So I’m six months into my Enterprise Rent-A-Car management training internship, based in sunny Sussex at the Worthing branch. Somewhat staggering to think that this time last year I was among thousands of other students scouring careers fairs for an appropriate organisation to kickstart my career in. I’d been studying at the University of Leeds and the opportunity came up to do a placement year; however I didn’t really have a career path at this stage and didn’t really want to sit simply behind a desk in an office all year. So I looked around, spoke to a lot of companies and did some actual research. Many of the internships offered are specific to one sector of business (HR, Operations, Marketing, etc.) and I didn’t want that. I wanted the tools to be able to run my own business.
I spoke to Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Customer service is at the heart of everything Enterprise does and they reward their staff for being the best at it. In fact one of the best things about Enterprise is that they only promote from within. That means that it is in the company’s best interest to invest in their staff and for those that work hard there is every opportunity to succeed; after all the people at the top all started the same way I have.
One of the best things about my job is that I get to meet new people every day. I’m in charge of my own corporate accounts, meaning I have a sole responsibility for those accounts. Marketing is a big part of my role at Enterprise, consistently representing the brand to a standard above and beyond expectations. It’s no luck that I have ventured out of the office to represent Enterprise at careers fairs in the South East, that’s just the variety of the job.
Outside of work I have managed to just about maintain my student social life. As well as this I have gained a vast new circle of friends from various branches of Enterprise in the UK. Our holiday party in January will definitely be one of the highlights of my year.
Having already passed the first stage of my trainee programme (and received a welcome bonus for doing so) I have began my steps to promotion – not many interns have the opportunity to be promoted with an organization in just 12 months. The year ahead of me therefore is genuinely exciting; every day I am learning new skills and working innovatively and collectively to run a successful business.
My advice to anyone in the first stages of finding a graduate career would be to take the time to do your research, make sure you know what it is you want to achieve from the course and express this when applying. Also when attending careers fairs, make sure you conduct yourself in the appropriate manner – your potential employers will be present and their job is to filter any potential candidates. I know as well as any other student how difficult it is to get up and dressed out of your ‘Onesie’, but you never know who you might meet! Do some preparation, find out what organisations are attending and keep a note when you walk round of whom you speak to- networking that ultimately could be the difference between acing an interview and failing it.
Any further questions, info or advice, tweet me @ERAC_Rebecca