New job opportunity...

[boduke]

Well I was offered a job by a major apartment complex today. To head up the HVAC and maintence department. I was a HVAC Tech for 5 years and a commercial refrigeration tech for about a year now. What do you guys think of this? They offered me some real good money and benefits. Ive worked on Apartment buildings before from my other company, but what do you guys know of actually working for the complex? Anyone have any experiance with this? Shouldnt be a bad gig right?

[isitfixedyet]

Originally posted by boduke
Well I was offered a job by a major apartment complex today. To head up the HVAC and maintence department. I was a HVAC Tech for 5 years and a commercial refrigeration tech for about a year now. What do you guys think of this? They offered me some real good money and benefits. Ive worked on Apartment buildings before from my other company, but what do you guys know of actually working for the complex? Anyone have any experiance with this? Shouldnt be a bad gig right?

thats good, ur moving up into mgmt, in a way, i did it for
one, the guys in the maint crew got rid of the maint mgr, well the last four to five guys got fired and or quit, lol
so i knew something was up!
i found out that, theyd run the company the way they wanted too for awhile, the employees , had their property mgr backing them and them her, they did what ever they wanted whenever they wanted, and only a certain few would actually do the work, and were getting kickbacks, from the vendors!
and using materials, and stealing apt property.
tI started turning things around when they tried to set me up by one of the guys girlfriend in the office with a personal complaint, so they could get rid of me!
my recommendation is dont change nothing a nd do your work and collect a check, they just want to pay less on repairing a ac and heat and ave them available whenever they need them rather than pay high repair costs and have to pay for temporary housing/hotel or motel stay, and other losses, like tenants suing or moving out and or breached contracts!
ive never beena yes man, its either done right or not at all, and i dont think im a blonde , so its about what i have to offer and can do to make things right and better,
not lie , cheat and steal, and be lazy to make a paycheck,,
its not me to be shiftless, and going nowhere knowing im not doing anything or contributing anything positive,
i got to feel like im accomplishing something positive and being productive!
so i just quit and the next guy started jumping up and down and wanted to threaten and fight me, i called the corporate, and explained , what i been seeing,,,,
the property mgr, got me a check and said i treated her real bad, for crying out loud, she couldnt see what the web they weaved
it was like a breath of fresh air leaving there!
I only felt sorry for the guys doing all the work for the rest that were taking the credit and getting paid for doing nothing or only working 2-3 days a week or getting high and drunk all day,,,and hiding,

[Edited by isitfixedyet on 06-27-2006 at 09:57 AM]

[cpl]

It's a good gig. The kind of stuff isitfixed mentioned can happen any place, of course- Sucks to hear it though.
My father does the same job in an apartment building in NYC- The main thing to get used to, according to him, is dealing with the tenants. Some of them can be idiots, others cool as hell- But playing nice with them is definitely part of the job description. Christmas bonus time for my pops is always nice- Of course, his tenants are loaded. It's one of those luxury manhattan buildings a block away from Central Park.
Workwise, nothing new to you- Except maybe the management. That all depends on your crew, and your ability to deal with different personalities.
Congrats on the offer, enjoy it!

[boduke]

Heres what they explained to me. They have a 200 plex, and they want to hire me for the HVAC supervisor, then they have a maintence tech and then a prep/grounds keeper guy. Some dude who does all the other gopher work and what-not, before someone moves in. Boy, I took a look at the plex today, there were about 30 units icing up, kinked suction lines, plugged condensers and I could go on. And the furnaces are all G11 lennoxs from like 1970 or somthing. So it should be interesting.

[Dad]

It's not a job.. it's an adventure

[cpl]

Sounds like you're taking it then?

[isitfixedyet]

i would take it , it sounds like they got a good budget to work with it , and its called either hire a in house hvac
maint guy or pay through the nose contractor.
if they have that many guys its perfect.
i was doing a 655 apt complex or better with a 14 man crew

that would be a good opportunity you have , dont work yourself out of a job though!
teach one of those guys to help do some average simple things that can save you some time and help you from being untimely, especially if they live on property, unless you do, lol
keep a unit on hand or so, and some stock, for common repairs/emegencies.
set urself a up a pm schedule and , get it too be a routine rather than putting out fires all day!
and running out of time and ragged!

good luck and have fun and congrats!

[boduke]

Well I have to decide by next week if I want the apt gig or not. I got another call today, from a refrigeration company in Austin, Tx, them telling me they wanted me to move down and work for them. (They do commerical refrigeration, restraunts) I live in Omaha, Nebraska, but I know Austin very well. (I spent some good time down Austin back in the day, so I know it well) So Im kind of torn. I love Austin a lot, but the move its self, would be the only thing preventing me. So its a hard decision right now. hmmm. Anyone live in Austin looking for a roomate? hahaha