Enterprise's Virtual MBA

The rental-car company offers interns exposure to all areas of its business -- with impressive results

Enterprise Rent-a-Car's management training program has been called a virtual MBA because participants learn about and manage all parts of a business, says Marie Artim, assistant vice-president of recruiting for Enterprise. Although she encourages candidates from a variety of backgrounds to apply, Artim says those with an undergraduate business degree do best in the program.

And once recent graduates are in the company, they find plenty of room for advancement. A startling 95% of senior management got their start in the management training program, which Artim says illustrates the company's "promote-from-within" culture.

Artim, who herself started at Enterprise through the management training program, has been with the company for 14 years. During her tenure, she was promoted through the rental-management division. She eventually landed in human resources at company headquarters in St. Louis, where she oversees company-wide undergraduate recruitment.

She recently spoke with BusinessWeek Online reporter Jeffrey Gangemi. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow:

Roughly how many hires are you making this year?

We're hiring about 7,000 college graduates this year, as well as about 1,700 interns for mainly summer internship programs. The intent of our management internship program is to create a pipeline of folks into the company for full-time roles.

What majors do you consider most appealing?

We welcome folks from all backgrounds, all majors. But we have an emphasis on students with a business, marketing, or management background. They also seem to be most interested in the [management program].

That said, we also have success with students coming from communications and liberal arts. Any education can bring skills or attributes that can help you be successful.

What's the internship like?

Interns are involved in all aspects of running the business and are given the responsibilities of a true employee. They're compensated on an hourly basis, and that's driven by the market that they're in. In addition to that, our internships generally have scholarship contests and different bonuses to offer incentives to interns and get them excited about what they're doing each day.

What's the structure of the full-time management training program?

It's not a set length, it's dependent on the individual. But people normally complete the management training program in eight to 12 months. They'll be trained and involved in everything -- from the marketing and sales aspects to customer relationships to the financials and profitability of the business, as well as employee development.

What are the most important skills that managers need to have at Enterprise?

We combine the hands-on learning with some classroom-style training. It includes orientation and initial development of skills in the areas of leadership, management, and customer service. There are also more specific trainings to help new hires understand our income statements and other procedures.

What schools do you target, and when do you do most of your recruiting?

Enterprise has a decentralized recruiting program. While I manage company-wide direction and strategy, we have over 200 recruiters in the field that hire on a day-to-day basis for the management training program.

We have contact and make hires at about 1,000 colleges and universities each year. Our recruiters are out on campus from the beginning of the fall semester, and they'll work on a campus for the entire year. They offer on-campus interviews in the fall and the spring.

How many interviews do students go through, and what types?

A candidate first interviews directly with a recruiter. Next, they'll interview at one of our sites, where they'll meet with an area manager and a branch manager. We do follow a behavioral-based interviewing structure.