We meet the Management Undergraduate of the Year Award winner 2015!

Name: Nathan Craig
University: University of Nottingham
Course: Industrial Economics

Nathan is the 2015 Management Undergraduate of the Year with Enterprise-Rent-a-Car! Since getting over the shock of winning, we asked Nathan about his experience!

Hi all!

My name in Nathan Craig and I am fortunate to be the winner of the TARGETjobs Management Undergraduate of the Year Award 2015. 

I decided to apply to the process in late January as a result of receiving an email from my university careers service. Normally I would just skim over my emails, but the award caught my eye in this one and immediately stuck me as an excellent opportunity. I have a keen interest in the automobile industry and have always fancied myself as a sales person, therefore the fact that a placement with Enterprise Rent-A-Car was up for grabs, suited me to a tee. I was invited to take 3 tests, occupational personality, situational judgement and inductive reasoning, within the next few days once I’d submitted my application. 

After a week or so, I was contacted by a talent acquisition manager from Enterprise who invited me to participate in a telephone interview. I tend to get nervous over the phone, so I kept myself as busy as possible up until the last minutes before the interview. The interviewer really was a calming influence and I was able to find my stride quickly. This resulted in me being invited to an assessment centre a few days after the call.

The assessment centre was a great experience. I like to think of Enterprise Rent-A-Car as an iceberg company, there is a lot more that occurs out of sight than you can imagine! I was genuinely surprised by the friendliness of all the people I met at the assessment centre, other candidates as well as current Enterprise employees. I felt I was able to express my personality throughout the day, which was action packed and a great learning experience. Many of the assessors had once been in the same position when they first joined the company, a comforting fact also demonstrating the scope for career progression at Enterprise.

I received an email, within the next few days congratulating me on making the top 10 candidates and inviting me to the awards ceremony in Canary Wharf, definitely a high point as it was an impressive achievement to make it this far into the process. The final was an unforgettable experience and a welcome break from revision. At the ceremony, headlined by Fiona Bruce, I was able to network successful candidates from other assessment centres as well as more Enterprise employees. After a 3-course meal, the winners for each of the awards were called. I was nervous when Fiona Bruce was announcing the shortlist in my category, perhaps because I knew what a great achievement it would be to win this award. As the winner, I was presented my award by Jim Burrell, a remarkable man who has contributed vastly to the success of Enterprise in Europe.

 All in all, I have had a very positive experience, from applying in January to winning in April. I am looking forward to my placement with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, in particular, the week I will have in the USA. I would encourage everyone to apply to this award because it is a fantastic experience regardless of the outcome, and of course you have to be in it to win it! 

Congratulations again Nathan and to all the 2015 finalists!

Fancy giving it a go? Apply here: http://undergraduateoftheyear.com/register