Kevin Prine - Recruiting the Next Generation of Assessors in Suffolk, Virginia

The numbers are stark and getting starker. We've been saying for five years that 50% of our profession will retire within the next decade. As Kevin Prine, Chief Deputy Assessor in Suffolk, Virginia, pointed out in a recent conversation: "Part of that issue is we've been saying that for over five years now, which means we're in the middle of that portion of the problem."

Let that sink in. We're not approaching a cliff, we're already halfway down it.

The Knowledge Transfer Crisis Nobody's Solving

Here's what keeps me up at night: When these seasoned professionals walk out the door, they're taking decades of institutional knowledge with them. The kind of knowledge you can't download from a course or pick up in a weekend seminar. We're talking about the subtle art of reading a neighborhood's trajectory, understanding the politics of public meetings, and knowing when that commercial property sale is an outlier versus a market indicator.

The problem has been identified, analyzed, and discussed at every conference for years. What's missing? Solutions. Real, actionable solutions that go beyond wringing our hands and hoping HR figures it out.

Why Your HR Department Can't Save You

Prine hits on something crucial that too many offices ignore: "How many of our HR departments really know what we do? And do we really want them being the front line out there promoting our profession when they probably can't really explain our profession very well?"

This isn't a knock on HR. They're doing important work. But can they explain the difference between fee appraisal and mass appraisal to a college student? Can they articulate why someone with a finance degree might find intellectual satisfaction in developing neighborhood adjustment factors? Probably not.

The recruitment solution has to come from within. It has to come from us.

Building Your Own Pipeline

What does effective recruitment look like? Prine offers a blueprint that any office can adapt:

Get in front of students regularly. He speaks to Old Dominion University's finance club every semester. Groups range from 5 to 35 students. The smaller sessions often generate better questions and deeper engagement.

Target multiple education levels. High schools, community colleges, and universities all have potential candidates. Don't assume everyone needs a four-year degree to start.

Create real internship opportunities. Not filing and coffee runs, but actual exposure to the work. Let them sit in on neighborhood reviews. Have them help with sales verification calls. Show them what the job really looks like.

The Technology Factor: Threat or Opportunity?

"Do more with less" has become the government mantra, and technology vendors are happy to promise they can replace headcount. But here's the reality: Technology is changing how we work, not whether we work.

AVMs and automated systems need human oversight. They need professionals who understand when the model is wrong, when the data is dirty, or when local conditions override the algorithm. As Prine notes about the fee appraisal world: "Who do they appeal to or who do they argue with when a value doesn't come in at what they feel it should be? Because they're not going to get much feedback from a computer."

The same applies to mass appraisal. Technology should free us from routine tasks so we can focus on analysis, equity studies, and the complex properties that require human judgment.

The Networking Investment

One small detail from Prine's approach stuck with me: He writes notes on the back of business cards about where he met someone and what they discussed. Then he follows up with an email referencing that conversation.

This isn't just good manners, it's strategic relationship building. Those connections become your recruitment network, your knowledge base, and sometimes your next hire. In a profession as small as ours, these relationships matter.

Making the Transition Easier

For those lucky enough to recruit new talent, remember that the transition into mass appraisal can be jarring. Prine made the jump from fee appraisal to government work when "there wasn't a lot of work from home options" and it meant adapting to a strict 8-to-5 schedule.

His advice for newcomers? "Be open minded, be flexible... Never approach a situation, a topic, a subject, a property or anything thinking that you know it all."

The IAAO courses help, especially once you get past the basics into modeling and mass appraisal techniques. But the real learning happens on the job, with mentors who can translate theory into practice.

Key Takeaways

The retirement wave is here, not coming. If your office doesn't have a succession plan and active recruitment strategy, you're already behind.

Recruitment is not HR's job, it's yours. Nobody can explain what we do better than we can. Make time for campus visits and internship programs.

Technology changes the job, not the need for professionals. Focus on building skills that complement automated systems rather than competing with them.

Invest in relationships. The person you meet at today's conference might be your next hire, your next mentor, or your next problem-solver.

Create learning environments. New hires need more than training, they need mentors who can help them see the big picture that mass appraisal requires.

The profession will survive this transition, but individual offices might not. The question is whether yours will be among those that thrive by building the next generation, or among those scrambling to fill positions as knowledge walks out the door.

The choice, and the timeline, is yours.