Jake Blaney supported day-to-day operations at Enterprise Mobility, assisting with management, customer service, and sales strategies.
How did you get your internship?
I got my internship through a prior connection at the company, my father. He works there and was able to get me in touch with the recruiter. I was applying to internships while I was studying abroad in Barcelona, so the big time difference made it difficult to move forward in my search because many of my opportunities required a zoom meeting. But with the right motivation and scheduling I was able to make it all work and move forward with an opportunity at Enterprise.
Why did you choose this internship?
I chose this internship because I asked my brother about his experience because he had also interned at Enterprise. One of the main things I was worried about was just sitting in the office all day being the errand guy or just getting everyone coffee. For my internship I wanted real hands-on experience and to be a part of something. He explained to me that at work at Enterprise is the complete opposite--you are thrown into action and get many hours of real experience with customers and sales training. This sounded like something I would definitely prefer even if it meant more hard work than a “normal” office internship
What new skills did you develop in this internship?
The two main skills are the ones I just mentioned: customer service and sales training. At Enterprise, I learned how to deal with all types of customers, especially the difficult ones. Being able to defuse situations and have the customer walk out the door satisfied was one of the things they trained us on the most, which I feel is super important and can be used in any future job I may encounter. Next was sales. I was selling to every customer in every interaction so I got comfortable giving a pitch and even improvised it in the moment based on what worked and what didn't. This was a big deal for me, because even if you aren't in a sales job you will still have to be able to communicate and adapt in the moment.
What was your favorite part of your internship?
My favorite part of my internship was my co-workers. On the first day I sort of kept my guard up, but as time went on I became close with all 10 of them. It was meaningful for me because on some of the slow days it didn't feel like work because you have friends there that are easy to talk to and pass the time with. Also on busy days you can have those short interactions which keep you going. This was honestly a game changer for me and really made my experience.
What did you find most challenging about your internship? Did you learn anything from it?
The most challenging thing for me was the summer heat and the full-time schedule. This was my first real job and putting in 45 hour weeks in the brutal Arizona heat was honestly exhausting. There were days when I would wake up and wonder how I was going to get through the day or perform at work. What kept me going was looking forward to fun events and always finding small things around me and trying to make the most out of them. I learned that in the work life, there are going to be days that you want to quit or give up. You just have to find those small things around you to keep going.
What was the most significant contribution you made?
The most significant contribution I made was actually for my final project for the internship. It was implementing a weekly "MVP" award within the branch, made up of a bunch of criteria like sales but also a group vote for who they believed worked the hardest and deserved to be the MVP. If you won MVP, you got a bunch of cool perks like flex out Friday where you get to leave early. My manager already told me that they will be keeping this when I leave so it feels really awesome to know that something I contributed will continue to be put to use when I'm gone.
What advice do you have for other students as they search for their internship?
My biggest advice would be not to stress too much about getting the "best" internship. At the end of the day this doesn't have to be your forever job; find something that seems interesting to you and go for it. Over the course of your internship you will find out if you like it or not and you will learn so much about yourself and what you're actually interested in. Try and find a versatile internship where you do a little bit of everything so you can find something you actually love and then go pursue it.