Customer Experience/Manager of Tire Sales - Catalyst Program
Pros
The corporate side of the company takes great care of the Catalysts for the most part. They fly you to Chicago and Nashville multiple times for training and fun experiences. The benefits from the company are great as well as the potential opportunity to diversify and grow within the company.
Cons
As part of the catalyst program, after the initial internship, you are placed into a customer experience/manager of tire sales role with the promise of advancement after 6-10 months. However, whether or not you meet the requirements for advancement are completely up to your personal manager's interpretation and there is no standard at all. For example, from the corporate side catalysts just need a general understanding of a role to advance, and while some store managers understand this and will promote relatively easily, others hold catalysts to ridiculous expectations, and only see the catalyst as a benefit to themselves and thus will hold them back. Basically, your career success depends on your manager's personal outlook of success and the way they choose to manager their store, not what corporate thinks on the matter. Also at least a year store experience is needed to even apply for a position outside of the store, which many of us college grads want, and thus has sent over half out the door.