This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I thoroughly enjoyed my time as an Intern at enterprise rent a car. I have learnt a lot about the day-to-day running of a business and given me some great real world experience. All the employees were very friendly and helpful. The only thing I did not enjoy was the lack of work-life balance working at the airport, working 10 hours day and being open 7 days a week.
I felt valued by my employees most of the time during the internship. However, I started to occur quite frequently that I was placed in the terminal and rarely in the car park. I spoke to the manager about this and eventually the problem was sorted and all members of the team took it in turns to be in the terminal.
I was given a lot of support during my time at enterprise. This started with a two day induction at head office with other new starters. This provided a good insight into the company before I started in the branch and gave me a chance to voice any concerns or questions that I had. When I started in the branch, everyone was extremely helpful and no question was a silly question. I felt comfortable to ask anyone for help.
As I was at the airport branch, I was extremely busy on a daily basis. There was rarely a quiet day. This was good as it was never boring, however mean't that the 10 hour shifts were quite tiring. If we did not have many customers, there were many other jobs to be done e.g. admin work, call backs, insurance deals.
I was given lots of responsibility during my placement once I felt confident. For example, I worked on the desk in the terminal on my own and handled all incoming calls, queries, and writing up contracts.
As part of my degree at university is business management, this placement has allowed me to see theory in practice. I will also be able to use Enterprise as inspiration for any future business essays I will need to do. Before this role, a little experience in a sales environment therefore I am now able to say that I have developed my selling skills, and can employ certain techniques in order to secure a sale for example fact finding. Additionally, this placement has allowed me to improve my customer service skills, as Enterprise's main goal is to ensure that each and every customer is completely satisfied. It has also improved my problem solving skills and confidence when approaching difficult situations , which will help me greatly in future jobs.
The Company
The general atmosphere was very friendly and youthful. Everyone was extremely helpful and I felt I could ask anyone if I had any doubts about anything. There is a real sense of teamwork. Although it is a competitive sales-orientated environment, teamwork still prevails. Although shifts are long, the atmosphere was fun and this meant that everyday was enjoyable.
The internship was very well organized. The two day induction at the start of the placement, I found extremely useful, as well as the 30-day training. We were all given a workbook that allowed us to log our progression and what we had learnt.
As I was only a 3 month internship, I have not been able to experience to true extent of the personal training and development available to me. However, I did attend 30 day training, which was very useful. I also attended sales training with the area manager. I am aware that if I came back to the company there are many opportunities to develop, and development is very quick at Enterprise.
Company Parties/Events
It is evident that progression at Enterprise is very quick , and you can move from management trainee to assistant manager to branch manager very quickly. However, due to the fact that you have to manage the branch before you can move into a head office role or a financial role could be slightly off putting to those who do not want to be in a management role.
The Culture
There was a good social scene. I attended many social events for example an area night out , and a bowling event for all university students finishing their internships.
The cost of living and socializing is fairly inexpensive, and as I lived in a student area , it was even less expensive.
Being close to Birmingham City centre, the nightlife was extremely varied and fun. There are many things to do in the centre for example pubs, clubs and restaurants.
There were many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work for example the area night out, statement meals.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
West Midlands
September 2017