Arnold Clark job

[squarehead94]

Afternoon all,

I've been offered an interview for a position at my local car dealership, Arnold Clark. It is for a "product genius" position. From what I understand this involves handover, product knowledge, advertising etc.

I'm not one that enjoys sales positions so I'd rather not pursue a career in sales, just wondering if anybody else is in this job and can recommend its positives/negatives or give their thoughts on working for Arnold Clark as a whole.

To put it into perspective, I'm currently safe in my job for at least 2 more years anyway, 15k per year but I can walk to work, this job is a 30 minute drive each way. Once the taxman has taken his cut on any potential pay rise, I'd only see an extra £180pm, so financially its not a huge difference right now. I have a lot of freedom in my role and can prioritize my own workload, and take a break whenever I need to, flexible hours etc, all which this position doesn't appear to have.

My main worry would be to leave and regret it, so any input is gladly appreciated.

Thanks,

Stephen

 

[squarehead94]

^I agree with this

I worked for Arnold Clark about 12 years ago. Its not somewhere I would go back to (fortunately its now 600 miles away).

From your current circumstances, have you added in the fuel costs and time for travel? Does it involve weekends (if this matters to you that is)?
Your current position sounds better to me.

fuel costs isnt a problem, weekends arent so much. but my current position is monday to friday and flexible hours.

To be honest I didn't really want the job, I like having a fixed salary that doesnt change (albeit quite low) but I'm not particularly happy where I am, but I get the feeling I wouldn't be any happier there. I was wondering if anyone would have recommended working for them, as a lot of the reviews I've read were critical, including someone who worked for BMW who said they had a lot of people coming to them from AC complaining about the service etc.

Think I'll stay put and hope a certain nuclear plant comes calling where I've been applying for a number of years.

 

[squarehead94]

I work for AC in sales. I make good money, but I don't enjoy it for various reasons and looking o leave.

The Genius role isn't a sales role per se. You take customers out on test drives, send videos of cars and go through th features and controls when they pick the car up.
You also photograph for the website and do general house keeping jobs in the showroom.
You're paid a few pounds for each test drive and more if they end up being a deal.
You're targeted though it seems quite straight forward to hit targets.
Working culture is poor, expect to work more hours than suggested and have no real rights. Also, they recently changed the rotas for the genius and you have to do at least one 10-8 day a week.
Genius role is seen as a stepping stone to being in sales. For a first job, and wanting to get into sales it's probably not bad but for you it seems, at best, a sideways step.

If you have any company specific questions, send me a trust.

Thanks for that. yes, it seems I made the right choice personally by opting against this position. I think I was initially swayed by being given an interview as I've been knocked back a lot recently despite being currently in work.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[squarehead94]

While your current role is a cushy number and having a quick look at your profile you work at in Local Authority so I'm not surprised I'll warn you not to get too comfortable there. There's rarely any scope for progression or salary increase in Local Authority and you end up getting stale. So while walking to work and being very comfortable in what you're doing is always nice, don't become complacent. (Unless you really enjoy your job and happy with the money).

Not saying take the AC job, if sales isn't for you there's lots of other jobs.

I wouldn't necessarily say I am complacent as such, its just my position is a position that they cannot function without (despite it being boring, its a job that needs to be done) and in my particular role i don't have a boss as such, which is always nice. theres no targets to meet, flexible and can work at my own pace which I appreciate. It can be extremely busy to not having anything to do so I am not complaining there.

Theres no scope for progression here, and no chance of a pay rise, the only reason im still here is because its handy being so local to me, the pay is paying the bills adequately at the moment, and I work with a good group of people (mostly)

I am however actively seeking a new challenge, just where I live there isn't many jobs for me, whether it be under qualified, or it isn't something I would be interested in.

I'm safe in my job for at least 2 years, which is better than what a lot of employers can offer at the moment, so I'm not in the worst position in the world right now.