Tapping Talent Hiring Military Career Changers

By Julie Blaikie, Equity Residential |

2 minute read

As the thriving residential property management (RPM) industry continues to grow, it can be challenging to find job candidates with the skills and experience needed for a successful RPM career.

At Equity Residential, we’ve found a solution: Recruiting members of the military community and people who are looking to switch careers from the retail, hospitality and restaurant industries.

As Equity Residential’s Director of Organization and Talent Development, I’ve seen through firsthand experience that our company has a strong commitment to diversity in our workforce. That’s why we value bringing talented team members from various backgrounds into our organization.

These candidates are well-suited for our industry. They have skill sets and experiences that translate directly into everything we do.

Career changers. Candidates from the retail, hospitality and restaurant workforce have experience working well with people and finding solutions to meet their customers’ needs. They’re efficient task managers and know how to work in a fast-paced environment.

Military. Our nations’ service members, veterans and military spouses are known for their work ethic, teamwork, and drive to succeed—all invaluable attributes for working in our industry. Also, many service members and veterans have technical or management training that transitions well into RPM career paths.

Why is it important to consider these candidates? They’re flocking to RPMcareers.org, the NAA Education Institute’s website designed to bring talent to our industry.

Through digital advertisements and the new RPM Careers Facebook page, the RPM Careers campaign is driving thousands of these candidates to RPMcareers.org every month to learn more about our industry, connect with RPM professionals and find new career paths. We hope employers seek to build teams with these effective employees.