Pros
I know changing companies can be terrifying (I sure was scared!), which is why you’re doing your research. I hope sharing my experience provides you—the assumed job searcher—a clearer picture of a typical experience and some reassurance. If I could sum things up briefly: imagine you are working on a team project. Often, you are the person who steps up, you get frustrated when other people freeload on the team, and you end up doing most of the work yourself. Sound familiar? Welcome to The Connor Group—a place where the entire team is composed of people who work as hard, or harder, than you do.
Any culture (AKA “how we do things around here”) worth having is worth investing in, talking about, sharing, and perfecting…that’s what makes work special. I’d much rather be involved in an organization that truly cares about cultivating a culture: shared norms and experiences (i.e. bi-annual awards ceremonies), icons (i.e. the famous planners and pencils), etc. than one that does not. Our “culture” sets house rules: You sent an email? Great—you WILL get a response in a timely manner. You have an idea? Speak up confidently—we want to hear what you have to say! It isn’t scary, you aren’t going to sign your life away, you don’t need to be paranoid about getting fired any day…I promise. :)
Here’s the reality: Leasing is hard (everywhere)… sales is hard (everywhere)… handling hundreds of dynamic residents and their expectations with luxury apartments is hard. If you work in any customer-facing role, you know this.
In the past five years, I have had a tremendous amount of leadership development. This has been through mountains of feedback with clear objectives to improve my leadership presence, developing my management style, perfecting my delivery and cadence (an endless endeavor), etc., book and podcast recommendations, hands-on training… The list is truly endless. I am a sincerely better employee, better manager, and better person than I was before. I am fully confident I am a stronger communicator in my relationships, a better advocate for myself and others, and I hold myself accountable to my commitments because this company has helped teach me to do so. I will forever be grateful.
No one at The Connor Group will tell you that we are a perfect organization or ever have been. Simply put—I promise you; I love my job here. I have never been taught or asked to do a single unethical thing—ever ever ever. We literally do monthly audits to ensure this doesn’t happen. I am just a normal person who happens to hold themselves to a high standard and has a strong work ethic. If I can have a successful career here, you can too.
Cons
I truly love my career here. Are there hard days- yes. The good times outweigh them by a long shot. You will need a high stamina and tolerance level to push through the bad days. Senior leadership cannot change this as this is the nature of sales and luxury apartments. All jobs have seasons of frustration- I promise they will eventually pass.
