working your way up, lot attendant and not manager, start from scratch

[joe4520]

i applied for this job at a car rental place as a rental agent, and also as a manager in training postion , and went for the interview. when i went to the interview, the manager told me that i had to start off as a lot attentant(washing cars and picking up customers). i was hestitant in the position, but later on accepted it.

i was told that even to do the managee in training postion, that one has to start off working as a lot attentant before he can become a manager- the manager that interviewed me said it took him 3 yrs.and how he had to work his way up too.

he said everyone has to start off working as a lot attendant before even becoming a manager. pretty much working you way up into the company. is this the way it is with a lot of companies. one has to work there way up. it doesn;t matter about your previous work experience or even education. once your in a new company , you pretty much have to start from scratch.

so what if you have a 4 year university degree in marketing/business, and your looking for work-and you get told you have to start off washing cars/picking up customers for like a year before you can become a rental agent and do that for a year or so before you become a manager. i was told i had to only do it for 3 months, but thinking now i'm doubting it with the co workers i'm talking to(both guy been doing lot attendant for 9 months before going to rental agent-and taht just rental agent lol. imagine hey making 10/hr ,but going to school for 4 yrs in univesity with a 40k debt.

funny thing is even the manager/supervisor at the rental place doesn;t even make a lot of money, he only makes like 17/hr. seems pretty stressful position too from what i always see him doing. takes you 3 years to get a manager position and he only makes a 1k more a month than the lot attendants. is it worth it.

i thought as long as your qualification match and you have the education and previous work experience , then why does one have to start from scratch.

so what the different between retail management job and management job you get with a business degree. what do they do that is different. how much would a retial management guy make. this is at a car rental business.

what kind of job can u do with a diploma in business management and a 1 yr info tech certificate than.

[Bazooka Joe]

Wow - where to begin...

I don't know anyone who comes out of university and gets a manager's job right off the bat. It's unheard of, especially with a company that you don't have any experience with (let alone with an industry you don't have any experience in). Managers need to have learned the "soft skills" that they don't teach in school, which involves doing grunt work, then supervision and working your way up. What was your previous work experience and how does it relate? (co-op helps but doesn't really count - we're talking full time employment here)

I am unaware of any universities that give out diplomas or technical certificates. Universities typically give out degrees upon completion of the program.

IMO a job is a job. I've worked in everything from fast food to international engineering firms. However, with a business degree (??) you should be able to do better than $10 an hour. I would contact career services for the university you attended to get help with the job finding process if I were you.

As for "the different between retail management job and management job you get with a business degree", you could write a book on the subject. A manager at a retail chain often has little understanding of economics, business, presentation skills, technical writing, etc...

Edit: How do you know what everyone makes at the company? And how do you consider "only makes a 1k more a month than the lot attendants. is it worth it." not worth it? 1k more a month is 12k more a year. I don't care how much you're making, an extra 12k a year is a LOT of money.

[blainehamilton]

This is why you should have 4 to 5 years job experience (summer and part time) by the time you graduate with a degree.

Most employers are very hesitant to hire someone into a high tier position directly unless they bring a good amount of relevant job experience to the table.

I find it hilarious that people graduate with a degree, have ZERO job experience in the field, and expect to become a manager making 60 to 100k or more without any effort.

Expect 3 to 10 years of HARD WORK to get into upper levels of any company you work for. If you have previous experience or get lucky, you might do it in less, but not likely.

As for the job in question, you can do better. Car rental agencies are a low industry, not great pay. You could have skipped uni altogether, taken a 3 month business course after high school, and worked there for 3 years and probably own the place by now.

Hunt around with more employers, someone has to have an entry position that doesn't involve washing cars and picking up customer snotty kleenexes from under the seats...

[ACC-Major]

hmm how do u guys count your work experiences? so basically you work for 1 summer and it counts as 1 year of experience? and then u work for 3-4 summers while in university and u have 3-4 years of experience upon graduation?

[blainehamilton]

No, I kept a part time job (8-10 hours a week) my whole time thru university. During the summer I kept the part time job and worked a full time one as well.

Also, I had worked part time during the last 2 years of high school, and full time during the summer since I was 14 as well.

Hence 5+ years of job experience when I graduated. Added bonus of next to no student loans from school, and a comfortable living thanks to spare cash.

I would only consider a full year of full time employment to equal 1 year of experience.

[OS44]

hmm how do u guys count your work experiences? so basically you work for 1 summer and it counts as 1 year of experience? and then u work for 3-4 summers while in university and u have 3-4 years of experience upon graduation?

how in the world did you come to this conclusion???

[ACC-Major]

I was just wondering how you people get so many years of experiences as fresh university graduates lol. so i thought must be that accounting treatment you guys used.

ehh never mind then.

[bernZ]

No... not summer work. Part time work with full time school. Gotta work hard for the good jobs!

[OS44]

to the OP, find another job

if you have a degree you should be doing better $10/hr doesn't matter what position you are in

[untaka]

To OP Be well aware companies lie. I mean they will lie so much and make you believe this is the greatest company in the world and you will be promoted and be showered with riches. The truth is you MIGHT get promoted, so if your still a car lot attendant in 1 year don't say you weren't warned. Also it isn't about hard work or how well you work, its about how much they like you and if that opportunity comes.

[molala]

is it Enterprise you're working for by any chance? I always see them advertise to hire university fresh grad as manager trainee

[nxkev]

Another to the OP, I think you consider this as a job rather than a career. If your already in the position, keep it and actively seek other careers/jobs. Unless Customer Service is what you are interested in doing, but if that was the case go into Sales.

[IceBlueShoes]

is it Enterprise you're working for by any chance? I always see them advertise to hire university fresh grad as manager trainee

I was wondering the same thing. I remember I got an interview out of college with them, but during the interview realized that sales really isn't my thing.

[DBOi]

I am pretty sure job experience and work/degree related job experience is very different.

If you want to find an engineering job n you have 10+ yrs at Mcdonalds i don't think that'll help a bit

[BornRuff]

In all honesty, your first post doesn't really make any sense. If you want to get a good job, working on communicating your ideas would be a big plus.

What education do you personally have?

It certainly is not the case that you have to start from scratch every time you start working for a new company if you have built up a lot of good experience. Companies hire from outside all of the time for upper level jobs. Do you really think the CEO of the company you work for got there by starting as a lot attendant?

If you have very little job experience or skill though, then ya, you'll have to start from the bottom.

In any career, your not going to get top level jobs right out of school. People do not tend to spend 4 years in school and then park cars though. You normally find a job that uses the skills you learned. In short, you wont get high level jobs without real world work experience, but a good educaton will deffinatly get you a job that is better than the one you have now right out of uni.

[siriuskao]

funny thing is even the manager/supervisor at the rental place doesn;t even make a lot of money, he only makes like 17/hr. seems pretty stressful position too from what i always see him doing. takes you 3 years to get a manager position and he only makes a 1k more a month than the lot attendants. is it worth it.


Unless they have some super bonus structure set for the managers or maybe better positions at HQ, otherwise it looks like a dead end job to me (at 17/h).