How an Enduring Partnership Shapes Student Career Success

A global network’s Human Resources team, known for their mobility services, has a decades-long relationship with Seton Hall’s Career Center.

Enterprise Mobility, a privately owned company, consists of three brands: Enterprise, National, and Alamo. They offer services which include car rental, fleet management, truck rental, flexible vehicle hire, car sales, luxury rental and more.

Jennifer Santiago, a talent acquisition manager, began working with Seton Hall’s Career Center when she stepped on to the Human Resources team at Enterprise 19 years ago, but the connection spans further back.

“There’s always been a relationship between Enterprise and Seton Hall, so it does span before my time,” Santiago said. “Twenty plus years…I think that would be pretty accurate.”

Over the years, Santiago participated in multiple career fairs, boot camps and developed a strong relationship with the Career Center staff, deepening a relationship with Seton Hall that spans beyond the Career Center.

“The goal of the Seton Hall team [is] just being about the student success and Enterprise waiting on the other end to really provide those opportunities and take it across the finish line,” Santiago said. “We’ve had a lot of success with Seton Hall students coming through our internship program.”

There is one student who found success at Enterprise through that internship program.

Olivia Scro, who graduated in December 2022 from Seton Hall with a double major in marketing and management, works as an assistant branch manager for Enterprise at the Paramus, NJ, location. Before she started working at Enterprise, she went to the Career Center seeking internship opportunities. “I was a sophomore going into junior year, and I just added on my management major, and I knew [I] needed an internship to graduate,” Scro said.

Scro found a listing for an internship at Enterprise and applied. Jorge Rivera, her career advisor and director of the Career Center, sent her a link to a Teams call seminar with Santiago for the following day, where Santiago spoke about interviewing tips. After attending, Scro reached out to Santiago via LinkedIn, and eventually interviewed with Enterprise.

“I know sometimes it can be a process going through all that job search and then not hearing back,” Scro said. “I was pretty lucky and grateful that I was able to find something and get connected so quick.”

During her time at Seton Hall, Scro took advantage of the Career Center’s resources, as she started her college career knowing that she wanted to receive as much experience as possible before entering the workforce.

“I remember, freshman year, I would meet up with Jorge a lot, and he would help me look for different positions and see what I was interested in and what I wanted to do,” Scro said. “Seton Hall does a good job of providing those resources to their students.”

Scro began the internship at Enterprise summer going into senior year. That fall, she continued as an intern. Knowing that she enjoyed her internship experience, she decided to stay at Enterprise for a full-time position post-graduation.

“I really liked the team that I was working with and in Enterprise, they’re all about promoting from within,” Scro said. “I did the management training program, which is basically your full-time [job]…then eventually got promoted to assistant branch manager, which is where I’m at now.”

Melissa Yuka, a Seton Hall class of 2011 alumna, works as a human resources generalist manager in the Central and Northwest Jersey Region at Enterprise. Her path to Enterprise wasn’t traditional — she graduated with a double major in secondary education and Spanish.

“I thought I was going to be a teacher. That was my trajectory,” Yuka said. However, when it came time to look for teaching positions, she couldn’t find many full-time spots open post-graduation, so she had to pivot.

“I had a recruiter reach out to me about Enterprise, and I had known somebody through a friend that had worked there and said it was a great place to go start our career and add it to our resume,” Yuka said. “I thought, ‘Sure, why not?’”

Yuka figured she would work at Enterprise until she found a teaching job, but she ended up falling in love with the company. “I found success really early within the company and continued to get promoted roughly every year…year and a half,” Yuka said. “It was something that I was able to take my focus and what I loved about teaching and implement it as being a manager and training and developing employees.”

Yuka works alongside Santiago in HR, helping Santiago out in working with the Career Center. A few months ago, she attended a women in leadership forum, marking the first time back to campus since her graduation.

“It was a really cool opportunity to go [to campus] and talk to people that were looking for internships or potential career opportunities…and also using the fact that I didn’t have a traditional major…but talked about how it was able to help me,” Yuka said.

Because she enjoys connecting with students and sharing her experiences, Yuka said she looks forward to working more with the Career Center and Seton Hall.

Santiago echoed a similar sentiment to Yuka. “I love meeting students that are really eager to develop, from a professionalism standpoint, and are eager to find internships and embark on their careers,” Santiago said. “That makes the partnership so fun.”

When it comes to the relationship between the Career Center and Enterprise, Santiago said she sees the relationship growing, as the job market and student interests continue to evolve. Students can have full and complete careers, regardless of where they start out, because Enterprise has many departments to work in, Yuka said.

“I think the beautiful part about Enterprise is you don’t have to have this robust resume of experiences or a specific degree or specific concentration, because all we’re looking for are people that can exhibit our core competencies — leadership, flexibility, communication, customer service, persuasiveness — and that can come from everybody,” Yuka said.

The Career Center and Enterprise Mobility is focused on career growth, student success, and leadership. No matter what major or field a student comes from, this partnership shows success can be found anywhere.

Categories: Education