Management Intern Review

I very much enjoyed my placement at Enterprise. The experience every day was positively impacted by the culture of the workplace and the relationships I had with other employees. Some days working were a struggle due to long hours and early starts following a late finish, however everyone on the branch helped eachother through this and working together was enjoyable and did not feel like a tough job in parts. I really enjoyed meeting customers and learning about different people on the job.

All of the colleagues at my branch had a lot of respect for one another and would value each others help and offer support whenever we could. The relationships went on further than work hours as we spent time together outside of work, this helped as the people we spent long days with we saw as friends. Managers in the branch respected the hard effort we put in and often showed their gratitude and rewarded me for trying hard.

We often had meeting before or after a shift to check up on how people in the branch were feeling. I had the opportunity to learn in these meetings and ask any questions I wanted if I needed support. I was able to express concerns and learn in one on one meetings every month with my managers. We were given feedback on our progress regularly which helped me develop a lot throughout my placement year.

The extent in which we were busy in the branch differed on a daily basis. The nature of the business saw a lot of work needed on some days that saw me working non stop which at times became exhausting. On the other hand there were some days in which we had quiet days with a lot less responsibilities. At times it felt that I was too busy on extreme days but overall I feel the placement had a fair amount of time for breaks and ensured I was never sitting around with nothing to do.

I was given a lot of responsibility throughout the year. As I developed through the year I was given my own goals and areas of the business to work towards in the branch which directly affected the success of the branch that month. I was also given the opportunity to run the branch at times and set out a plan of action for the day, acting as the manager of the branch on these days.

I felt that throughout my placement I have learnt a lot of skills to help me in future careers. I developed mainly in my sales and customer service abilities, that I will find useful in most career opportunities in the future. I also developed my own ability to manage a business on a small scale in different sectors such as marketing, finance or operations. All of which are essential life skills for the work place post graduation.

The office always remained very professional throughout the day in busy times in order to main a high standard of customer service. However the majority of the time the office was always positive and energetic, all colleagues got along well and we often laughed together a lot through our shifts that made the job easier. The friendly relationships I had with my colleagues made the times I went on delivery and collections of vehicles a lot more enjoyable, which helped to limit stress even in busier times.

Enterprise were very organized in their work placement scheme, the company employs a lot of students for placements, with my branch having four placements in my year alone. There was a set plan for all placement students, including regular training sessions at a head office, as well as a training folder such helped track the development of our skills throughout the placement year. The plan in place meant that at all times throughout the year I felt I was always learning and developing.

There was a set 3 stage training folder to complete throughout the 12 months which ensured I was learning skills in all aspects of the business. I was able to track my development in skills such as sales and knowledge through evidence that was required to pass each stage of the training. Enterprise had training sessions at head office for all placement students which was geared towards development of our training folder. Ultimately the goal was to get us to complete the folder in the 12 months in order to be given the opportunity to come back and go for assistant manager positions after finishing university.

I was offered the opportunity to come back to working in my branch after I finish my degree and continue where I left off in pursuing a path towards promotion to assistant manager. I also have the opportunity to continue working within enterprise part time in a branch local to where I study for university. Enterprise are open in their aim to have placement students develop into potential managers during the placement and come back to pursue this after they graduate.

Enterprise organized their own social events centrally with all colleagues such as winter parties, and my branch itself would regularly have organized times to go for meals and drinks after a shift has finished at a local restaurant or pub. Myself and the other three placement students took the opportunity at overnight stays for training days to go out and socialize together at night time. I also often socialized with my fellow colleagues outside of work organized events. I was quickly welcomed in and invited out to a local beer festival in Cambridge on my second day at the branch.

Cambridge can be a relatively expensive area to rent as a student, whilst I personally lived at my full time home address during my placement, my placement colleague rented in Cambridge and had no issues financially through the year he lived in Cambridge whilst working at enterprise. Cambridge has some expensive places which we would socialize at at times, however as students we often found the cheaper places around in Cambridge that we were able to socialize at as well often.

There was a good night life in Cambridge as it was a popular student city for going out at night. I had multiple enjoyable nights out in Cambridge during the year I worked at enterprise. When at my training we would stay in Nottingham over night in hotels, here we always took the opportunity to go out at night in a bigger city where there were lots of options for socialising such as bars and clubs.

Enterprise themselves did not offer much in terms of activities to be involved in outside of work. However, we as a branch often took it upon ourselves to find things to do together outside of work. We had lots of trips out for food and drinks, or trips to the cinema or even to watch the local football Cambridge United, who’s ground was opposite the branch which we worked in. Being a city there were lots of opportunities to find activities independently to get involved in.