ERAC

I've read many posts on this site. I've laughed and I've been equally angry. This is why I've started this new thread.
Read this and please feel free to vent your feelings at the end.

To all those on here who hate ERAC. Why? I worked for ERAC for nearly two years and what they explained to me at the interview was correct, they never mislead me. Yes the hours I worked were long - they told me they would be. However, I was new to the city and it helped me from getting bored and I actually became good friends with my colleagues because of the time I spent with them.
Yes I had to wash cars. Yet again they told me this would happen in my interview. I found that washing a car was a good way to get out of the office for a few minutes and away from the phones and I know I was not the only one who felt like that.
I had to deal with awkward customers and accounts. ERAC is part of the service industry and who within the service industry does not have to deal with these. Plus, did we treat the guy who came with the wash supplies any differently to how we got treated by some bodyshops?? No, I thought not.
ERAC is like a fraternity. Although I'm not from the US and worked for ERAC UK this isbound to happen if it recruits mainly graduates. Didn't that make it fun though? I've had many a belly laugh with and at my colleagues @ ERAC. One summer every night after work at least three of us would end up in the pub. It was a way to let of steam.

While I do not want to defend ERAC, for a large company, and an American one at that, they are not that bad. They try hard with social events such as Summer and Holiday (sic) parties. They do have an open system of management. I even used to play football (soccer) with my City Mgr, two Area Mgrs and our GCAM. It was a great way of getting to know everyone outside work, and ERAC subsidised it!!

For a 22 year old straight out of University the first 18months were great. As a 25 year old though I wanted more, was offered a job somewhere else and decided it was time to move on.

As I said earlier though, I'm not here as an ERAC defender. It has its downsides.
The long hours cost me a very nice girlfriend who lived 75 miles/ 45 mins away but who I hardly ever saw and when I did I usually fell asleep on the sofa.
The massively sales weighted promotions Matrix does stop even the most intelligent people getting promotion and often doesn't tkae into account the deals people have been doing, I guess I want to say that if you wanted too it's easy to fiddle.
The company is massively conservative. I guess thats the Mid West for you. I've had colleagues who've been sent home for wearing brown shoes - and they were Level 3 employees!
ERAC gives you no formal training. I and many of my colleagues have been put in situations they have had no idea what to do in. I've been sent "Marketing" with no training, in fact in 2 years I went on a half days marketing training only. With the company not actively supporting its employees wishes for learning about new areas that may improve the business it is selling itself short. Why don't we do some courses on insurance law for example, it would drastically improve contract underwriting?

And finally my attack on certain posters on here.

Those of you who say people can't cut or hack it, get off their backs. In my opinion (and thats all it is, my opinion), there are many types of people in this world, some can talk people into buying things, some can make them feel the centre of attention, some are great sportsmen, others philosophers.
If we were all as good as everyone else at everything then the world would be dull.

Lets have some intelligent posts on this board, most of us have done or do work for ERAC so I know this can be done.

You suck. Is that intelligent enough for ya?

I can tell you're a Septic.

Lost in a Melody, I agree in your post.

Spent 6years at Erac (didn´t make 6 figs), enjoyed it for about 3 years. I now have a great deal of real friends that I met at ERAC that are all Ex´s now of course.

What I´m still wondering about is the internal-promotion-thing. While it is very motivating for fresh employees I figured that it also means that top-management, CRM, RVP, GM, etc. usually is the 10-15 year employee that has never experienced anything in life besides college (if at all) and ERAC!

What can you expect from a such a management? Exactly what they are and do.

ERAC is a closed society, like a small mountain-village inbreeding for centuries their output(management) becomes more insane every time they reproduce.(which is quite often)

Not only do they promote just from inside, they also only compare themselves to just other Branches, Areas, Regions, Groups, etc. regarding Sales, rate, ESQI and even Employee satisfaction.

The internal promotion system has made ERAC completely blindfolded towards any trends in the market or developments in any other area.

If you still work at ERAC, ask your top-management if they have figures about eg the US-rental-market, salaries in other jobs, economic developments, etc.. You will figure that they simply know sh%t. Probably they will not even know how big your neighbouring group is.

Internal promotion will bring this company down in the long-run, it will just disappear like any other closed society or cult in history has.

at Lost's spelling, he meant to say septic...as in septic tank, rhyming slang for yank.

A Jodrell or a Sherman is something else.

Or a Thomas the Tank