PIA Connection Online

Recruiting can be tricky for agency leaders—timing consuming and every action doesn’t always result in success. Every owner knows great talent is essential, but in today’s competitive job market, finding it can be a monumental task, one that pulls agents away from key responsibilities like growing sales and servicing clients. That’s where IdealTraits comes in. This all-in-one hiring platform makes it easier and faster for agents to connect with top candidates.

For Jimi Honochick of YMI Insurance, which operates offices in Allentown, Bethlehem, and Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, hiring used to be a reactive process. “Someone would leave, and we’d be scrambling to fill the position,” he said. “We spent extra money on headhunters and often made quick hires that weren’t the right fit. We wanted to be more proactive. With IdealTraits, we’re always building a pool of qualified candidates we can turn to when a position opens.”

Vonda Copeland of Copeland Insurance, headquartered in Manhattan, Kansas with multiple offices across the state, also found IdealTraits valuable for staffing across different locations. “Posting jobs on my own made it hard to target the right areas—or to promote remote roles nationally,” she explained. “IdealTraits helps optimize my postings, whether I’m hiring locally or nationwide. The platform’s extended reach gets the job in front of qualified candidates across the country.”

Founded by insurance agents, IdealTraits was built specifically to help agencies find top-tier talent. The platform allows agencies to post jobs on major job boards—including Google, Indeed, LinkedIn, and ZipRecruiter—and includes two custom job descriptions created for the agency. IdealTraits also boosts search engine visibility, ensures mobile compatibility, and streamlines outreach with ready-to-use templates for job postings, rejection letters, and offer letters.

“We used to post directly to job boards, which is expensive,” said Honochick. “With IdealTraits, our jobs reach those same boards at a fraction of the cost, and they optimize our ads to attract more candidates.”

Copeland added, “I love how quickly I can build a job post. It offers suggestions, highlights key points, and now includes AI tools to make the process even faster.”

Beyond job postings, IdealTraits offers unlimited personality assessments to help agencies find candidates who are the right fit for specific roles. Designed specifically for the insurance industry, these assessments are automatically sent to every applicant. Current team members can also take the assessment, helping agency leaders identify traits shared by top performers and target candidates with similar profiles.

“We love the personality profiles,” said Honochick. “We had our whole staff take them and laughed at how accurate they were. We don’t even look at a resume unless the candidate has completed the assessment. If a role requires a detail-oriented person, we can see if the candidate fits.”

Copeland agreed: “The assessment is a great indicator of a candidate’s interest. If they take the time to complete it, I know they’re serious.”

One of the biggest benefits of IdealTraits is the ability to build a talent pipeline. “The system tracks who applied and stores your notes,” Copeland said. “I’ve gone back to previous candidates who were strong contenders and reached out about new openings.”

“Good talent is everything,” Honochick added. “IdealTraits helps us keep job posts live, even when we’re not hiring immediately. Sometimes it takes six months to find the right person. This platform gives us the time, flexibility, and tools to act when we do.”

Special Pricing for PIA Members

PIA members receive exclusive discounts on IdealTraits. The platform offers two pricing tiers:

• Quarterly: $499 for members ($699 for non-members)
• Annually: $999 for members ($1,299 for non-members)

PIA members also qualify for a $250 rebate.

For more information on IdealTraits and other best practices for attracting and retaining top talent, check out The PIA Partnership’s program Winning@Talent.