Topic: Is my experience at one company holding me back?

This question is directed really to anyone who works in our industry. I recently left a job after 6 years with the same company, I moved to a position with more growth opportunity in the non-multifamily sector of real estate, but they consolidated to Austin and I have a home and more importantly my life in Dallas.
In looking for positions at other companies I am finding that my 6 year stint where I became well versed in various areas of property management from rehab construction to redesign and re-positioning of properties, was well in a sense, frowned upon. I will be the first to say that yes my company was small, which means that I didn't spend a lot of time in a corporate office (we officed out of whichever community had a spare unit & where we could be the most effective), but I learned so much more than if all of my experience had been in one linear sector of the business right? Still I am having a difficult time in the city with one of the nations best growth opportunities and amazing occupancy difficult to come by. Should I have worked my way into another company from a property level, would that make me a more valuable asset?
Also I understand that many companies use resume parsers these days but as a design professional and creative asset, I think many of my resumes go to the waste basket because they simply don't follow any of the Microsoft templates and so the parse doesn't work... but wouldn't you rather see my skills and design style, how I organize my thoughts and skills vs how Microsoft would have me organize them? Just curious is the Resume Parse really necessary?

Hi Page!
Can you give more details on why you think they believe that your experience is not ideal? Did they say something specific that we can delve into to find out what the concerns were?

As for where you physically spent time, corporate office or on-site, shouldn't matter as much as the skills you obtained and your duties, in my opinion.

As for resumes, I would highly doubt that many, outside of possibly the very large companies, use some sort of resume parsers. I could be wrong, but I would be surprised. Overall, I think one of the biggest challenges in our industry is that our job titles/experience are so homogeneous. In other words, you look at 20 different property manager resumes and they all look very, very similar. So I think in our industry especially, the cover letter plays an even more important role.

Perhaps it would be beneficial to reexamine your skill set from another prospective, and while you're at it answer a question that has been puzzling me for years. That question is, "What in the world does selling real estate have to do with running apartments?"

There doesn't seem to be a sales aspect to apartment management. Leasing agents aren't selling anything except the use of a living space with a maintenance plan. Your company has sales people; their company has sales people; that cancels things out. As Brent pointed out in an article in another thread, if your complex has a pool, and all the other complexes have pools, the pool isn't really a selling point. If you get a lease signed using your extraordinary "Closing" technique, it likely means that you made the place seem better than it is and by doing so you have directly or indirectly lied to the tenant. That won't make them happy…. And I think we all agree happy tenants are best.

I'm rambling a bit here but my main point is that you are perhaps overemphasizing your sales skills in an industry that doesn't really need sales people.

Hi Page! If I am understanding correctly, what you are saying is that at your company, you performed a lot more roles than most onsite managers do. This means, you can lease, hire, terminate, discipline, manage leases, perform more in-depth financial reporting and these skills translates to doing what some Regional Managers do. In addition, you also learned the construction side, due diligence, marketing, and staging, rehab side, which a lot of managers also participate in but are not necessarily the decision-maker or oversee whole projects.

The way I see this is you have a unique skill set that makes you highly valuable. In a lot of ways, finding a new position means you will need to network with others who have known what you can do. The Property Manager position varies greatly from company to company although the job descriptions may be essential the same. Reach out to the company's recruiters, perhaps through Linkedin. They can really help guide you in the right direction with the right company. Brent, a lot of companies do use a screening tool for resumes and many will reject yours! This is why it is great to network and reach out to industry people and let them know you are available.

Page, it sounds like you have great experience and if I were in your market, I would be very interested in talking with you, based on what you say about your experience here. Is it possible your resume doesn't tell your story clearly? I would have someone review your resume and give you feedback to make sure it portrays the skills you've developed. If you don't have a resource locally, feel free to use me!

Page,
Wow, your post is eye opening! I have been with a small company for 8 years in a corporate marketing role; however, my position is anything but traditional. I don't office from the corporate office, I split time between being onsite and a home (as in my house) office. Now, I will say that prior to this position, I do have 10 years experience as a true PM. I have sometimes wondered if my current tenure will hurt my prospects in the future.

Microsoft template for a resume? Resume parser? I am a creative. My resume is done in Illustrator. I have a web portfolio. I also have my BA in Multimedia, Web & Graphic Design and Development.

With that being said - Skip the online application and network. If there is one thing I have learned in close to 20 years, it's this. Property Management is a small industry. Everyone knows everyone. If I recall, the TAA is huge and very active; Do they have any resources you can use? What about your ad reps or other vendors? Are any of them willing to offer a recommendation, contact or direction? Does the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas have any opportunities where you can get involved and meet some appropriate people?

Also, out of curiosity? What type of position are you targeting? Are you looking for a Marketing role or similar or are your trying for more of an onsite position? I can see how your credentials would be a little intimidating for an onsite role, but fail to see any issue with fitting into a marketing role.

Thank you very much for your reply. I believe my resume is a very good representation of my skills and style, just unfortunately it doesn't parse well.

Kristi,

Thank you for your reply. I am definitely still looking for something in Corporate, while a small company has given me a wide range of talents, I am afraid networking isn't among them. I definitely wish it was, but I have been an introvert my whole life & while I have a few friends in the apartment industry, I am the quiet analytical type & definitely not one who has the outgoing skills to really "market myself" I suppose.

I appreciate the ideas though, I think I will definitely reach out to AAGD and TAA and see if there are any resources they can provide.

It's definitely been interesting to move away from a company I spent so much time with, it becomes a part of who you are, and you find yourself referring to the company in terms of we, even a year after I left, I still feel pride of ownership.

Brent,

Most people I have interviewed with were concerned about my "team" skills I suppose. I think they found that being a 1 person marketing department, which means I had my hands in everything is not conducive to a team where you are not a party to the machinations of say the website coding.

As for the Resume Parsing, what I don't think a lot of people realize is that if you post to a popular job board, say Indeed or Monster, they are already parsing for you. Also if you choose to host your job on say Taleo (which has by far been the most popular of all that I have seen), the parse is built in to your account, so while a company may not be large enough to be parsing the resume's themselves they are still being parsed.

Perry,

I appreciate your feedback, but I am definitely not trying to emphasize my sales skills. And I agree that working in the apartment industry and the real estate industry are vastly different. What I did however for each company was not.

As I didn't work in management, I rarely if ever dealt with closing, leasing etc. I handled repositioning, so for instance, TheLexDallas.com was a property called Something landing... it had 60% occupancy and zero amenities besides it's proximity to an elementary school. What I handled was renaming it, building the website, building the brand and then marketing that brand to the prospective residents.

At the RE company I did essentially the same thing but rebranding of agents, getting them a website of their own, making sure they understood what their marketing differentiation was and how to capitalize on that. but by no means do I think the industries are similar.

Thank you! That has been a question nagging at me for years. You see, my home state has a law which requires third party property managers to have a real estate broker's license. It has the effect of barring anyone or group who might be competent to do the job, from actually doing the job.

It is just such silliness that may be the root of your troubles as well. While marketing and rebranding are important concepts (look what it did for Mallory batteries) it may not seem appealing to management companies. Perhaps you are stressing your ability to change and improve. You're a mover and a shaker in an industry that (in my experience) does not like to be moved or shaken.