maintenance technician

community assistant

porter

general manager

leasing manager

American Campus Communities

The only reason I stayed at this job for almost two years is because of the high pay ($12/hr), the housing discount (25%), and my coworkers. ACC expects a level of work that is impossible to deliver while only working part-time, and management knows this to be true.

ACC hires many of the college students that live in its buildings to work as part-time community assistants. The high employee turnover rate and lack of training for new employees makes it very difficult for a customer to get a constistant answer on any of the very complex leasing policies that the buildling operates under. 

The company cannot expect a person who isn't properly trained and only works 18 hours a week to correctly answer every single question that a potential resident has. 

A community assistant is responsible for explaining the 17-page long lease to the new resident and forgetting to explain one thing can cause a misunderstanding where a person is locked into a $10k+ year-long lease that they do not want or cannot live in. 

The process for leaving your lease for a paid internship (common at our local university) is very complex and constantly changing. This is a huge source of contention with the residents because about a third of them will attempt to take advantage of this clause and about half of those people will be unable to use it due to a miscommunication or misunderstanding along the way.

It would be much more valuable to the company if they hired three or four full-time people for the role, rather than ten or twelve part-time college students. Having people who are in the office all day would mean that a person can follow up on an issue and make sure it gets done. There is currently no tracking system for issues like this, except to forward the email to your manager and hope they see it and respond to it before your shift is over. The collective memory of community assistants is worse than a goldfish's because shifts average only about four hours. 

The community assistants are on the front-lines when it comes to customer service, so all the frustration and anger that residents and their parents feel due to the many inevitable mistakes that are made is directed toward us. Even after working in the office for almost two years, there would be a change in policy or an entirely new policy announced at the staff meetings at least once a month and every week during some periods of the year.

If you want to be a manager at this company, this is a good place for you! People get promoted very quickly here. After I'd been there for just six months there wasn't a single manager that was in the same role as when I'd started. Many managers were made into general managers with less than a year's experience in their former role. All four of my CA coworkers who wanted a full-time job with the company after graduation got that job. However, most of my coworkers did not want to continue with the company due to the frustration we felt with being unprepared. Every leasing year the majority of management is new to their role, so the experience needed to coordinate all the technical challenges like move-in, leasing caps, staff, and university partnerships is not there.

Because most of my managers were straight out of college we had a fun working environment (as long as there were no residents around). Even during the two 80 hour work-weeks that everyone has to help with before new student move-in the people (but mostly the OT) made it worth it.

Overall: your mileage may vary, but expect to be be confronted by angry residents and their parents. The Philadelphia market is a very tough one to keep up with due to the unconventional and ever-changing agreements with the UC universities. The pay will make it worth it as long as you don't hate your coworkers and can somehow make yourself very busy in the back office (away from residents) for most of your shift.

The biggest factor for how working for ACC (as a student) will be? The property you work at.

This determines your coworkers (fellow students), management, and how much work you will get. I was a part of a great student team thankfully with coworkers were overall friendly and easy to get along with. However, our management was mediocre in my opinion. We had a one good staff member on site but the rest were meh. I personally didn't have any gripes with them but I know a lot of coworkers did. I didn't really feel very appreciated but it's a job so it is what it is. 

As far as responsibilities go, at times the job is very relaxed and other times, it's a lot more than I signed up for (especially for minimum wage). There are things I enjoyed in work and things that I didn't expect that were annoying have to deal with (eg. Having a quota of days in the school year you had to be on call. We had to be within 30 minutes of the property at all times throughout the night and you could get a call at any time to deal anything from noise complaints, small repairs, and property emergencies). The size of our property was pretty large with around 1500 students on site. So even though our student team was large, we each had to pull a lot of weight just because of the number of people who needed help on a daily basis.

Lastly, at times, it feels you have very little authority to help/serve residents the way you would probably want to. Whether that's due to company policies limiting you, lack of staff on site to repair/handle issues, or dealing with planning property wide events in a 50-75 dollar budget I felt as though I lacked the influence to do my job better. This in turn makes customer service hard since you won't be able to always help a resident to way you want to and therefore they (or worse still, their parents) might get mad at you. For me, this issue wasn't too bad but still worth mentioning

But, even with all the bad things, I can't complain too much because the reduced rent, free parking, and guaranteed housing were all huge benefits for my life during university. And I can confidently say that, as long as you are wise with boundaries, and set realistic goals for work for yourself, the job is very doable while attending university (I was in STEM too). The student team on my property was awesome to work with too but obviously that varies a lot. So don't come into the job thinking it's going to be luxurious, trust me it's not. But if you can really make use of the benefits ACC has to offer and you can work customer service well, it's definitely not the worse college job you could have.

Never have I had a more horrible experience with an employer.

The property has had 6 managers in 6 years.

I worked for the property and was promised many things - flexible work schedule, constant communication of job requirements during training, etc.

Instead, I received an incredibly vindictive, awful work environment in which job duties and requirements were taken away from me, then not being done, which resulted in my parting ways with them. Nothing I had to say in my own defense was taken in to account. The flexible schedule, despite working 40+ hours a week, was never delivered on.

I was never properly trained and efforts to gain the proper training were blocked by my manager at the time (who has since been fired), resulting in corporate coming to take over, resulting in me losing my job.

I was praised days before losing my job at how hard-working and responsible I was, only to be taken in to the office the very next day to be let go. This was after SEVERAL conversations over the week confirming how positive my efforts to improve the property were, how great my attitude I was, and how dedicated I was to the property.

During my tenure there, I was never allowed to perform half of my job duties, and regardless of who I turned to in corporate, I was directed back to my manager, who would ignore it and/or write me up for, "going above her head," despite attempting to solve the problem at the property level.

The maintenance staff and community assistants were the only enjoyable people to work with - any management was very two-faced and dishonest, from the property level on up.

They preach about team-building, working close like family and really training you on your job. I experienced none of these things.

Everyone once in a while you'd get free lunches, which was nice. The CEO seems like an alright guy.

Do not work here. Their competitors have better compensation.

I have worked here since late August/early September and am not coming back next year. After these next 4 weeks are up I'm moving on. I've enjoyed it sometimes, because it is good basic clerical work experience, but there are definitely downsides:
-Poor pay
-Micromanaging, insincere bosses who play favorites with employees (at least in my case)

In my case, both the regional manager and assistant regional manager, my bosses, were micro mangers and concerned themselves with every little thing I was supposedly doing wrong - not smiling enough, not having a good enough attitude, etc. They never complimented the work I did and only served to hawk over me and hound me whenever something went wrong. Furthermore, they blamed us CAs for the apartment complex not leasing as fast as they would have liked. They also played favorites - it was VERY clear a few weeks in that my bosses disliked me, and there was very little I could do about it.

When my boss was gone on maternity leave for two months, and an interim general manager was brought in from another property, I found I enjoyed this job much, much more: things were more relaxed, there wasn't needless anxiety around the office, and I actually was motivated to work for him. Unfortunately since my boss came back from maternity leave it's only gotten worse. Some CAs in my office are aware of my boss' problems, but we're never going to say anything because she never believes she is wrong. My assistant boss (the assistant general manager) is, quite frankly, not very intelligent and yet criticizes me for things like not organizing the desk drawers properly in an attempt to assert her authority.

My bosses were all about arbitrary control, and my main boss arguably even developed a cult of personality that the female CAs bought into, leaving me isolated and disliked in the office. My boss made this a very dysfunctional work environment at times, and I am glad to say I will not be going back next year. Good riddance.

This company demands a lot from their employees, to the point to where you will no longer have a social life. You're guaranteed to work far beyond your designated hours (literally 5-6 hours over regularly). 

July-September are the worst months of the year. That's when their Turnover (old students moving out, new students moving in) happens.They have you work everyday, averaging about 12 hours a day, with no days off. It's probably the most stressful event you'll endure in your life. I think I almost quit about 4 or 5 times during the whole thing.

The compensation isn't nearly what you should be earning for the workload that is passed on to you. If you decide you'd like to work for this company, expect to be doing at least the workload of 2-3 people all the time.

As a bookkeeper, the worst thing to deal with were guarantors, which were basically the residents parents. The bookkeeper is somewhat the buffer/collector. You collect money and when the guarantors are ready to go off on you, you just sit there and take it. You call and harass people for money, plus some data entry. Being anything higher than a community assistant places you in a constant negative environment. You'll face constant verbal abuse from both residents and guarantors. You're constantly pressured to get their overall delinquency down, with no appreciation for what you've accomplished.

It's also very hard to advance, as there's somewhat of an "in crowd" and you have to be a part to have a chance of growth in the company. There's also a high turnover rate.Personally, I could understand why. After I get some years and experience under my belt, I will probably never work in student housing again.

Personally, I worked with a team of outstanding people and this job will definitely forge anyone in the fire with almost every position they have, but all in all, there are definitely other places that you can earn the same compensation for less demanding work.

While working for ACC I had a very enjoyable time.

A typical workday included social media marketing for the property as well as daily routine tasks such as following up with leasing prospects, setting appointments for property tours, providing property tours for students and parents as well as cater to and accommodate current residents. 

I learned how to professionally address stressful situations.
I learned how to be adaptable and dynamic within he workplace
I learned how to coordinate event planning and execution within a team environment
I learned how to time manage within a busy, fast paced work environment
I learned how to become a team leader as well as a team member.
I learned how to socially adjust and adapt to consumers wants and needs.
I also learned how to provide tours through a professional manner as well as publicly speak and guide prospects.


My co-workers were exceptional teammates who taught me how to be a leader and take initiative as well as how to be a good listener and work along side others and to be open to new ideas.

There were many enjoyable parts of the job that included being able to walk to work (on-site). 
Another enjoyable aspect was rental compensation as well as the ability to learn something new everyday and have a diverse work environment that allowed high levels of social networking and mobility.


Being both a Community Assistant and Senior Community Assistant at Aggie Station Apartments provided me ample opportunities to develop sales skills, improve memorization and communication skills, and learn workplace skills that will carry on in every job hereafter. During a typical day I will answer phones, give tours in person and over the phone, follow up with previous tours, plan and execute Res-life events, process leases, provide customer service support, meet with management to establish goals and timelines, and interact with residents. Management is young and exciting, helpful, attentive, and eager to teach. Co-workers are nearly all fellow college students and all live on property as well, creating a nice microcosm of support and friendship outside the office as well as within it. The hardest part of the job can be handling customer service issues with unhappy people, as well as working more hours than scheduled, including weekly on-calls that require 24 accountability to provide support for after-hours issues. The most enjoyable part is working with happy people, interacting and remembering residents, and providing a quality housing product for students that, through personal experience, has provided me with a wonderful, academically stimulating place to live for the majority of my undergraduate years.

American Campus Communities is the nation's largest developer, owner and manager of high-quality student housing communities. We led the industry to a new plateau in 2004 when we became the first publicly traded student housing REIT (NYSE: ACC). Since 1996, we've developed more than $4.2 billion in properties for our own account and our university clients, and we have acquired in excess of $4.6 billion in student housing assets. Also, we've become a national leader in third-party development and management of on-campus student housing, having been awarded the development of more than 70 on-campus projects (in addition to our 23 projects developed off campus). Our commitment to our college and university partners is evidenced in our strong ongoing relationships. More than half of our on-campus developed communities (39 of 70) came from additional projects awarded to us after we had successfully completed a previous community.

A deep-rooted understanding of the industry drives the American Campus team. Sixteen members of our senior corporate staff began their careers as resident assistants while attending college. Throughout their collective careers, our senior staff has been involved in the development, acquisition or management of more than 350 student housing properties consisting of more than 222,000 beds. This unparalleled experience guides how we analyze student markets, underwrite acquisitions, design and construct our developments, and how we market, lease and operate our communities.

As my first job, I was a Community Assistant in university. I thought it was the best way for me to learn multiple skills and train my work ethic.

We had multiple teams led by students who worked there for 1-2+ years. The teams became a small family who would study together, eat together, and work together. The sense of belonging was definitely there. Whenever I learned something new, I had the support of our team "leader" which made training less intimidating. 

Work was time-consuming at times, especially during on-call shifts. Whenever emergencies happened on-call, I would be sleep-deprived and struggled with my studies. But these moments only happened a few times. Working the front desk was relatively easy. There were busy days that kept you on your feet, and slow days where you can study and do homework. I feel like the work/life/school balance was manageable because you can squeeze in some study time while working.

I gained a lot of experience in clerical work, event coordination, budgeting, customer service and logistics. They give you different tasks every month, so the work is never boring.

Overall, I believe this is the BEST job on campus because it pays well (in other ways). I was paid minimum wage, but we received discounted rent to live on the premises. My pay covered ALL my rent, plus a little extra for food. I essentially lived in on-campus housing for free. 

Great benefits.. Very relaxed.. Work was fun when there were 2 techs and a porter... Porter quit and tech was fired on some hearsay.. Tech said he tried to explain the issue with the new gm and was told "i heard you were a liar so i don't believe you"..  When covid first started we were told to not enter the rooms unless there was a serious situation fire/flood etc.. Then we were told to get back to regular scheduled program.. People would report that they had covid.. Never brought anything from a doctor saying that they were clear of the covid.. Only maintenance went into the apts no one from the office.. The new gm plays favorites.. If your not at his feet graveling at he doesn't like you.. Very passive/aggresive.. Worked at that apt for 2 years was told i was gonna get training..Worked hard by myself doing work orders and make readies never once complained..  Had training to a point but for the most part i would google and youtube what i needed..Felt good working and doing work orders for people just the fact of knowing my work was helping the people others.. They have a "turn" August to where everyone works for about a week 12-14 hours a day getting apts ready for when new students are moving in for the fall semester.. Pretty cool considering the OT.. As long as you are willing to learn def the place you need to be hvac/epa etc..

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Maintenance technician 5 salaries reported	$25.00 per hour
Community assistant 3 salaries reported	$9.67 per hour
Porter 1 salary reported	$17.00 per hour
General manager 6 salaries reported	$70,000 per year
Leasing manager 4 salaries reported	$44,000 per year

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