The partnership between Enterprise Rent-A-Car and UT Dallas is helping to support students in the Naveen Jindal School of Management, including Samantha Jarrell. Jarrell, with Dr. Howard Dover (left), director of the school's professional sales concentration, and Bill Hensley, area rental manager at Enterprise, received a scholarship award from Enterprise for fall 2016.
Students graduating from the Naveen Jindal School of Management's Center for Professional Sales are often landing jobs before they graduate and are earning an average of $68,000 their first year on the job, said Dr. Howard Dover, director of the Jindal School’s professional sales concentration.
In the center’s undergraduate and graduate classes, students learn to use digital tools to find prospects, market to customers and manage sales teams. Enterprise Rent-A-Car has a relationship with the University that involves support for the center, which provides student development and courses that focus on practical experience, including competition-style events judged by industry executives and hiring managers.
The company recently established an Opportunity Fund, which is an unrestricted endowment created with a gift of at least $10,000 that can be pledged over five years. Enterprise’s endowment will provide an ongoing investment in future business leaders, and increase the flow of job candidates coming from the Jindal School.
“Enterprise Rent-A-Car has been fortunate to have the Jindal School as a resource,” said John Hebner, regional vice president for Enterprise in Dallas. He said that recruiters from Enterprise regularly attend UT Dallas Career Expos to find students for its popular management training program, which educates employees on management, customer service and leadership.
“We look for candidates who have good communication and leadership skills, and a strong work ethic. Interns and candidates that come to us from UT Dallas have these qualities,” Hebner said.
Six students from the Jindal School started internships at Enterprise this fall.
“Enterprise is known as one of the best places to start your career in business,” Dover said. “Their leadership and training program is best in field, and we are pleased to have our students engage with an industry leader like Enterprise.”