Laura Hopwood is a final year student studying BA (Hons) Business and Management (Project Management). During her placement year she worked for Enterprise Mobility and in the blog below talks about her experience. 

Can you provide a brief summary about the internship as well as the competition and what you had to do?

I did a management internship with Enterprise Mobility.  In essence, this year-long programme equips you with the skills to become an assistant manager and then a branch manager of one of the 450+ branches in the UK. I began by understanding the day-to-day working of the business and the lines of business we did from retail to insurance. I then learnt how to correctly handle the different types of business lines, but my job wasn’t just renting cars. I worked with local corporate accounts and body shops, I learnt how to run a branch and manage people, I went to networking and university events and so much more that I can’t even list. No day was ever the same and I learnt more than I can express about the business and myself over the 12 months I was there. I can truly say I have found somewhere where I want to build my career and I can see myself working there for a very long time.

As a management intern, I also took part in the nationwide Enterprise Mobility Intern of the Year competition. Every Enterprise intern in the UK had to participate in a variety of teams calls surrounding a range of topics, from networking to career pathways to presentation skills. As well as this, I had to create a presentation outlining my performance throughout the year, my social media engagement, how I had got involved in diversity, inclusion and equity events and a business improvement idea. I then had to present this in a total of 3 rounds before the national finals at the European head office. It was an experience in which I learnt a lot and met some very cool and influential people.

Do you have any highlights from your time at BU so far? 

 Winning Intern of the Year was the highlight of my placement year. However, the people I met and the experiences I had shaped my internship into one of the best years of my life and I wish I could relive the whole experience. Being surrounded by so many influential people inspires you to keep going and to be the best version of yourself and I truly believe that my placement year has changed me for the better.

Can you tell us about any challenges you experienced and how you overcame them?

My placement was the best year of my life but there were times when I experienced challenges and had hard days. One of those that springs to mind was when I first learnt to run the branch and I didn’t have enough cars returning for my customers so I had to try and grow the fleet of vehicles to accommodate the demand. It was a massive undertaking, but I relied on the people around me with more experience and learnt from them how to handle this and how to overcome it and now I know if I ever faced that scenario again, I would know how to attack it. Another challenge I experienced was seeing my friends all living their lives at university when I was working full-time. It was hard to find a work-life balance when the only experience I had had before was being in education. Surprisingly, the simple fix was to just use my calendar to schedule my time and make plans with the people I wanted to spend time with so that I could manage that balance and still see my friends and family.

How have the things that you’ve learnt during the competition and whilst studying prepared you for future employment?

Future employment is something that seems daunting when you have been in education for the majority of your life, but having done the Intern of the Year competition and a placement year I now feel ready for whatever life wants to throw at me (within reason!) I know now that I am a lot more capable than I originally thought and I am strong enough to face a variety of different things. I am a lot better at accepting criticism and growing from it. If I am entirely honest before my placement, I would have cried if someone told me off or told me I did something wrong but now I know that people who give you criticism usually have your best interests at heart and only want to see you succeed.

The Intern of the Year competition helped me to grow my presentation skills, confidence and ability to network. I have had to present to and speak to some people who are quite senior in the company and I now know how to handle those conversations appropriately. I can now feel confident to approach conversations with people I don’t know and put myself out there.

What are your plans are for the future?

 For me now, the future seems positive. I am returning to Enterprise Mobility to resume my role once I graduate. I am hoping to be promoted to an Assistant Manager role within the first 5 months of returning to the company and to establish myself in a managerial position. From there the future is unknown. I know that Enterprise is where I want to be but there are so many opportunities within the business and my career path could take a variety of journeys. I suppose I would say that I have found where I want to be and am ready for the adventure.

Do you have any advice for prospective students looking to get into business and management?

 Business and management is a really broad degree which can take you anywhere you want to go. If you have the opportunity to do a placement year, I would recommend you do it without a doubt and be prepared for that year to surprise you as it can show you what you want to do or what you don’t want to do, so it teaches you a lot. I found what I wanted to do through my placement and I never thought I would end up in the industry I have. I am so excited as to where that will take me. Be prepared to be surprised, get stuck in, make a name for yourself, work hard but have fun!

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