Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Graduate Careers at Enterprise

The signs coming from the Enterprise camp are unanimously positive – life at Enterprise Rent-A-Car is good. Employees effusively proclaim, ‘I love working at Enterprise’, it’s ‘incredibly rewarding’, and ‘never boring’. ‘Autonomy’ is another frequent feature in Enterprise’s survey responses, with some individuals given the ‘opportunity to be creative’ and even allowed ‘free reign to expand’ as they see fit. Enterprise’s employees emphasise the variety in their jobs, the stimulating challenges they face, and the ‘freedom to work with clients’. One area manager describes their position as ‘covering all aspects of business management. From recruiting to marketing, sales, training and employee development. No two days are the same.’

In fact, it seems there’s only one thing Enterprise employees love more than their jobs, and that’s each other! ‘The people are what make this company so remarkable’, gushes one financial controller. The company fosters camaraderie; and a significant number of those surveyed echoed this strategic account manager’s sentiments: ‘Some of my closest friends started off as colleagues at work’.

The Enterprise culture is ‘work hard, play hard’. Promotion is based on performance, not the time spent at the company. This promotes a competitive environment that in the first instance seems at odds with the ‘best friends’ assertions of the vast majority of employees. But this apparent contradiction is repeatedly quashed as ‘mostly friendly’ rivalry.

Enterprise is a ‘fun and vibrant place to work’; it is ‘open from the top down’ and operates an open door policy. The company’s structure and hierarchy are based around internal promotion, meaning ‘all management started at the lowest grade and therefore understand [ground-level] issues’. Communication and input are paramount. Most speak to their managers at least once a day and many feel empowered by being ‘involved in most major [business] decisions’. Every two months the company holds an assembly for all head office employees, conducted by the MD of the UK/Ireland and the MD of Europe.

Training and development are of the ‘utmost importance’, and ‘structured training plans’ are provided by managers. The formal training is ‘very defined and scripted for every level and position’. Management trainees are given a file comprising four stages. This typically takes 9 – 12 months to complete, although ‘the pace at which an MT completes the file is down to them’. Some have completed their file in as little as seven months.

If the fun, meritocratic culture of Enterprise piques your interest, you may be pleased to hear that the company hires from ‘any degree discipline’ and ‘any university’. Enterprise has even ‘taken on people without degrees who have sales and customer service experience’ instead. The qualification is less important; you need to demonstrate leadership, charisma, and the ‘desire to earn money and progress quickly’.

The interview process is described as ‘very thorough’. After an initial online application, the successful applicants will have a telephone interview. A tête-à-tête with a recruiter awaits those that impress over the phone. After this meeting, candidates then spend a half-day at a branch, during which they’ll sit a second interview with a manager. The final hurdle is an assessment day, comprising practical tests and an interview with an area manager. On average, about 30-40% make the cut from this final round.

With over 360 UK offices to pick from, graduates are spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting their preferred location for their training. The same can be said about the vast areas of specialisation Enterprise offers after completing its management training scheme. Grads can, for instance, specialise in sales, national marketing, customer service, HR, accounting, corporate, and finance – to just name a few. Within two years trainees can rise to the status of branch manager and many trainees move on to become area managers, city managers, and general managers. The global nature of the firm also means that international opportunities are plentiful and the culture allows trainees to progress quickly with their careers.

For those interested in undertaking an internship scheme with the company, you can look forward to an abundance of opportunities. Enterprise offers a range of placements for students keen to experience working life as an employee at the firm. The internships usually run for three months in the summer, and interns are expected to fully integrate into the team. 12-month placements are also on the menu, but you should expect long hours as ‘the role is no different to a full-time employee’. Keep in mind that such schemes will make your way into the company a lot easier after graduation.