My Story: Michael Watkins
After growing up surrounded by the real estate industry—Michael’s father was primarily involved, but his mother and brother also worked in related fields—perhaps it was inevitable that Michael wasn’t satisfied with the other career paths he tried and ended up in the apartment industry.
Michael dabbled in politics, ministry, and engineering fields before finding the aspects of his ideal job in the apartment industry. Today Michael works as an assistant property manager in Austin at Roscoe Properties, a job that keeps him making important decisions on a day-to-day basis. “You have to wear a lot of hats,” he says of varied tasks included in his apartment job. When Michael first began his job search he remarks that he couldn’t get an interview, but Hire Priority was able to “open doors that resumes or visits couldn’t,” and was offered three of the four jobs he interviewed for. Now, years later as assistant manager, Michael gets his recruits from Hire Priority.
While those running apartment properties do not always receive the thanks they deserve, Michael says that his job is rewarding. Before his current apartment job in Austin, one client in particular went out of their way to offer thanks after they happened to see Michael making an apartment move-in ready himself because of a shortage in maintenance personnel. Perhaps his knack for the apartment industry is “innate,” Michael relates due to his family’s involvement in it. But his eye for perfection and hard work also contributed to Michael’s movement up the career ladder.