In my final year at university the daunting task of looking for a job was on the horizon. As most students do I was browsing graduate jobs online and I came across Enterprise. A fun and friendly place to work with an opportunity for career progression, it couldn’t have sounded better. I immediately applied and was successful in joining the management trainee programme in August 2008. Starting at Luton town branch I immediately began to work through my management training folder towards my management qualification interview. After a few months at Luton I moved to our Hertford location. Moving to Hertford enabled me to see how a different branch was run and learn things from a new manager. I would always recommend working in as many branches as you can to learn new things. Here I completed my training and was consequently promoted to Assistant Manager. Just six months later I was promoted to Luton town branch manager. Since then I have managed the Luton Airport branch and most recently I have been promoted to our Heathrow Airport location.
Over the last four years I have had the opportunity to work in numerous branches and have learnt a great deal about sales, customer service, running a business and most importantly managing and developing employees. Enterprise provides graduates with all round business experience and training to help you run your own branch. One of the things I enjoy the most is the variety and challenges on a daily basis. Having the opportunity to manage logistics, customer service, marketing and employee development is a juggling act but very worthwhile when you see the results.
During my career to date I have had several moments which I am extremely proud of. My first big milestone was becoming a branch manager in under two years. This is something I worked really hard towards and achieved this through excelling in customer service and sales. One of the biggest decisions I had to make was moving from one of our home city locations to an airport. The operations are very different and you have to adapt your management approach to customers and employees. I am pleased I took the opportunity as this enabled me to improve my skill set. During my time at Luton we moved the branch’s performance from mid table to top airport in the UK consistently for twelve months. This performance enabled me to get promoted to Heathrow. This new challenge will further improve my skills and ensure I am ready to become an area manager.
Another area of the business which I am passionate about is working with the South East Diversity committee. The diversity committee works to improve workplace quality and diversity within Enterprise. I am a member of the Women in Leadership committee who work to support females in our region. I am a mentor for several of our female employees and help to provide professional advice for them to achieve their career aspirations. I am fortunate to have been able to present at several internal and external Women in Leadership events aimed at raising awareness and support, and inspiring existing and future employees.
I have throughly enjoyed my career at Enterprise to date and can foresee a long and prosperous career at the company. The training programme has allowed me to learn the business from the ground up. I believe this has enabled me to become a stronger manager and mentor for my employees. Learning all aspects of the business is not only interesting but the responsibility you are given enables you to see the fruits of your labour. My next career goal is area manager. Long term I aspire to reach a boardroom level position. Once I am there in addition to running a successful region I would mentor females within the business to achieve similar targets.
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