If you haven’t met me before, you’ve definitely heard of me, or at least heard me! I’m Pj (Prabhjot) Singh, Talent Acquisition Specialist for the South Coast region of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. This is my unique Enterprise story.
Like many other Enterprise employees, my career started as a Management Trainee. My first branch location was in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. I was quickly promoted to Assistant Manager, and in this role, I received several recognitions and awards. This then led to a further promotion to Manager of the Halifax branch, where I smashed a then seven-year record for growth, before moving into HR and being promoted to Talent Development Specialist. I’m very much a people person, so this role was perfect for me to enhance my skills further and to use them to train and develop others within the group.
Transitioning into a role which was no longer in a branch but in our regional head office was going to be a challenge, but a challenge I was willing to take on. My personality was my biggest advantage, as I was able to get to know people very quickly and was able to connect on a wider scale through my activity on social media. Combining the two together created a stronger relationship with those I met: training classes became more exciting and the region’s levels of development, engagement and retention were increased. One year later, the southern-most region in the country advertised for a Talent Acquisition Specialist and here I am. Now, if someone had told me five years ago that I would be in a Human Resources role at the opposite end of the country I would’ve laughed non-stop.
Generally speaking, I’m one to go against stereotypes and ideology. My upbringing was very similar to anybody else from a ‘northern’ and ‘working class’ background. My parents worked incredibly hard to provide a better future for myself and my sisters. Balancing education, religion and culture was never difficult as they never saw themselves or us as being anything different. My parents wanted us all to be successful in life, and give us the opportunities that they didn’t get, meaning that higher education was always on the table, even if a specific career direction had not yet been established.
So how did my family react when I informed them that I was moving to the opposite end of the country?
Even though my heritage is Indian, I have not faced any family or religious pressure that I know can cause challenges within other British Asian families. My parents have fully supported me in all my life and education choices. I’m a British Sikh, second generation, on a career path to success! I studied at the University of Birmingham for four years, which included a placement in Orlando, Florida for one year. Having seen me survive in America for a year, moving south was never going to be an issue for them. In fact, I believe my parents were beginning to think that I was never going to leave again!
Having an open and honest (similar to one of our Founding Values) relationship with them always helped. From day one of my career and seeing me working hard every day, my parents have been proud to see me taking advantage of the education and opportunities that they had provided. We would regularly talk about the importance of what I did and why I was doing it with Enterprise and they supported me 100% and have always looked forward to what the next instalment of my career would look like.
From my perspective, I’m a globe trotter; so moving for my career seems just as thrilling as travelling or holidaying. Moving from the countryside of the North to the seaside of the South was always going to be a little daunting, but very exciting and I knew that I had the support of my family, friends and Enterprise to help me do so.
The company has been hugely supportive with my transition down south. Even though I worked in HR previously, I didn’t fully know all of the assistance and benefits that would be on offer: assistance in moving household items, a relocation bonus, up to two weeks in a hotel whilst I find a property and three days to take as non-annual leave to actually move are just some of them. This all helped to ensure that I am settled in the best possible way.
I recommend to everyone to think about their options and opportunities for promotions across the company and not to be afraid to explore that next challenge. And, if you’re not quite ready in your career to follow in my footsteps just yet, all my social media pages are accessible through my profile, so follow me there and see how my story evolves.