, technology, or marketing resume should lead with scope, scale, and measurable business impact. A single generic resume sent to all three will under-perform in the Workday parser.

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Workday's resume parser reads structured headings best

Workday's resume parser reads structured headings best. Use plain section titles — Experience, Education, Licenses & Certifications, Skills, Languages — in that order, in a single column, with no text boxes, no header/footer text, no embedded tables, and no graphics. Save and submit as PDF unless the job posting explicitly asks for .docx. Two pages is appropriate for anyone with more than five years of experience; one page is fine for early career.

recommended

List every real estate license, professional designation, and regulatory registr

List every real estate license, professional designation, and regulatory registration with issuing body, jurisdiction, and active status. Examples: California Real Estate Salesperson License (DRE #XXXXXXX, active), Ontario Real Estate Salesperson Registration (RECO, active), MAI (Appraisal Institute), AACI (Appraisal Institute of Canada), RICS MRICS or FRICS, CCIM, SIOR, LEED AP, PMP, P.Eng., PE. Recruiters and hiring managers filter the Workday candidate database on these exact terms, and missing them costs you searches you never even know happened.

recommended

Quantify everything in transactional and producer roles

Quantify everything in transactional and producer roles. 'Closed 47 industrial leasing transactions totaling 3.2M sf and US$148M in aggregate consideration in 2024' is the kind of line that makes a market leader pick up the phone. 'Responsible for industrial leasing in the Inland Empire' is not. The same discipline applies to capital markets ($X in investment sales volume, Y assets, Z asset class mix), property management (square footage under management, tenant count, NOI improvement), and project management (capital deployed, schedule and budget variance, number of stakeholders).

recommended

On the corporate side, mirror the language of Colliers' own job posting back at

On the corporate side, mirror the language of Colliers' own job posting back at the parser. If the posting calls the system 'Yardi Voyager,' do not write 'property management software'; if it asks for 'Argus Enterprise' or 'Argus DCF,' name the exact product. If it lists Power BI, Snowflake, dbt, Salesforce, NetSuite, Workday Financials, or specific JavaScript frameworks, list the ones you actually have. Workday's recruiter search is keyword-driven, and exact-match wins.

recommended

Show evidence of the 'enterprising professionals' value the firm explicitly recr

Show evidence of the 'enterprising professionals' value the firm explicitly recruits for. That means examples of building something — a new account, a new practice area, a new internal tool, a new piece of research, a new client vertical — rather than only executing within an existing structure. Even one bullet per role that demonstrates initiative shifts your resume meaningfully against equally credentialed competitors.

recommended

If you are targeting an Investment Management role tied to Harrison Street or PI

If you are targeting an Investment Management role tied to Harrison Street or PIMCO Prime Real Estate, structure a section around fund-level work: AUM touched, fund vintages, asset classes (alternatives, core/core-plus, value-add, opportunistic, debt), LP composition (institutional, sovereign, family office), and fundraising or investor relations involvement if any. These are competitive seats and the resume needs to read like an asset management professional's, not a brokerage professional's.

recommended

Address geographic mobility explicitly if it is true

Address geographic mobility explicitly if it is true. A clear 'Open to relocation within North America' or 'Authorized to work in EU; willing to relocate to London, Frankfurt, or Amsterdam' line in your contact block prevents recruiters from screening you out on a location filter when you would have happily moved. Conversely, if you are not willing to move, save everyone's time by saying so.

ATS System: Workday Recruiting (colliers.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com)

Colliers uses Workday Recruiting, hosted at https://colliers.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Colliers-External-Career-Site, as the single global ATS for almost all Colliers International Group requisitions. The 'wd3' subdomain identifies the Workday data center pod the tenant is provisioned in; 'Colliers-External-Career-Site' is the external-facing site name. Internal employees applying for transfers go through a separate internal Workday site, which is why you sometimes see Colliers staff reference 'the internal board' as a different experience. Workday parses your resume into structured profile fields, runs your application against the requisition's required and preferred qualifications, surfaces you to recruiters via keyword and facet search, and routes interview scheduling, offer letters, background checks, and onboarding through the same platform. Some affiliate offices in specific countries occasionally post on local boards or use a regional ATS, but the Workday site is the canonical default and the right place to start any search.

  • Apply through the Workday board itself, not via aggregator re-posts on Indeed, LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, or Glassdoor. Aggregator clicks usually redirect into Workday anyway, but going direct guarantees you land on the live, current requisition rather than a stale cached copy.
  • Build your Workday candidate profile with the same care you would put into a LinkedIn profile. Recruiters search the internal candidate database for future roles using the same keyword search they use against new applicants, so a thorough profile keeps you visible long after a single application closes.
  • Use a clean, single-column PDF resume. Workday's parser handles standard section headings well but mangles two-column layouts, sidebars, header/footer content, and embedded tables. Verify the parsed output inside Workday — every field that came across wrong is a field a recruiter will silently filter you out on.
  • Include exact-match license abbreviations, designations, and software names — MAI, AACI, MRICS, FRICS, CCIM, SIOR, CPM, RPA, LEED AP, PMP, P.Eng., Argus Enterprise, Yardi Voyager, MRI, Salesforce, Power BI, Snowflake, Workday Financials — wherever they apply truthfully to your background. These are the exact tokens recruiters search.
  • Save your Workday login credentials. If you reapply over months or years, signing back into the same candidate identity preserves your application history, internal-mobility eligibility once you are hired, and reference data, and prevents you from creating duplicate profiles that fragment your record.
  • If a posting has a pay transparency range (required in jurisdictions like California, Colorado, New York, Washington, and increasingly elsewhere), trust the range as the realistic band for that location. Workday postings show the legally compliant range; negotiating outside it is possible but unusual.
  • Treat Workday's system-generated emails (subject lines like 'Thank you for your application' or 'Update on your application status') as authoritative. Phishing emails impersonating Colliers recruiters are common in CRE — if anything off-Workday asks for personal data, payment, or banking info before an offer is signed and a background check is initiated, verify directly with a known Colliers contact before responding.

Interview Culture

Interviewing at Colliers is recognizably a professional services experience, but the texture varies sharply by service line.

For corporate, finance, technology, marketing, property management, project management, and operations roles, expect a fairly conventional sequence: a recruiter screen of 25–40 minutes covering your background, motivations, location and compensation expectations, and basic fit; a hiring manager conversation focused on your relevant experience and how you would approach the actual scope of the role; one or more peer or cross-functional interviews with people you would partner with day to day; and a final round that often includes a senior leader and, depending on the seat, a written or live exercise (a model build, a marketing brief, a project plan, a system design, a vendor evaluation). Total elapsed time is typically two to four weeks for these tracks, with three to four interview touchpoints being the most common pattern. For brokerage and capital markets producer roles the experience is structurally different. The conversation tends to start with a Managing Director or market leader rather than a recruiter, and it is openly a two-way evaluation: they are assessing whether you can build a book and produce revenue, and you are assessing whether the team's geography, asset class focus, splits, support resources, research access, and partnership ladder will allow you to do that. Expect direct, sometimes blunt questions about your existing client relationships, your transaction history, your prospecting habits, your portable book (with appropriate respect for non-solicit and non-compete obligations from your current firm), and your ramp expectations. Producer interviews frequently include lunch or dinner with the team, an informal office tour, and introductions to back-office and research staff who will support you. Compensation conversations are commission-driven — typically a draw against future commissions, a defined commission split that improves with tenure or production tier, and sometimes a sign-on or transition package. Base salary, where it exists, is modest relative to total expected compensation. Valuation and advisory roles fall somewhere between the two patterns: technical screening (designation status, geographic licensing, asset class depth, software fluency in Argus and the major valuation packages), a hiring manager conversation, peer interviews with senior appraisers, and frequently a sample-work conversation in which you walk through a redacted prior assignment. Across every track, behavioral questions follow standard CAR/STAR patterns and tie back to Colliers' values language: tell me about a time you took initiative without being asked (Be Enterprising), describe an ethically difficult call you made (Do What's Right), walk me through a long-running, complicated assignment you saw to completion (See It Through), and similar. Prepare three or four crisp, evidence-rich stories that map to those themes and you will handle the behavioral portion of any Colliers interview comfortably. Scenario questions are common as well — 'how would you respond if a client asked for X,' 'how would you handle a co-broker dispute,' 'how would you explain Y to a non-real-estate stakeholder' — and the firm rewards thoughtful, honest, structured answers over slick ones. Dress code expectations skew business professional for client-facing brokerage and capital markets seats and business casual for corporate, technology, and marketing seats. When in doubt, ask the recruiter; they answer this question constantly and will tell you the truth.

What Colliers International Looks For

  • Producer mindset and ownership behavior — particularly on the brokerage, capital markets, and investment management side. Colliers genuinely values 'enterprising professionals' who treat their book and their clients like a business they own, not a queue of tasks they were assigned. Stories about building, prospecting, and creating revenue land harder than stories about executing within an existing structure.
  • Technical depth in the relevant discipline. Designations and licenses (MAI, AACI, MRICS, CCIM, SIOR, CPM, RPA, P.Eng., LEED AP, PMP) and software fluency (Argus Enterprise, Yardi, MRI, Salesforce, Workday, Power BI, the major BIM and project controls platforms) signal that you can do the work without an extended ramp.
  • Cross-service-line awareness. Colliers competes against firms with similar capabilities, and the differentiator is often how cleanly an account team integrates brokerage with property management, project management, valuation, and capital markets. Candidates who can talk credibly about adjacent service lines — even if they have only worked in one — interview better than narrow specialists.
  • Client orientation and relationship discipline. Long-tenure client relationships, repeat-engagement statistics, references from named decision-makers, and documented examples of going beyond the engagement scope all carry weight, especially for senior roles.
  • Cultural alignment with the people-first values framework. Be Enterprising, Do What's Right, See It Through, and the related pillars are not throwaway marketing — interviewers reference them and probe for them. Have a story ready for each.
  • Geographic and language fit for global roles. Colliers operates in 70+ countries; for any role with a regional or global remit, working second-language fluency, prior in-country experience, and demonstrated comfort moving across cultures are real differentiators.
  • ESG and sustainability literacy, especially for corporate occupier services, valuation, project management, engineering & design, and investment management. The firm publishes substantial ESG and sustainable-real-estate research and increasingly competes for mandates on those credentials. You do not need to be a specialist, but you should be conversant.
  • Integrity and risk judgment. CRE involves fiduciary obligations, conflicts of interest between landlords and tenants or buyers and sellers, confidential market information, and sometimes politically sensitive transactions. Interviewers test for sound judgment under pressure, and a single dismissive answer to an ethics scenario can end a candidacy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What ATS does Colliers International use, and where is the real careers page?
Colliers uses Workday Recruiting. The marketing front door is https://www.colliers.com/en/careers, and the actual job board — verified live — is hosted at https://colliers.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Colliers-External-Career-Site. Every service-line button on the marketing page (Sales and brokerage, Valuations and advisory, Real estate management, Marketing and communications, Operations and administration, Building operations) routes to that same Workday tenant. Apply directly on Workday rather than through an aggregator to ensure you land on the current, live requisition.
Do brokerage roles at Colliers actually pay base salary, or is it pure commission?
Most producer-track brokerage and capital markets seats are commission-driven. The typical structure is a draw against future commissions plus a defined commission split that improves with tenure and production tier, sometimes accompanied by a sign-on or transition package if you are bringing a portable book. Some seats — particularly junior associate, analyst, and research roles supporting brokerage teams — do carry a base salary plus bonus. The job description and the recruiter or market leader conversation will make the structure explicit; ask directly if it is not clear.
Is a real estate license required to apply for brokerage or property management roles at Colliers?
It depends on the jurisdiction and the role. In most US states and Canadian provinces, transactional brokerage roles require an active real estate salesperson or broker license held with the appropriate regulator (DRE in California, RECO in Ontario, etc.), and the Workday application will ask. Property management roles often require licensing as well, plus designations like CPM or RPA for senior roles. Valuation roles usually require MAI, AACI, MRICS, or equivalent. If you are early in your career and do not yet hold the license, some Colliers offices will hire you into an associate or analyst role and sponsor you through the licensing process — but this is office-by-office, not a global policy.
How long does the Colliers interview process typically take from application to offer?
For corporate, finance, technology, marketing, property management, valuation, and project management roles, two to four weeks across three to four interview touchpoints is the common pattern. Producer-track brokerage and capital markets roles can move much faster (days, when a market leader has already decided to hire you) or much slower (months, when a team is building a long-term pipeline of producers to recruit). Engineering & Design and Investment Management roles tied to Harrison Street or PIMCO Prime tend to run on the longer end because of the additional fund-side and technical due diligence involved.
What is the relationship between Colliers International, Colliers Engineering & Design, Colliers Project Leaders, Harrison Street, and PIMCO Prime Real Estate?
All sit under the Colliers International Group Inc. (NYSE/TSX: CIGI) parent. Colliers Engineering & Design (formerly Maser Consulting, acquired in 2021 and grown via subsequent tuck-ins) is the engineering and design platform, strongest in the US. Colliers Project Leaders is the project management brand, particularly strong in Canada and the public sector. Harrison Street, in which Colliers acquired a controlling interest in 2022, is a leading alternative real assets investment manager focused on healthcare, education, storage, and digital real estate. PIMCO Prime Real Estate (formerly Allianz Real Estate's external manager), acquired in 2024, manages European and global core/core-plus real estate strategies. Together they are central to the firm's Investment Management segment and the strategic shift toward higher-margin recurring fee revenue.
Is Colliers a good place to work as an early-career professional rather than an established producer?
It can be excellent, but you have to choose your service line deliberately. Property Management, Valuation & Advisory, Project Management, Colliers Engineering & Design, corporate finance and technology, marketing, and research all offer structured analyst and associate programs with mentorship, formal training, and clear functional ladders. Brokerage producer tracks are harder for true early-career candidates without a sponsor — most successful junior brokers either have a family or industry connection, complete an analyst rotation first, or join a specific senior team that has explicitly committed to investing in them. The Students and Graduates page at colliers.com/en/careers/campus is the right starting point for entry-level recruiting.
Does Colliers sponsor work visas and support international relocation?
Yes, in select circumstances and primarily for senior, hard-to-fill, and producer roles. Investment Management, capital markets, engineering & design, and certain technology and corporate roles have all historically supported international relocation and visa sponsorship in the US, Canada, UK, and select Asia Pacific markets. Junior and broadly available roles are usually filled with local candidates already authorized to work. Workday will ask your work-authorization status during the application and the recruiter will tell you early whether sponsorship is on the table for that specific role.
What kind of background check should I expect if Colliers extends an offer?
Standard pre-employment checks include criminal background, employment verification, and education verification globally, plus credit checks for roles with fiduciary responsibility (capital markets, investment management, finance, certain property management roles). Some jurisdictions add motor vehicle records for roles involving driving and additional licensing-status checks for regulated brokerage and valuation roles. Offers are formally contingent on these clearing. Be transparent during the interview process about anything that might surface — recruiters and hiring managers respond significantly better to up-front disclosure than to surprises during the background check.
How important is ESG and sustainability fluency in interviews at Colliers?
Increasingly important, particularly for corporate occupier services, valuation, project management, engineering & design, and investment management. Colliers publishes substantial ESG and sustainable real estate research, competes for mandates on those credentials, and serves clients who are themselves under regulatory and investor pressure on building decarbonization, climate risk, and reporting frameworks. You do not need to be a specialist, but you should be conversant in the basic vocabulary — net zero, embodied carbon, retrofit pathways, GRESB, EU CSRD, TCFD-aligned reporting — and be able to discuss how ESG considerations show up in your prior work.
What is the single highest-leverage thing I can do to improve my odds at Colliers?
Find a sponsor inside the firm before you apply. Real estate services is overwhelmingly a relationship business, and a warm introduction from a current Colliers professional — a Managing Director, market leader, account leader, or senior individual contributor — moves you from the general Workday queue into a named, prioritized conversation. Use LinkedIn search, alumni networks, industry events (NAIOP, ULI, ICSC, CoreNet, Inman, MIPIM, EXPO Real, RICS events), and any prior client or counterparty relationships you have to identify the right sponsor for the specific service line, geography, and seat you want, and then apply through Workday in parallel as the documentation step. This single move typically matters more than any individual resume improvement.

Open Positions

Colliers International currently has 2 open positions.

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Related Resources

Related Articles

Sources

  1. Real Estate Careers & Job Opportunities | Colliers —
  2. Colliers External Career Site (Workday) —
  3. Colliers — Culture and Values (People-First Values) —
  4. Colliers — Students and Graduates —
  5. Colliers International Group Inc. — Investor Relations —
  6. Colliers International Group Inc. (CIGI) — NYSE listing —
  7. Harrison Street — Alternative real assets investment management —
  8. Colliers Engineering & Design —
  9. Colliers Project Leaders —