Career or Family? - Management Trainee Enterprise Mobility Employee Review

Development in management and managing employees and b2b interactions

must have attention to extreme detail

I want to provide a comprehensive review, simply because a lot of the responses on Glassdoor are just short complaints that do not provide very useful information. But before I get into that, a little breakdown of my mindset going in to working at Enterprise: I knew it was not going to be my forever job from the beginning. I planned to stay for about a year to learn some broad-based skills and then move on to an industry in which I was more interested. A lot of people start working at ERAC with the mindset of only staying at the company for a few years, but it is absolutely an organization that has an "up or out" philosophy. If you're not willing to move up in the company, there's really no point in staying there because of how quickly people promote. If you're someone who doesn't have a problem committing a good portion of their career to one company and gaining significant financial benefits from it, then Enterprise is definitely a good option for you. 1) The People: If you ever decide to work for Enterprise, one of the first things you'll hear about the company is the quality of the employees. And while many of the ERAC mantras can be annoyingly repetitive (area managers and above frequently talk like they’ve been drinking the ERAC Kool-aid for a while), this claim is absolutely true. Enterprise hires some of the most driven, ambitious, intelligent, and genuine young people around, and they really are the strong foundation that makes the company successful. 2) The Leadership: Every single person above you was in your shoes at one point. Thus, they know what kind of garbage you go through with customers, how banal the job can be, and how exhausting it is transitioning from college (or another industry) to a 12-hour a day job. You won't see much of the higher-ups (regional managers and above) as they only pop in every few weeks to say some words of encouragement and check to make sure the branches look clean, but you will interact with your branch and assistant managers on a daily basis. Assuming they're good people and doing their jobs effectively, you will learn a lot from them while you're an MT. 3) The Skillset: You're going to work. A LOT. And you're frequently going to be working with customers who are...horrible people. Like for no reason. But through working with the large amount of people that you will (no matter how good or bad they are) you are going to gain extremely valuable skills to launch your future career - whether that's at Enterprise or somewhere else. Communication, sales, conflict management, strategic thinking, problem-solving; this is just some of what you're going to learn as an MT.

1) The Hours: Most reviews put this in the “Cons” section and it’s because it’s accurate; you will not have a work/life balance at Enterprise. The minimum expectation is 49 hours/week, which is actually what your targeted salary is based on. You will likely work around 55-60 hours/week, and your branch and assistant managers will work more. Branches are typically open from 7:30am-6:00pm, but most of us are there in the morning at 6:45am-7:00am to wash the cars in preparation for the day. Customers who come in at 6:00pm (and people absolutely will try to come in even if the doors are locked) can also hold you up for another 20-30 minutes. If you’re at an airport location or a flagship branch that is open every day, you will work holidays. If your branch is understaffed, you will not get a lunch. 2) The Work: You’re going to be doing the exact same thing every single day. Checking customers into cars takes up the majority of your time, and while the ability to constantly practice your sales pitch is pretty fun, you’re going to find yourself asking every single customer the exact same questions in an attempt to make conversation and keep up the perception of quality customer service. There’s also a lot of backend work to be done, such as calling customers to verify that they are still planning to come in to pick up a car, coordinating with body shop and dealership locations, and leaving voicemails for customers who picked up a car and haven’t returned it in a few days and now have a balance due even though their card declined. Oh, and don’t forget about cleaning the cars. 3) The Promotional Path: This is actually one of the primary reasons I left Enterprise. There’s very limited options to move beyond daily rental, and you’re really only able to do so after becoming a Branch Manager or above, which generally takes 1.5-3 years to attain. If you want to explore HR, business management, fleet work, or any other departments, you’re going to have to stick with the company for a number of years.