Summer Placement Review

I went into the application process and the first few weeks very excited to join the company and get started. I found this excitement was fully justified when I joined because I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. There is a very strong sense of community and since almost the entire workforce is very young, it's easy to have fun with colleagues. Be aware however that 50-60 hour weeks could cause fatigue and inhibit your social life outside of work. Nevertheless I absolutely loved my time on the internship!

Enterprise invests significantly in you from day one, with multiple training days at the group HQ and with a structured training format which more experienced staff are always happy to help you with. My branch manager was extremely kind and was understanding when staff had issues. Officially staff are the number one priority for managers, which does show, although I believe this is not always obvious on a day-to-day basis. You will always be able to find someone at Enterprise who will give you some time to help you!

The entire internship was one big learning curve with there always being a new business area or job to learn. From quick questions on the minutia of the computer programs we used, to the overrarching structure of the company, the management were always prepared to inform or train us. Occasionally staff would be too busy to help immediately but they would shortly make time for you, so on balance we were given support to a great extent.

There is always something to do! There is lots of expansion still to come at Enterprise so many branches are very busy with dozens of customers coming to branch every day, and more still recieving deliveries. When not serving customers, there are reservations coming through which still require a phone call to complete. Meanwhile, many phone calls come in and there is still auditing and your personal development folder to complete. This is perfect for someone who hates the idea of being sat around doing nothing.

Beyond lots of trust handling keys and managing some corporate accounts, different areas of the business are also assigned to 'captains' in the branch to promote. Right from the beginning you will then be responsible for one or several areas of the business to improve customer service or increase revenue. You will need to train, motivate and hold accountable all the other staff in branch, including those who are senior to you, to ensure the areas of the business for which you are responsible for will thrive. I personally see this as the real 'management' experience you will recieve during the internship, other than setting up the longer-term management progression for after you complete the internship and continue to work Enterprise.

This score is a 10 only if you intend to stay at Enterprise as I do, but would be a 2/3 if you intend to use this as experience before moving on to another company. This internship is, in no uncertain terms, designed to prepare you for a career at Enterprise. They actively avoid providing general management training which would provide you with transferable management skills until you reach 9/12 months at the company. Even then, the spoon-fed training throughout the company is very specific to the unique way Enterprise is run. This means that committing to a career here will be very successful if you put the work in, but it may be hard to leave and find something better.

Overall the atmosphere was productive and supportive, with individual characters providing lots of fun. There are frequent occasions in which the staff member responsible for that day for assigning cars to deals will become very stressed and this can impact the atmosphere but generally they will be able to balance this with being friendly. Again another consequence of having such a young body of staff is that day-to-day interactions are very informal and always fun.

The internship is very well organised due to the consistent development structure in place. Be aware though that Enterprise excepts staff with any degree over a 2:2 so across all areas of the business the training is spoon-fed to you. However, this thorough and easy to follow approach does mean you will progress very quickly and gain lots of experience and exposure to a variety of challenges and opportunities.

As mentioned earlier, Enterprise invests in you in the form of training days before you start as well as another training day after 1 month, in addition to continual support from others in branch. Branch managers are judged by employee development as one of their key focus areas so both branch and assistant managers will invest as much time in you as you need to succeed. Also as mentioned earlier, the investment made by the company is to prepare you for a career at Enterprise, not for a career elsewhere, though of course there is plenty of opportunity to build transferable skills if you push yourself and your managers to develop you more fully. If you are proactive, you can even organise 1-on-1 meetings with management to discuss career goals or development.

It should be clear from my earlier comments that this whole internship is designed to set you up for a career at Enterprise. Unless you have no drive, consider it a guaranteed job after your internship! It's great how much they invest in and support you the whole way through the process and everyone wants you to succeed so you can stay with the company.

There was some, but ultimately the work hours are too much to have much of a social life outside of work. There are rare (1/2 a year) area nights out and there is a massive Enterprise commitment in the Pride events which all involve lots of alcohol and everyone enjoys them. Since all staff are so young, it's easy to build close fun relationships while working.

Some aspects of costs of living are comparable to London prices though on the whole it's reasonable and fairly standard for a city. Some branches are in less than ideal areas which can help keep things cheaper. Since many interns will be studying at or just finished at university, you'll likely find a branch at home or where you study.

I wouldn't know, I finished work and then just needed to sleep!

Enterprise hold and attend some activities outside work such as charity sports games/activities, Pride events or the rare area nights out so there are some options but not too many.