Hello Hire Priority,
Q: Dear Hire Priority,
I’m an apartment industry professional with seven years experience as an on-site property manager. My company is great, but offers no room for growth. I would like to be in a regional management position in the next three to five years. How should I handle this transition or should I even consider looking for another apartment job? – CHRIS
A: Hi Chris!
We look at five different key things when considering a move: Growth, Quality of Company or Supervisor, Compensation, Location and Specific Responsibilities. In our experience, its important to factor in all five when considering your transition.
I’m glad to hear your company is great. My guess is that they are satisfying all or most of the other key things to consider when transitioning. Since you like your company, the first place to start looking for growth is with them. Have you asked what their plans are for growth? Its possible they are planning to expand, but haven’t passed their plans on to you. Have you expressed your desire to advance to your direct supervisor? It could be that your boss is planning to leave or that he or she knows how you can advance within the company.
If you find that staying with your company is not an option, then here are the next steps:
- Clarify your vision: what type of product are you wanting to manage (fee, owner-managed, etc)?, are you willing to relocate?, Are you willing to take another managers position with more opportunity for growth?, are you willing to take a regional position with a challenged company or portfolio, are you willing to take less money for the opportunity?
- Network: contact people you trust that will help key an eye out for you or be able to put you in front of hiring authorities, contact a recruiting company, contact hiring authorities directly on Linked-In, and watch the job listings on-line.
- Guerrilla Network: Brainstorm with your current trust group to find out where they have hiring authority contacts and get their contact info. You will contact them and use your friends name.
- Before contacting any hiring authority, make sure you know your accomplishments without having to look them up. You may only have a minute or two to speak with someone, so you will need to be ready to share your successes. A few things that sell well are NOI, Revenue or Occupancy Growth over a specific period of time (ie. increased occupancy from 87% to 95% over the last 16 months).
I’ve seen the most success come to those candidates that take a very active and aggressive approach. This means being clear on what you want and doing whatever it takes to get in front of the hiring authority for which you want to work.
Keep an eye on the Hire Priority blog for more articles on how to find apartment jobs.
All the best to you.
