Are You Ready for a New Career in Maintenance in 2024?
In 2022, there were over 1.6 million Maintenance Technicians in America, and the projected growth rate over the coming years is 4%. If you’re looking for a career with great pay and stability, a Lewis Maintenance career may be the way to go.
If you’re new to the world of maintenance, you may be wondering what kind of skills you need to bring to a maintenance career. How do you know if you’re the right fit and how do you continue to grow in your position?
At Lewis Apartment Communities, we pride ourselves on providing all the equipment you need to do your work and creating strong training programs for all of our team members. That includes maintenance and groundskeeping.
Turn Your Handy Skills Into a Career in Maintenance
Lewis helps you turn the skills you have into a new career by enhancing the knowledge you have and helping you learn additional skills. At Lewis, you learn from the very best giving you the ultimate opportunity for future advancement.
Maintenance Technician: The Necessary Skillset
Here are some of the key talents that will help you thrive and advance as a maintenance technician
Drywall Maintenance and Repair
Drywall is by far the most common material used to finish interior walls on all kinds of properties. Proper installation and maintenance of this material call for a professional touch. As a rule, master-level drywalling skill goes hand-in-hand with a drywall contractor’s license. License holders demonstrate their abilities through experience and/or testing. Lead drywallers also require assistance from a reliable team of supporting workers.
Painting
While not as technical as plumbing, electrical, or drywall work, painting is still an indispensable sub-field in property maintenance. Periodically, new coats of paint must be applied to help ensure that properties shine in their best light. The same basic principle applies to touch-up paint jobs. And on a sizable complex or individual building, painting may take place on more or less a daily basis. Painters don’t typically require licensing, but they still must demonstrate their abilities and relevant work history.
Plumbing
Commercial and residential properties need plumbers to maintain a range of systems and devices. That includes everything from pipes, faucets, and toilets to dishwashers, hot water tanks, and garbage disposals. The same systems and devices must also undergo periodic troubleshooting and repair. Certified plumbers go through a rigorous training process designed to provide them with professional-level skills. They may also need to have those skills verified through appropriate testing.
Electrical
Like plumbers, electricians handle diverse tasks while maintaining various parts of a property’s major systems. In addition, they rely on an overlapping set of skills to carry out required troubleshooting and repair procedures. Professional electricians also share something else in common with professional plumbers. Namely, they go through in-depth training and in some cases undergo testing before receiving certification.
Appliance Maintenance
Appliance maintenance is a skill area open to both plumbers and electricians or a maintenance technician of any kind. That’s true because any given appliance may contain plumbing-related components, as well as electrical components. Naturally, the same abilities are often needed to carry out proper repairs. To perform well in a property maintenance context, experience with a variety of appliances can be key.
Customer Service and Time Management
These two non-technical skills are also critical to a successful career in property maintenance. As on-site representatives, maintenance personnel often act as de facto representatives of Lewis. For this reason, they must know how to conduct themselves professionally, even in trying circumstances. And as in any bustling workplace, effective time management is a must. That includes things such as proper scheduling, tracking of required tasks, and an efficient work pace that doesn’t sacrifice quality.
Tips for Succeeding in Your Maintenance Career
Polish Your Communication Skills
Our Leasing Consultants often act as a go-between when it comes to responding to maintenance requests and scheduling appointments. However, it’s not unlikely that you’ll still interact with residents face-to-face when you address their maintenance concerns.
It’s important to remember that even if you work for property management, you are still entering a resident’s private quarters. Showing respect and kindness will go a long way. As the expert, you may encounter situations where you understand the issue in a way that the resident doesn’t. It is helpful to explain to them what the issue is and how you can fix it in layman’s terms. This will put their minds at ease and build a relationship of trust that is invaluable in the real estate industry.
Prioritize Workplace Safety
That being said, your own safety is also important. The last thing anyone wants is for a maintenance worker to become injured or exposed to dangerous substances on the job. Maintenance workers should always make sure that they’re using the proper equipment, taking precautions, and calling in specialists for tasks that are outside of their wheelhouse.
Stay Up to Date on Repair Basics
However, technology is always changing, which means that there’s also room to learn new skills in a maintenance career. If one of the Lewis communities undergoes a major renovation or change, take the time to familiarize yourself with the plumbing, appliances, and safety equipment. That way you’ll know exactly how to handle any appointments that come your way.
Stay Organized
That also means that you will need good time management. In an ideal world, you’ll finish each appointment in time to meet your next one without a hitch. However, there may be times when you’ll need to schedule a follow-up appointment to complete larger tasks.
Organization will also come in handy when you’re dealing with company property and equipment. At times, you may need to take inventory of cleaning and repair supplies and order whatever needs replacing. The more organized you are, the easier it is to perform a quick, smooth inventory.
Finally, you will need to keep records of any repairs or inspections that you’ve completed. This allows the rest of the Lewis team to schedule upcoming inspections and keep track of any recurring issues.
Start Your Lewis Maintenance Career Today
A career in maintenance provides great pay and ample stability. Basic maintenance skills are invaluable to property management teams and Lewis Apartment Communities is here to help you learn and grow in your maintenance career.
We invest in all our team members, providing in-house training, tools, annual bonus potential, salary reviews, and phenomenal benefits. We believe that everyone deserves a chance to follow their dreams, no matter their background or experience level. We also believe that hard work deserves recognition and big rewards.
To get started with us, take a look at our open positions. We’re always creating new opportunities and expanding our team, and we can’t wait for you to join us!
Ready to begin? View the list of maintenance technician opportunities at Lewis here.
David Draper is the Director of Talent Acquisition for the Lewis Group of Companies. David is proud to be a part of a successful, stable, and winning team dedicated to its projects, its people and its community. Follow David on Twitter @LewisRecruits.