Back in 2010, the job market was not pretty, and the constant reminders only made the situation feel even worse. I was in my Fall semester of my last year at Florida State University when I came across the opportunity to work for Enterprise-Rent-a-Car.
I met with a recruiter and had my first interview.
Things went really well and I ended up landing three more interviews. The interview process is done in several stages. You start with a recruiter at the college level and eventually meet with the VP of your local group. His interview takes less than 15 minutes and is not stressful at all.
After about two months of interviewing, I received an offer.
I was feeling good since I had locked down a job a semester before graduating in a seemingly terrible job market.
I only wish I knew the following things before I went on this journey lasting almost four years.
You never stop washing cars
Sure, they ask you in each of the interviews if you had a problem washing cars and you’re so eager to get the job that you answer, “Of course. Washing cars? That’s no problem!”
I don’t think it’s possible to imagine the true amount of cars you wash. Most local branches open around 7:30AM, but you usually have to come in early to wash cars that you couldn’t finish the night before.
By the time your customers come in at 7:30AM you could have anywhere from three to five cars washed. For me, living in south Florida, this meant I was covered in sweat before we even opened.
You wash cars all day long.
Your branch may even have car preps if you’re lucky, but most of the time you’re stuck sending them on a pickup.
Which is also a great tip, get out of the office by offering to do every pickup. There will be days when this is the easiest part of the job.
Mondays and Fridays will be your worst days
Prepare to be the busiest on Monday mornings and Friday evenings. That’s when your body shop customers like to drop off their cars (Monday) and when weekend specials kick in (Friday), which makes these two days an absolute nightmare.
You’lll have lines throughout the day and your phone will never stop ringing.
I would add Saturdays to this list, but they’re usually a bit shorter. If you have to work a full day on a Saturday, you’re probably already know that you’re not going to have a good day.
The phone never stops ringing
I wasn’t kidding when I said the phone doesn’t stop ringing. We even had phone shops where someone from HR would call the branch asking you to quote the weekend specials. If you quoted the wrong rates, your branch failed its audit.
A failed audit could range from Saturday morning classes to your Area Manager coming down on you.
Area Managers aren’t the only ones coming down on you. Customers can be even worse.
Customers will test your patience
There’s been dozens of occasions of customers flipping out in the lobby, parking lot and over the phone. It can be one of the most draining aspects of the job, only second to washing cars.
Many times the customer’s own car has been involved in an accident or is in the shop for costly repairs so they’re already unhappy. And the ones renting for fun never want to pay more than $9.99 per day thanks to the awful weekend specials.
The icing on the cake is when customers get into accidents with the rental vehicles. Those conversations never go well and can escalate pretty fast.
The good news is that if you can handle these customers, you can handle anyone.
You can get promoted
I have to give credit to Enterprise on this one. There was definitely opportunities for promotions. From experience, I was able to work my way up the ladder quickly which led to more money than I was expecting to make at my age.
You can work hard for promotions, but it’s important to understand that every person next to you is working for the same thing.
Competition is fierce
That leads me to my next point. It’s a very competitive environment. You are taught to compete on every ticket. Your stats are posted for everyone to see and your numbers are ranked at the end of each month.
I’ve been at the top several times and have gone on some of the nicest Elite dinners, however, it took a lot of sweat to get there, both literally and figuratively.
If you like competition, this will be your favorite part of the job. Being on top earns you a lot of extra cash and promotions.
But the top isn’t what I was expecting either.
The top is even more exhausting
One thing I learned early on was that getting promoted was the fastest way to making more money. That’s not really news though.
What you don’t realize is once you pass your MQI, you’re no longer on an hourly rate basking in overtime pay.
You become the pawn who works an endless amount of hours for what’s considered a “competitive salary.”
Twelve hour days were expected, and lunches, kiss those goodbye when you get promoted. You’re expected to order food and have it delivered to the branch while you scarf it down in between customers.
On top of that, a class action lawsuit was settled about a year after I quit where they figured out with all of the hours worked, we were making less than minimum wage.
That was fun…
My takeaway:
I learned a lot from working at Enterprise, and I made decent money. I ran my own stores and controlled how often I got promoted. The Elite dinners were also a plus. However, I was exhausted and stressed out to say the least. I saw people getting promoted and advancing quickly and I saw people quitting left and right.
The management trainee program will test your patience and show you that you are tougher than you think.
Is this position right for you?
You’ll have to decide for yourself, but it’s worth a try. Some people do really well and make a small fortune. Plus, the salary you’re paid at Enterprise gives you good leverage for your next move should you need it.