Pros
I like the people. Hours are reasonable.
Cons
I would like my job except that horrible computer systems make it impossible to do it. I have worked for several other companies small and large and American Tower by far has the worst IT systems I have ever seen. We have dozens of different systems and almost none of them talk to each other, and you typically don't have access to all of the systems that you need. As a result, you spend a good amount of time each day emailing multiple different departments to get the information you need, and then they have to take the time of out of their workday to read information to you that's in a different system. New hires get a glazed-over look on their first day when they learn that their job will require them to learn 8 different systems, and that's not counting getting the correct access to them. Lease administration software is from the dark ages (that also includes the Excel spreadsheets that are still used). It shocks my senses to think how big we are as a real estate company and we are using software that I think I used back when I got my first Apple II computer. Have someone walk into the closest 5 office buildings from corporate headquarters and ask the property managers which lease administration software they use. I'm sure none of them use what we have. As for project management software, some departments use Footprints, which is really a "help desk" tool to help technicians diagnose problems like not having internet access. If you go to the Footprints website, it actually says this. Footprints is not meant for project management. I did a double-take when I learned about that, especially considering how many great project management tools there are out there. Using Footprints for project management is like a right-handed person cutting her lawn with dull lefty scissors. Those are just two examples of our systems. Not only are the IT tools horrible, but there is absolutely no data integrity at the company. You are told on your first day "don't trust that any information or document is correct," Huh? You don't have people to routinely audit your data to make sure it is correct? You just leave incorrect data in the system so that the next person who looks at it will be tripped up by the same mistake? The scary thing is that many long-term employees (management and otherwise) have become so used to the dysfunction that they don't even see it any more. Their typical response is "well, it used to be worse before." That's like saying, "Well, yes I drive a 1977 Ford Pinto with an exploding gas tank, but it's a heck of a lot nicer than my 1973 Ford Pinto with an exploding gas tank AND a rusty fender. At least this one doesn't have any rust." Don't bother asking to get these systems fixed. When you do push to get something fixed, the usual response is that IT is so busy that it will take years to fix, it will cost too much money, etc. You would think that we would have top-notch systems considering that our building is bursting at the seams with IT people. At this rate, I think in 2 years we will have more IT people in the building than actual tower people. It puzzles me why a real estate company employs more IT people than Microsoft, and why we don't just "simplify" everything by outsourcing tasks that we are clearly not very good at. I really could go on forever, but the short of the long is that if you are used to a well-oiled machine when it comes to IT, American Tower may not be the place for you. You will be spending a good portion of your day dealing with these problems instead of focusing on your actual job.