Pros
Lyon Apartments is a great place to start a career in property management. They have a very thorough training program that will teach you the ends and outs of leasing, renewals, customer relations, etc. For just about every aspect of property management from Senior Management to Sales, they have a training program, both live and online. Everything you do performance wise is tracked and calculated and can be used to help with feedback during progress reports. Micromanaging is big here, and be ready to be secret shopped on the phone and in person to ensure you are emplementing the closing techniques you learned in training. Senior level management has an open door, and the VP is very visible and personable. They hold annual rec meetings to recognize publicly good work. You can walk away from the meetings with pride, a plaque, and extra money in your pocket.
Cons
Can be political. Alot of times, promotions can be given on a "friendly" basis- meaning if you're really cool with a property manager, your guranteed a promotion from the door, although they will still interview others to be fair. PAPER-PUSHERS! This company wastes TONS of paper. Paper that can be recycled never is, and lease and report paperwork is always like a book. Everything is typed up and put in a file, which is good for paper-trailing, but most of the forms that residents have to fill out are never looked at again once they're signed on move in. Hard to balance work and life here. Alot of time you have to bargain for a weekend off, and even then you may not get it. Also, most of the properties in Atlanta are older, and this comes with problems from residents. Be prepared with thick skin, as residents will not expect some of the maintenance issues that come with older properties, ie leaks and HVAC issues. The company holds tight purse strings and will often skimp on supplies for repairs. Summers and winters when the HVAC systems go will yield high work orders. The maintenance staff will be overwhelmed and it'll be a nightmare.