Meet Our College Associate: Ian Gibbs

We’re continuing our interview series with our College Associates and today’s interview is with Ian Gibbs who has joined us for a 2nd year in the Leasing Department.

Question #1: What motivated you to pursue an internship at S.C. Swiderski?

When I was made aware of a possible internship with S.C. Swiderski, I had been working as an IT Youth Apprentice at my high school. As I was getting ready to graduate from the program I knew that field was not the right fit for me. I was most motivated by the opportunity to gain experience in customer service and learn the ins and outs of property management.

Question #2: What was your favorite thing about your experience?

I’ve enjoyed my experience so much it is pretty difficult to select just one favorite thing. One thing about my experience was giving showings and interacting with current and prospective tenants. As an extrovert, meeting and talking with new people is something I really enjoy doing. The other favorite thing is the relationships I’ve made. Going way back to spending last summer in Wisconsin Rapids getting to know Sandra and a lot of other area site managers, or working part time with all the great people in the main office during the school year, to this summer working with Pat at Urban West.  

Question #3: What is your dream job?

My dream job would have to be the pilot of a private plane for a company involved in international business because I want to travel all over the world and air travel is always something that has been really interesting to me.

Question #4: What are your plans over the next year?

This fall I will be going back for my second year at UWSP at Wausau, playing basketball on the team there, and continuing to work at SCS part time. After that I will most likely be transferring to UW Madison to finish out college in pursuit of a business degree.

Thanks Ian for all your hard work this Summer – good luck!

S.C. Swiderski Attends the National Apartment Association Conference

S.C. Swiderski was proud to have three of its leaders attend the National Apartment Association conference in Denver, Colorado from June 26- 28. Nathanael Popp, Kari Kussow and Jacqui Miller participated in the conference that covered all things rental housing related.

The National Apartment Association is a non-profit trade association of apartment communities, owners and suppliers. The three day conference was attended by over 10,000 industry professionals and included general sessions, breakout sessions, national championship of Maintenance Mania and an exposition with over 550 suppliers.

“I love being able to bring the most current information in the industry back to the company. As we plan our new developments, we are aware of the trends in materials, amenities and services on a national level,” said Jacqui Miller, business development manager.

Leasing Manager, Kari Kussow, added, “What we learned will benefit our teams and tenants. We will use the information to improve our processes and services.”

The three managers were able to take a variety of classes covering operations, technology, marketing, and team development. “I am impressed with the advances in technology that I saw at the Expo. The industry is advancing to create efficiencies in development, marketing and service to our tenants,” explained Nathanael Popp, operations manager.

S.C. Swiderski is committed to investing in the training and development of its staff. Conventions like the NAA Apartmentalize Conference provide an opportunity for the company to receive a great deal of content presented by leaders in the apartment industry. The managers will roll out initiatives and training based on what they learned to the company and their teams.

Meet Our College Associate: Niharika Talwar

As we mentioned in our Introduction post about this year’s six College Associates, we’re looking forward to getting to know them a bit better with the following questions! First up, Niharika!

Niharika is in her senior year at UW-Madison and is majoring in Computer Science, Economics and Real Estate. This is her first year at S.C. Swiderski and she is in the Real Estate & Development Department.

Question #1: What motivated you to pursue an internship at S.C. Swiderski?

Niharika: When I came here for an interview with Jacqui, I was very happy to be in an atmosphere where each employee was rooting for the other, people were respectful, curious and friendly and everyone that I spoke with was a master in what they were doing for the company. The interview went well but when I left Mosinee, I felt emotionally attached to the people at S.C. Swiderski and if given a chance, I wanted to be in the same atmosphere and learn from the best people in the industry. The most attractive aspect was that I was allowed to customize the internship so I can work on projects in the predevelopment, construction, leasing and maintenance departments and get a holistic real life experience of working at a Real Estate firm.

Question #2: What do you hope to gain from this experience?

Niharika: I hope to get an in depth exposure and experience in predevelopment and construction as those two are my favorites and I want to get a feel of real world numbers, for example, I want to be able to understand if a cap rate is high/low in a particular situation and to use it to determine if it is a good deal.  I also want to be able to take part in discussions with educated and well-informed people in the field of real estate, give intelligent inputs and shock people!! Haha!

Question #3: What is your dream job?

Niharika: My ideal job right after graduation should include land acquisitions and development work. I want to make the most iconic buildings. My dream job will be being the CEO of my own development company and working for myself.

Question #4: What are your plans after graduating UW-Madison?

Niharika:  I am applying for full time positions. So after I graduate I want to start working in development right away. I am also working to start my own cosmetic brand, which God willingly will launch in December, which is when I graduate.

Question #5: What are three things people might be surprised to know about you?

Niharika:

1.) I came in the top 1% of India in my senior year high school exams, which are made and corrected by the Indian Central Government.

2.) I love to cook.

3.) I studied a semester at Stanford University.