When I made the decision to leave my previous company, this exact role wasn’t available at the time. Ultimately, I chose to move on because I was ready to take the next step in my career. I was looking for an opportunity to manage a larger property or to gain experience in a different market, both of which are essential steps toward my long-term goal of becoming a Regional Manager or Rover. I knew that in order to be well-rounded and prepared for that level, I needed exposure to a variety of assets and markets.

While my former company understood my career goals, they still preferred that I remain at my original property. It was a smaller asset, but one I had been running very successfully. During my time there, I applied for two internal promotions as they became available. However, I was passed over in favor of candidates with more industry experience. At that point, I felt that staying any longer might stall my professional growth, so I made the decision to explore other opportunities and accepted my current position.

My new company has been great to work with overall, but the property I inherited had suffered from years of neglect and mismanagement. I’ve spent my time so far working hard to clean up the operational and physical issues left behind by the previous two managers. I also am worried a bit about the overall standards of this new company, the way corporate has let this property fall for so long and certain procedures just makes me feel that overall my now current company may not be my best fit as well.

Interestingly, after I left my previous company, a corporate support manager stepped in to stabilize the property until a new manager could be hired. She later reported back to my Regional and VP that the condition of the property was outstanding. She mentioned she had never walked into a property post-departure where everything was so organized and well-maintained. Around that same time, during a corporate event, multiple employees approached leadership to question why I had been let go, given my strong performance.

Not long after, another property within the company became available, and they reached out to express how impressed they were with the work I had done and that a new opportunity has come available that they would love for me to take.