Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Management Trainee
This is an open
message to any recent college graduate considering a career as an
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Management Trainee.
You're probably reading
this because at some point in the recruitment and interviewing
process you searched on the Internet to learn more about Enterprise
Rent-A-Car and life as a Management Trainee.
My relationship with
Enterprise is only as a long-term customer. I've never been an
employee or owner, and I generally try to limit my analysis and
comments on their internal processes to those circumstances that
directly affect me as a customer.
However, I do feel
entitled to give some career advice, and this is it: think carefully
about whether you wish to work for Enterprise. I've read many
of the thousands of postings from current and former employees on
our discussion board, and
while visitors to Failing Enterprise may not be a representative
sample, it's safe to say that where there's smoke... ...well, you
know the rest.
I created
Failing Enterprise because local branch employees seemed to have a
well-honed process of telling me whatever they thought I wanted to
hear, relentlessly optimizing for their own benefit, and then
bridging the gap by simply never giving a straight answer.
Given that I believe in being honest, giving people a fair deal, and
making things right when I make a mistake, it's pretty obvious we
were having a clash of values.
If you're at all like
me, you probably wouldn't be happy working at Enterprise. If,
however, you're the kind of person who feels it's a testament to
your superior business skills that the person with whom you've made
a deal finds out they've been cheated only after it's too late,
maybe you'll do alright. But you risk the possibility of
facing a customer like me, who knows what he was promised and stares
you down while calmly insisting you honor your agreements, all the
while not accepting your increasingly desperate series of lies.
Even a weasel can sometimes get cornered. Some people will
find this uncomfortable, others, an invigorating challenge.
You know who you are.
Nonetheless, I recommend
you spend a few minutes reading through the
discussion board.
Who's more likely to give you an honest assessment of the life of a
Management Trainee, a peer who's worked there for months or years,
or a recruiter whose income is dependent upon a sales commission for
getting you to accept their offer? There are some pretty clear
warnings there from people on the inside; you might do well to
listen to them.
Heraclitus said
"Character is destiny". I think deciding whether or not you're
the right kind of person for Enterprise comes down to knowing your
character, and maybe doing some research on the Internet.
One last piece of
advice, from Henry David Thoreau: "Beware of enterprises that
require new clothes".
If you do take the job,
please keep us in mind. We'll be here, at
Failing Enterprise,
and if history is any guide, you'll be back again soon.
Admin
More on Enterprise car rental at the Failing Enterprise home page. |
