Has anyone here ever worked for a rental car company? Did you like it? I am sort of getting frustrated with my current job and don't see a bright future there. I applied with some rental car companies a couple of months ago, but never heard back from them. Now I am on their mailing lists. I keep getting e-mails about career fairs and job openings. I'm taking a vacation next weekend, so I haven't bothered contacting anyone. Anyway, I've heard great things about these places having good management training and helping people boost their careers, but I have also heard the work life balance is terrible. If you worked at one of these places, or know someone who did, was it worth it? I don't want to totally throw my social life away.

5/11/2013 2:21:20 PM

i work with a guy who did the manager training program at enterprise and he hated it. said he felt like he was the customer's bitch and the work hours were awful

5/11/2013 2:25:33 PM

Be prepared to work nights and weekends.

5/11/2013 2:27:58 PM

Quote :

"I am sort of getting frustrated with my current job and don't see a bright future there."

You don't see a bright future and your solution is to get a job renting out automobiles?

5/11/2013 2:33:45 PM

One of my friends works at triangle rent a car and he makes decent money for someone who didn't go to college and is 21ish. Only do it if you can get commission as a clerk or whatever on selling the insurance. Do not wash cars.

Im krallum and I approved this message

5/11/2013 2:35:25 PM

Quote :

"commission as a clerk or whatever on selling the insurance"

wtf the insurance isn't required?

/rental car n00b

5/11/2013 2:38:01 PM

Once I almost didnt buy insurance.

I later hit a deer with the car and seriously fucked up the side door.

5/11/2013 2:41:17 PM

The insurance is a scam. Pretty much every non-ghetto credit card includes rental car coverage.

5/11/2013 2:51:00 PM

Gah!

5/11/2013 2:55:23 PM

Deal drugs instead and make the customer your bitch.

5/11/2013 3:18:04 PM

You have got to be kidding me. You wanna make $25k working 50+ hours, washing cars, and getting yelled at by customers because your company will rent out cars they dont have available constantly? They are ALWAYS hiring for a reason they have like 150% turnover rate because the job sucks.

You call that "management"? I guess if you manage not to kill yourself thats something

5/11/2013 3:25:10 PM

Not even remotely worth it

You'll work shit hours and be treated like shit until you're with the company 10-15 years, unless you get extremely lucky.

5/11/2013 3:42:41 PM

Yeah, I've heard it's a horrible job. Why exactly did you pick that as an option? Hell, work for TSA if you want to be at the airport in particular.

5/11/2013 3:45:57 PM

Depends on how hard you work and stay with it. My future bro-in-law is going on 10+ years with Enterprise and is making 200k+ and has ridiculous benefits and vacation time. He's definitely at the top, but the guys under him are all in the 80-100k range and all seem to be pretty happy.

I think it sucks in the beginning, but if you don't fuck up and make a couple advancements, it can be an above average career.

5/11/2013 3:56:42 PM

^ is he an executive or something? I can't see anyone working at a car rental facility making $200K. Even 80-100 seems far fetched

5/11/2013 4:05:12 PM

I guess you'd call him a regional executive/manager/director/supervisor/whatever. He's in charge of Columbia, SC and their surrounding areas. Only drawback is than he has to live in Columbia...but he does three day weekends quite often to come down to Charleston. He's been waiting for a couple people ahead of him to retire so he can take tha final $100k bump and relocate to Charleston or Savannah.

I think the guys below him are just in charge of single shops, but I could be wrong. Either way, they all have kids, boats, stay at home wives, and weekends off. They aren't dumb guys, but they aren't exactly Einsteins either. These are mostly Comm/Bus grads from USC. Future bro-in law made it seems that all you have to do is show up for work and not fuck up for ten years and you're sitting pretty. They might work you to death right off the bat, but it seems like it could be worth it if ou can stick it out.

5/11/2013 4:22:37 PM

^^ & ^^^ I know a guy that's making around 80 now

But that was after 15 years of being a bitch for 50-60 hours a week.

5/11/2013 4:25:16 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, I've heard it's a horrible job. Why exactly did you pick that as an option? Hell, work for TSA if you want to be at the airport in particular."

I had heard these places were good starter jobs. That is why I asked. No one is forcing me to apply, or respond to the e-mails. I can always have myself removed from the mailing list.

5/11/2013 9:17:57 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2GmGSNvaM


plz to embed

5/11/2013 9:25:32 PM

I did this right out of college. I was two months into working a second shift blue collar job and stumbled upon Enterprise after my wife was involved in a wreck. I pulled a couple of years with the company. My experience was that its a pretty crappy job, but is alright to put on your resume. A lot of folks understand you are busting ass doing rental car work, but don't think that it gets the same reaction as working at Google or Apple.

Honest assessment though. Rental car companies, and in particular Enterprise has a RIDICULOUS turnover rate. I had several other friends that got into it and a lot of coworkers that I met through ERAC. After only a few short years none of them are still in rental cars. Everybody else moved on. Job security is almost nonexistent. Promotions and branch assignments are more based on who you know than how you perform. If you are a young 20 something just out of college and nothing going job wise, its not bad. You will work your ass off, but they encouraged a lot of socializing with other ERAC employees and drinking together. If you have a significant other or family though, its not the job for you. I had a sometimes difficult time getting time off, and if you don't make it to the after hours event two counties over, you were not on the "in" list for promotions because you obviously didn't bleed green. A lot of the Area Managers and Regional Managers make pretty good money to do very little. Their buddies move up. When I was in EE (East Region) I knew/heard several of the guys (and one of the women) were banging MTs. They moved up the ladder very quickly. Other people who were hard working, but not part of the in-crowd got passed over until they quit.

I would only consider rental cars as a last resort honestly. Its better than being a Wal-Mart greeter, but its a shit-ton of hours cleaning drugs and bodily fluids from the back of rental cars in a suit and tie. Expect to get shit on by customers at every opportunity. Depending on the coworkers in your branch it can be fun, or it can be terrible. My original branch had a good crew at first. I liked them and still keep in touch. At my next branch I had a manager who was a real bitch. She was quick to yell at employees and went back on promises made by my previous manager. That ran me off very quickly. It paid the bills though and was the first "real" job I had after college and after I had started a family. I did it a couple years and am thankful for the experience of that and the few month of blue collar work to know how the other half work everyday. Makes me appreciate my "cushy" position so much more and helps me put in perspective when I get bitched at by some doctor being an asshole because he doesn't have VGA adapter to connect his Macbook to my room system and why don't I supply those? If that is the worst shit I have to deal with in a day, rather than repoing cars from drug dealers, finding used condoms, drugs, blood, etc. and being expected to rent the car in 30 minutes to a guy on the way, then I can deal.

[Edited on May 11, 2013 at 9:48 PM. Reason : ]

5/11/2013 9:47:04 PM

I saw 50-60 hours being thrown around like those are bad hours




[Edited on May 11, 2013 at 10:50 PM. Reason : Wtf has my life become ]

5/11/2013 10:50:04 PM

Clearly a ClassicMixup

5/11/2013 11:00:56 PM

I started the MIT (Management In Training) program at Hertz and lasted three weeks before I decided it wasn't for me. I mean, goddamn, they wanted me dressed up and in a tie and half the day I was in the back vacuuming and washing the cars in 80 degree weather, I would practically be drenched in sweat and walk back in to rent cars!

Best decision I made leaving that job.

5/11/2013 11:16:05 PM

^Yep been there, done that. I hung in for a while before I finally bailed when I got another job lined up. I ended up getting the same paycheck but only worked a 40-45 hour week at a cellphone store. It was not the greatest job, but I was inside and only had to wear a Verizon polo shirt. A few months later I got my first state IT job and could not believe how much more I liked a career job I was interested in rather than slogging through a job just to pay the bills. And really just working 40 hours a week gave me so much more time to spend with my family. I did not realize how much of your life a rental car job sucks out of your life. I came home and just wanted to sleep, knowing I had to get up in the morning and do it all again. Towards the end I really dreaded going to work and dealing with the horseshit.

5/12/2013 6:29:36 AM

Quote :

"You call that "management"? I guess if you manage not to kill yourself thats something"

this made the lol

5/12/2013 8:43:40 AM

Yea the only things you'll be managing is your shit-eating grin, alcohol consumption, and trying (unsuccessfully) to keep your tie out of the damn vacuum cleaner while your on your hands and knees detailing cars. And it will all be a losing battle. Everybody in the branches is a Management Trainee, Assistant Manager, etc. Its all bullshit.

5/12/2013 8:56:22 AM

Quote :

"I did this right out of college. I was two months into working a second shift blue collar job and stumbled upon Enterprise after my wife was involved in a wreck. I pulled a couple of years with the company. My experience was that its a pretty crappy job, but is alright to put on your resume. A lot of folks understand you are busting ass doing rental car work, but don't think that it gets the same reaction as working at Google or Apple. Honest assessment though. Rental car companies, and in particular Enterprise has a RIDICULOUS turnover rate. I had several other friends that got into it and a lot of coworkers that I met through ERAC. After only a few short years none of them are still in rental cars. Everybody else moved on. Job security is almost nonexistent. Promotions and branch assignments are more based on who you know than how you perform. If you are a young 20 something just out of college and nothing going job wise, its not bad. You will work your ass off, but they encouraged a lot of socializing with other ERAC employees and drinking together. If you have a significant other or family though, its not the job for you. I had a sometimes difficult time getting time off, and if you don't make it to the after hours event two counties over, you were not on the "in" list for promotions because you obviously didn't bleed green. A lot of the Area Managers and Regional Managers make pretty good money to do very little. Their buddies move up. When I was in EE (East Region) I knew/heard several of the guys (and one of the women) were banging MTs. They moved up the ladder very quickly. Other people who were hard working, but not part of the in-crowd got passed over until they quit. I would only consider rental cars as a last resort honestly. Its better than being a Wal-Mart greeter, but its a shit-ton of hours cleaning drugs and bodily fluids from the back of rental cars in a suit and tie. Expect to get shit on by customers at every opportunity. Depending on the coworkers in your branch it can be fun, or it can be terrible. My original branch had a good crew at first. I liked them and still keep in touch. At my next branch I had a manager who was a real bitch. She was quick to yell at employees and went back on promises made by my previous manager. That ran me off very quickly. It paid the bills though and was the first "real" job I had after college and after I had started a family. I did it a couple years and am thankful for the experience of that and the few month of blue collar work to know how the other half work everyday. Makes me appreciate my "cushy" position so much more and helps me put in perspective when I get bitched at by some doctor being an asshole because he doesn't have VGA adapter to connect his Macbook to my room system and why don't I supply those? If that is the worst shit I have to deal with in a day, rather than repoing cars from drug dealers, finding used condoms, drugs, blood, etc. and being expected to rent the car in 30 minutes to a guy on the way, then I can deal."

Sounds like Lowes Foods and Pep Boys. Managers who sucked, managers who were awesome, angry customers, happy customers, nasty restrooms, low pay, lots of weekend hours. The only difference is the grocery store would cut part time employee's hours to under 20 when they ran out of hours after the holidays and full time employees only got to work 33 hours. I'm sure that has changes though with the Obamacare 30 hour rule.

[Edited on May 12, 2013 at 10:56 AM. Reason : .]

5/12/2013 10:55:42 AM

^It is similar, but in most cases management isn't blowing smoke up the bag boys ass that he's in management training and needs to wear a tie while carrying the old ladies produce out to her car or chasing down shoplifters with 40s under their shirt. And to be honest, working less hours was never a problem. In fact, the company really leans on the employees to work as many hours as possible, and I had a hard time when I wanted to work closer to 50 hours instead of 60. You don't really make your money from that anyhow. Managers and Asst. Managers make their real money off their percentage of profits that the branch makes every month. The higher up you go, the higher your commission percentage or the more locations you take a chunk out of. Regional Managers are dipping a small percentage off of 40-50 stores, when they are profitable, so the possibility of making big cash is there. You getting an extra 3 hours of overtime at slightly above minimum wage ain't really affecting the companies bottom line, so you don't see them squeezing people out via few hours. Its usually the opposite, working you to death to run you off.

5/13/2013 1:36:38 PM

Quote :

"wtf the insurance isn't required?"

i found a crazy awesome coupon code on slickdeals and rented a car for 4 days with unlimited mileage in san francisco (for driving out of SF, not for use in the city)...it was less than $100 after taxes and fees

i STILL didn't opt for the $7/day insurance...driving in SF was kind of crazy and i would most likely get the insurance if i ever do that again

5/13/2013 1:39:55 PM

A former company I worked for had a Management Training program. They basically abuse you for 2 years, and then when you complete the program you pretty much have to be willing to move to another state for a management position......and even that isn't guaranteed.

I have known several people that went into "Management Training Programs", and every one of them quit well before they even got close to completing it.

"Management Trainee" is just a more glamorous way of saying "Entry Level".

5/13/2013 1:43:02 PM

^Yep. And in rental car terms, management training has more to do with upselling, keeping tight (keep the cars on the road), and selling boat (selling all insurance coverage CDW/PAI/SLP). You had to sell that at like 80% for 3 straight months to qualify to take the test. Somebody could easily tank your chances of getting that by just sending you to the body shop to pick up the customers getting a rental paid for by the insurance company due to a wreck. They would NEVER buy the coverage, especially if they were the claimant and had been hit by somebody else. Qualifying to get past that had nothing to do with knowing how to run an office, schedule the employees hours best, etc. Keep shit rolling, make people pay to get bigger cars, and sell that insurance because it basically pure profit.

[Edited on May 13, 2013 at 1:50 PM. Reason : ]

5/13/2013 1:49:01 PM

i know a guy who does it. he doesnt absolutely love it, but understands that a job is a job that sucks and he gets paid fairly well. overall hes a happy dude who doesnt hate his life. i feel like if you go into it with that mentality youll be ok

5/13/2013 1:59:52 PM

^I was agreeing with you until you said "...and he gets paid fairly well" -- really? Not sure if $12/hr plus overtime qualifies as getting paid really well....just sayin'

5/27/2013 10:45:37 AM

Quote :

"A former company I worked for had a Management Training program. They basically abuse you for 2 years, and then when you complete the program you pretty much have to be willing to move to another state for a management position......and even that isn't guaranteed. I have known several people that went into "Management Training Programs", and every one of them quit well before they even got close to completing it. "Management Trainee" is just a more glamorous way of saying "Entry Level"."

I have an uncle who is in an executive position with the company he works for. After college in the late 80s he moved from Iowa City to Kansas City, then Des Moines, then Lincoln, then Des Moines, then Denver, then back to Des Monies once again, and finally Columbus where he has been for about 10 years and seems to want to stay. You don't make it to the top by starting at the bottom in City A and staying there for 40 years until you retire. Moving from A to B to C to D is what gets you there fastest.

5/27/2013 11:15:00 AM

While I agree that working at a rental car company seems like a hell I wouldn't ever want to be involved with, I do have to admit that, in general, being willing to move to another state, or possibly even country, is pretty common these days to move up within companies. Unless your company is small/local, there are always 5X people vying for X spots on the next rung up the ladder. Some people get lucky and get promoted in the office/location they are at.

More often than not, I see the people who aren't mobile or stick hard to the fact they want to stay in their current office/location end up getting passed over or get promotions much slower than the people willing to move for them. There are pluses and minus to that of course. I'm kind of in the middle-ground as far as, I'm not wanting to move to a new place every 6-12 mos to skyrocket my career, but I also don't want to hit a glass ceiling/get pegged early on because I'm unwilling to move period and understand that I have to be somewhat mobile to be moving ahead. It's always a battle finding the balance.

[Edited on May 27, 2013 at 11:49 AM. Reason : ]

5/27/2013 11:48:45 AM

^The other option that involves less moving in some situations is quitting your job to work for another company. I worked at Lowes Foods while in college. A lot of our managers came from Food Lion, K-Mart, etc and then quit to work for other stores when they had a chance to move up with the new company.

5/27/2013 12:58:54 PM

My advice is to just try not to make a career at a place that always has "now hiring" signs up.

But I do have a friend on FB who I keep in touch with from time to time who is in management with Hertz. He has been with them for 6 or 7 years now and from what I have gathered, he would probably agree with what most people have posted here. The first few years suck, but now that he is off the front lines, so to speak, it's pretty close to a typical management career anywhere else.

5/27/2013 1:03:56 PM

What you're describing pretty much sounds like most any retail job any where. You spend years getting shit on so you can move up the chain of command in hopes of not getting shit on.

5/27/2013 4:36:53 PM

yeah, everything I've heard about rental-car companies suggests that they're horrible places to work

you might try to land a job at the State Employees Credit Union. My buddy works there, and apparently it doesn't suck too hard. And you can make pretty decent money within a few years if you work hard and actively acquire new certifications/training-thingees when they become available. Just a thought. My guess is that it would beat the shit out of working for Hertz or Enterprise.

5/27/2013 4:55:48 PM

SECU is probably the best phone farm job you can get...but it's still a phone farm job.

5/27/2013 5:30:09 PM

Hung out with my future bro-in law this weekend...the one that is killing it at Enterprise after working his way up through their "management system."

He's got it made. But from what I hear, Enterprise is probably the best out of these companies at gradually moving you up if you're competent. They pretty much only hire from within...so the only way you don't move up is if you're a complete fuck-up.

Again...he's making right under $200k. In charge of the Columbia, SC region. The guys immediately underneath him are doing pretty well for themselves (I'm guessing $75-$80k just based on their lifestyles)...and I think they just have one or two branches that they're in charge of. Weekends off...tons of vacation...lots of company golf tournaments...and they're either at the beach or a USC football game every weekend.

Doesn't seem like a bad life to me if you can stick it out.

5/27/2013 5:36:01 PM

^Yeah, if you can get moved up the chain and avoid the airport branches then it probably isn't too bad. My main concern with my next job is that I don't want night hours, or weekends.

5/27/2013 7:23:38 PM

didn't read the thread, but i just wanted to say that if i was as stupid as you, i'd just be happy my job didn't involve shoveling feces

5/27/2013 7:37:39 PM

lol

5/27/2013 7:38:55 PM

Quote :

"didn't read the thread, but i just wanted to say that if i was as stupid as you, i'd just be happy my job didn't involve shoveling feces"

Patton: Thirty years from now, when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks you, "What did you do in the great World War II," you won't have to say, "Well... I shoveled shit in Louisiana."

5/28/2013 1:06:43 AM