After graduating from university I decided to apply for the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Graduate Management Programme. I was working part time at a local supermarket at the time, and to be honest I didn’t actually know what I wanted to do for a career. I liked the idea of being in sales, service and management, so Enterprise ticked those boxes. Despite my lack of experience, I did quite well throughout the recruitment process and got to the final assessment day. However this was to be the end of the road for my application and I did not get the job. I wasn’t too surprised with the outcome, I didn’t feel I expressed myself too well at the assessment centre due to a lack of experience.
I was gutted when I received the call to say I hadn’t been successful in my job application but the feedback I received motivated me to work harder/connect-with-us/how-to-cope-with-setbacks-in-your-job-search/ than ever to enhance my career. Julia, the Talent Acquisition Specialist, gave me clear and incisive feedback and even encouraged me to apply again in 6 months’ time.
I had applied for a couple of job roles after leaving university but this was the first time I’d actually received in-depth feedback on my performance – something that, as I later found out, Enterprise is very focused on providing to all those that apply.
This opened my eyes and made me ask myself some fundamental questions about my job search – what do I want to do in my career? Why would someone employ a guy that has so little experience? I decided to take Julia’s feedback on board and got a new full time job role in a different customer service environment which allowed me to gain experience in both sales and management. The main key performance indicators for this company were personal sales and customer service. I was quickly introduced to the world of sales and service and realised I was very target-driven. I’ve always been a very competitive individual and relished aiming towards and smashing targets! I settled into my new role really well, even undertaking a duty manager position. This led me to eventually gain the leadership experience I lacked and desired.
So after gaining this valuable additional experience, I decided to re-apply for the graduate programme at Enterprise, as I knew this was the sales-driven, leadership role that I knew I could now really excel at. Similar to my previous application, I made it all the way to the assessment centre. This time though, I was determined I would secure the position! I had the sales experience, the leadership qualities and the confidence to back these attributes up. I got a lot of respect from the recruitment team for actually taking their advice on board and re-applying for the job role. I came out of the assessment centre confident, I felt I portrayed myself well in both the group activities and the interviews. This was in stark contrast to how I was feeling after my first application. So a couple of days later, the phone rang and I received the great news, I had got the job!
I suppose the morale of this blog is to actually take advice on board. There’s always a reason why you don’t get the job. While unfortunately some organisations don’t give you those reasons, Enterprise will always endeavour to provide you with the constructive advice to enable you to improve in your job hunting journey.
I can honestly say that the feedback I received from Enterprise really has changed my life. It motivated me to focus on what I want from my career and gave me the structure I needed to achieve my goals. I quickly made a name for myself by being included in the list of top performing employees on numerous occasions for my sales results as well as the number of new corporate accounts I opened for the business.
After just 10 months at Enterprise Rent-A-Car I received my first promotion, and I am currently an Assistant Branch Manager for the Sutton Coldfield branch, thanks also to the fantastic training I received on the graduate programme.
Working at Enterprise has opened up a world of opportunities for me and this was all down to taking advice on board and acting upon it. Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity – we’re recruiting for our graduate programme across our 450-strong UK branch network.
