Talent Acquisition Intern Review

I loved my internship with Enterprise! I was based at their European Corporate Headquarters in Egham which allowed me to work alongside several members of senior management and to get an understanding of the business support functions outwith the branch locations. I was fortunate to be able to work on projects that were of high interest to me and to speak with colleagues across the UK to find out more about their roles within the company.

I felt incredibly valued by my colleagues. My line manager knew what my skills base was and made sure that this was put to full use throughout my placement. My colleagues were friendly, welcoming and open and were always available to offer support and guidance. I felt comfortable speaking to colleagues at any level of the business and enjoyed getting an insight into their careers and interests.

I was well supported by my immediate manager. I was in the rare position of working directly under a member of senior management and so he was not always present in the office. I knew that i could contact him whenever I required assistance and enjoyed being given the responsibility to take the lead on my own projects.

I was busy from the first day that I arrived until my final day at Enterprise. I worked out that in total I worked on 32 different projects, some lasting a day and some lasting the entire length of my internship. I used my initiative and spoke to people in different departments who pulled me onto projects that they were working on and used my skill set in their work. My job was varied and I was rarely sat at my desk for a whole day.

I was given a lot of responsibility throughout my placement. My manager gave me the opportunity to write the award submissions for the company into several nationwide awards and trusted me to work with our external partners in organising events and sharing ideas. I was asked to speak at meetings with several senior leaders present and I was trusted to attend external events in the place of my manager.

My skills developed will have an impact on my degree studies and beyond. I have gained more confidence, better communication skills and real life experience of the workplace. I have a better understanding of management styles and of internal policies and I have gained a lot of knowledge of my industry.

The atmosphere in the office was really fun! From Flip-Flop Friday events to organising London Pride, there was always something going on in the office and always someone to help if you needed it! Everyone was friendly and welcoming and whilst everyone worked hard, there was always time for fun events such as cake day and world cup sweepstakes!

My placement was well set up. I came into the business in an unusual way as I won the TargetJobs Management Undergraduate of the Year award which resulted in me gaining a summer placement with the company. The onboarding process was simple and any queries that i had were answered really well.

The company invested a lot in me. I was able to work on projects which appealed especially to me and my skills and knowledge were fully utilised. Being offered the opportunity to speak at important meetings allowed me to develop and having the opportunity to visit the Global Operations for the company in America gave me a fantastic insight into the huge scale of the business.

There are not many opportunities for graduates within the corporate headquarters. The main graduate opportunities within Enterprise are in the rental side of the business. These prospects are appealing because they allow for a lot of growth and there are a range of promotion opportunities. The rental role is fast paced, fun and comes with a lot of rewards!

There were several other placement students at the European HQ which made it a really fun environment. Most of the interns had moved away from home to work in Egham so we made sure that there were a lot of social events to keep us entertained. From going to Thorpe Park and Top Golf to having pub nights and parties, the social scene amongst the interns was great fun!

The cost of living in Egham was not too bad. Being just outside of London I had expected it to be a lot more expensive than it was but in fact my rent and living costs were not too high at all. The main cost was attending social events, but this was worthwhile as it was great to spend time getting to know the other placement students!

Nightlife wasn't great in Egham but it was reasonably near to Windsor which is meant to have a better nightlife scene. We spent a lot of nights in the intern's houses or in one of the local Egham pubs which were reasonably priced with a good atmosphere. We were a 40 minute train from London city centre too.

There were several opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. I enjoyed attending London Pride with our London rental colleagues, representing Enterprise outside of the workplace. I also enjoyed attending Charity Day which involved painting a play park for a local disabled water skiing charity based just outside of Egham.