Case studies : Management trainee: Emma

Emma studied a four-year sandwich degree in business studies and marketing at Bournemouth University and graduated in 2010. During her placement year Emma worked at Enterprise Rent-A-Car as a management assistant, which led to her securing a graduate role.

I didn’t know anything about Enterprise Rent-A-Car until I started looking for an internship for my placement year. I attended a career fair at my university and learnt more about what Enterprise offered students on placement. I spent a year at Enterprise; the experience was great and I felt really welcomed. I was able to learn about running a business, from serving the customers to the back office, managing the finances and logistics of the stock management. It was part way through my third year that I learnt I had secured a job on the Enterprise graduate scheme upon graduation.

Studying business and marketing helped me a lot, especially the marketing aspect; I was able to put what I had learnt into practice, which helped when trying to secure new business at work.

There isn’t a typical working day and that is what I love about my role. Everyday is different, from checking reservations, breakdown accounts, managing the finances and stock levels, etc. I think I’m constantly developing in my role, learning more, gaining more responsibility and learning to delegate. However, I think the most challenging part of my role can be dealing with unhappy customers and solving their problems in a polite and diplomatic way. I can see myself progressing here and hopefully one day I’ll make branch manager.

The advice I would give to anyone wanting to get onto a graduate scheme is to try to secure a work placement, as it really helped me. Also, before you apply, always research the company and the role.