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Pinnacle leverages NAAEI’s Apartment Careers Month to hold 15 job fairs in key hiring markets.

BY MARK EVANS

A‘Fair’ Way toFind Employees

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Asimple newspaper ad started it all. Michelle Betchnerhad just finished high school in Illinois and waslooking for a job. Like many others before her, shehad come across an ad for a leasing consultant at a

nearby apartment community and decided to apply. She wasoffered the job. Twenty-seven years later, she is still working inthe industry. In fact, as Vice President of Performance at the Pinnacle Family of Companies, Betchner is now helping othersfind their own careers in the multifamily housing industry.

In an effort led by Betchner and Pinnacle Chief Administra-tive Officer Ed Wolff, Pinnacle celebrated February’s ApartmentCareers Month with 15 job fairs in cities around the nation onFeb. 21. It was a first for the property management company,which employs more than 4,000 people in 250 cities. The com-pany had been active in educating others about apartmentindustry career opportunities but never before had it taken on arecruitment effort of this magnitude.

Wolff and Betchner came up with the idea after attendingNAA’s annual Assembly of Delegates in November. They knewthey wanted to participate in Apartment Careers Month on anational level and formed a company task force to brainstormideas, eventually identifying 10 markets in which to hold careerfairs. The goal was not only to fill Pinnacle job openings but alsoto raise the profile of the industry and the types of careers it offers.

“It’s all about creating visibility and awareness about apart-ment industry career opportunities,” Wolff says. “These effortsare going to gain traction as we continue to create this momen-tum and build buzz around apartment industry careers.”

Each job-fair site saw 20 to 40 people show up to apply foropenings, to talk with Pinnacle staff and to learn more aboutindustry career opportunities. In Orlando, Fla., Pinnacle part-nered with CareerBuilder.com and other companies for a day-long event that attracted more than 1,000 job seekers. Eventhough this was the first year of Pinnacle’s job fair, Wolff says

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he was impressed by the turnout and bythe response among Pinnacle’s own staff.As a result of the career fairs, Pinnaclehired a compliance specialist in its corpo-rate office in Dallas and an assistantmanager at its Waterford Court Apart-ments community, which hosted one ofthe career fairs.

Wolff also says participating in the jobfairs and talking to others about thecompany gave employees a tremendoussense of pride in their work and in thecompany. It gave them a chance to sharewith others what they most enjoy abouttheir jobs in the industry, as well as offertheir own tips for how to succeed in multifamily housing.

“Many people don’t realize the careeropportunities available at their localapartment community,” says MaureenLambe, CAE, Executive Vice President forNAA’s Education Institute (NAAEI).“From a maintenance technician posi-tion at a market-rate community with300 apartment homes to a communitymanager at a military base, providinghousing for military families, multifami-ly housing offers something for everyone.We are excited about the commitmentcompanies such as Pinnacle are makingto encourage others to pursue careers inour industry.”

Full of SurprisesPinnacle’s Apartment Careers Month

job fairs are just the latest way in which

the company is helping promote theindustry to job seekers. It also holdsannual mixers with students at the Uni-versity of North Texas (UNT) and sup-ports university programs in residentialproperty management.

Wolff serves on the Associate Board forthe Cox School of Business at SouthernMethodist University in Texas, as well asNAAEI’s board. Betchner also is activewith NAAEI, and she and Wolff frequent-ly deliver presentations and training topeople working in the industry orexploring careers in multifamily hous-ing.

Betchner says people are surprised at

the many opportunities available in mul-tifamily housing. She hires employeesfrom other industries and with skills peo-ple don’t normally associate with theapartment industry. Leasing consultants,maintenance staff and property managerswill always be needed, she says, but theindustry also needs people with back-grounds in areas such as marketing,finance, communications and webdesign. For example, one of her market-ing specialists came from the airlineindustry, and her Internet specialist is arecent college graduate who had neverconsidered a career in multifamily hous-ing.

“A lot of what we do can be transferredfrom other skill sets,” she says. “Whileour business isn’t rocket science, it doestake that special person who likes multi-tasking and high-level challenges. Oncewe get people in here, they’re pretty muchhooked because there is nothing like ourindustry.”

In addition to the ability to multi-task,Betchner says apartment industry hiringmanagers prize qualities such as strongcustomer service skills, the ability toproblem-solve and a passion for the job.They need those skills to be able to han-dle whatever walks in the door. Oneminute they may show a unit to prospec-tive residents and the next they may berequired to trouble-shoot a maintenanceissue or process rent payments.

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Tricia Clementi (left), Business Manager, Brentdale, and Angie Kaufman, Business Managerat Bristol Oaks speak with a potential candidate during a career fair in February.

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“It’s a career that is extremely reward-ing because you are helping people inone of the most intimate ways possible,and that’s by providing them with housing and shelter over their heads,”Betchner says.

More Than 100 OpeningsPatrick Fulcher, PHR, Pinnacle

Human Resources Business Partner–East, says the process of recruiting appli-cants can be difficult, even with theeconomy improving. At any one time,the company will have 100 to 120 openpositions. It typically sees its highestturnover rates in the maintenance tech-nician, leasing consultant and propertymanager roles.

“You would think that with the highlevel of unemployment, there would be asurplus of qualified candidates outthere,” he says. “That’s not the case atall. Most well-qualified candidates arenot currently looking for a new opportu-nity. They are staying put where they arewhile the economy continues toimprove.”

This is forcing hiring managers tolook to their local apartment associa-tions, social media and other networksto generate qualified job leads. Most job-board postings simply result in anincreased volume of unqualifiedrésumés, Fulcher says. He recommendsthat people interested in property man-agement jobs connect with someone

already in the industry and be able todemonstrate skills that are transferrableto the property management industry.Those skills can come from a variety ofbackgrounds.

For example, he says, the companyrecently hired a candidate who hadworked as a costumed character at anOrlando theme park. The applicant was agood fit for a job as leasing consultantbecause the person had been trained tocreate “magical experiences” for themepark guests.

“Prospects lease apartments from peo-ple they like,” Fulcher says. “This associ-ate utilized their previous theme-parkexperience to create an environmentwhere prospects felt welcome from the

“While our business isn’t rocket science, it does take that special person who likes multi-tasking andhigh-level challenges. Once we get people in here,they’re pretty much hooked because there is nothinglike our industry.”

–Michelle BetchnerVice President of

PerformancePinnacle

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minute they walked into the leasingoffice.”

While some people join the industryafter careers in other fields, others take ajob in multifamily housing as soon asthey finish school. Pinnacle maintainsclose ties with local universities and col-leges and recently started an internshipprogram to help create a pipeline of newtalent.

Kathy Vardell, Pinnacle’s Regional VicePresident for North Texas and the GulfCoast, joined the multifamily housing

industry after a career in commercialproperty management. She works closelywith students in Pinnacle’s new intern-ship program, which is designed to serveas a path to a full-time position. She saysthat students often ask her about her joband how to move up in the industry. Sheadvises them to start as a leasing consul-tant and learn the business from the bot-tom up.

“You make your own career,” she says.“I have seen that in this industry muchmore so than in many others. Our indus-

try is a great one for people to start in.”

Out of the ShadowsJob shadow opportunities and intern-

ships are good ways for students to learnabout the industry and see where theirown skills and interests might best fit. AtPinnacle, interns rotate through differentdepartments to expose them to all aspectsof the business. They also spend timeonsite at one of the company’s communi-ties and are encouraged to take some ofPinnacle’s own online training courses.The company has its own learning man-agement system, as well as trainers whohave completed NAAEI’s AdvancedInstructor Training program. Employeesare encouraged to obtain professionaldesignations, such as NAAEI’s CertifiedApartment Maintenance Technician(CAMT), Certified Apartment Manager(CAM) or National Apartment LeasingProfessional (NALP).

Lambe says knowledge gained fromthis focused education can prove invalu-able to people who are carving a careerin the industry because few people planfor a profession in multifamily housing.Most fall into one by responding to anadvertisement, hearing about an open-ing from a friend or taking a part-timejob at an apartment community whilestill in school. Once they land that firstindustry job, she says, they often staybecause of the career portability, the newchallenges that every day brings and thepeople.

Wolff and Betchner agree that raisingawareness about the industry and its jobopportunities is key. Betchner says shewould like the company to conductcareer fairs twice a year and to rotatethem to different markets based on hir-ing needs.

“You can have a lifelong career withPinnacle or in the (multifamily housing)industry and grow,” she says. “I’m agreat example. I started as a leasing con-sultant. Fast forward 27 years, and I’mrunning a department of very talentedpeople.”

Mark Evans is a staff writer for publicrelations firm Catalyst, based in Austin,Texas.

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