mechanic

sales consultant

customer service representative

product consultant

parking attendant

Arnold Clark

Where to start, I started as a product Genius back in 2018, might I say.. what a job, it was great. You were appreciated and the job felt like a skill. You were encouraged to learn about cares and show customers that knowledge. As time went on you were valued less and less as part of the team, more and more is added onto your job and it makes the job unbearable. 

When I first started it was very well paying on a commission structure, and your job was simple, rewarding but really challenged you in some areas...Which progressed you to be the best you could be. 

I left the company in 2021, and the role I came to love...it didn't exist and from what I have been told since the role as pretty much a shadow of its former self. 

Genies are now being forced to sell cars when they don't want to, they are being targeted on sales, the pay is absolutely terrible...

Like myself when I joined as a genie...the reason I joined as a genie and not a salesman was for one simple reason...I didn't want to sell cars... So now genies have to sell cars...they are on the same pay structure as Sales Executives so what is the point in the genie role? Seriously if you are doing everything that the sales executives are doing then what is the point in having a separate title for the same role. 

It's a real shame because I would tell people proudly what I did, I was proud to work for Arnold Clark, a company that valued it's employees, paid generously and offered good discounts off cars and other benefits...

But the pay went down, our car discount was taking from us so really there was no incentive to buy a car from Arnold Clark...the one saving grace was Arnold Clark had a market leading interest rate at 4.9% but now even that has gone up to 6.9%. 

I would go else where now, and buy a car which isn't battered when you pick it up and riddled with problems... 

But that is irrelevant back to the matter at hand. There used to be 2 genies I'm my branch... And we easily completed the work load that we were given and now their are 8, and they struggle to stay on top of all of the things they need to do? Something doesn't add up. Mark my words the Genies within the company will start to leave and go else where. It will take 12 months or so and then some genius at headoffice will say "Oh yeah we seem to be losing genies? You don't think it will be down to the excessive work load, poor wages and unlimited hours they work do you think?" 

When I was there, I really struggled with mental health, I felt absolutely at rock bottom and I kept getting pressured to do more and more and I eventually went forward and aired these feelings with a Mentor within the team... They couldn't care less... I went home everynight feeling defeated, every single day I woke up in dread knowing that I had to return...that breaks my heart because rewind 2 years and this was a job I would happily stay and hour or 2 after my finish time to get the job done, to give the best customer service possible...but nobody cares. 

I now work for a rival company doing the same job, getting paid way more, having a lot less jobs to do, respected and valued as part of the team and most of all..given a voice, a voice to be able to implement ideas I have... Ideas which have helped myself and the team. 

I can only hope that the colleagues that I spent 4 years with, friends. I hope they can find another job where they are treated like humans again, treated with the respect they deserve. 

The sad thing is my General Manager died not too long ago, he was a bloody good guy, his death tore the team apart. He would be devastated to see what his branch has become... What this company has become. God bless him. 
 
I think that gives a brief insight of what working for Arnold Clark was like.. before you start just asking yourself 

Do you like working long hours with no job Satisfaction? 

Do you want to spend every waking moment feeling at rock bottom and underappreciated? 

Do you want to have a job role that constantly changes and implement things that aren't in your contract and that are way out of your comfort zone? 

Good News! This is the company for you. 

Yes it’s a thing, how quick you can do a job compared to some inadequate tooling and timescales makes it impossible to be 100% efficient. Particularly my branch had outdated tools, a hydraulic press that slowly releases pressure over time (dangerous) wheel alignment equipment that’s not been calibrated in years and therefor redundant, a brake pressure bleeder from 1980’s that was recycled and no longer worked but still had to carry out jobs requiring a pressure bleeder for abs pumps etc. Promised dealer training which lasted my first 6 month term and was not offered anymore after countless enquiries into it. Times on certain jobs are ridiculous for example tyres which in total you get about 5 minutes which includes bringing the car in, putting it on a ramp, removing and fitting a new tyre, balancing it and refitting it, then carrying out a road test, ridiculous. Management only cares about how your efficiencies are as if they are not up to where they want them to be they are pestered by higher above which in turn ends up at the lowest of the food chain, me. I was told from management that they didn’t care about quality of work but more how quickly the job could be done. Personally I think the company needs to re think it’s strategy when it comes to technician efficiency, over the years of working here I spoke to many employees from other branches who all said they would cut corners to hit targets, something I couldn’t do, therefor making it a worse blow when I was complained at for technically doing the job correct without comebacks. There is workshop favouritism implemented and is used strategically to allow management and workshop controllers to help out their out of work friends/colleagues by giving them easier jobs which have acceptable time frames in result allowing them to raise their targets and making their bonus at their 6 month TIP meeting and the ones that didn’t make it were made to feel that they had let everyone down, bringing morale down within the workshop. Covid safety training was implemented, and unfortunately it seems everyone has forgotten there is a pandemic on as very little people were disinfecting cars before and after use, not wearing masks and not following max room numbers allowed. Overall I’m pretty disappointed as there are some good things, my colleagues for example were brilliant and will hopefully stay friends with them for a long time, nothing was too much for some and they would do anything to help me out if I required it. You did have the usual older technician that knew best and are never wrong... but you get them everywhere. I felt the way the company handled the pandemic was good, I also enjoyed the work as it varied from servicing to repairs and warranty work which was a good variety. But lacking in the training front, I think the company would benefit of having a standard for training for all their employees to make sure everyone is on the same boat so no one is falling short in terms of what they can do. Working 6 days a week is hard work when it’s your rota’d Saturday shift and feel that the weekend is short and that you don’t feel refreshed for the Monday coming. They’re is no overtime pay increase at all which I find poor as there is no incentive to work the extra hours but it is forced upon you as you must work 60 hours overtime within a 6 month period which isn’t difficult but once again there is no incentive. I was constantly reminded that if I wasn’t happy, then I knew where the door was. After 5 years, I finally walked through it. I don’t think every employee has had an experience like mine and some people speak highly of the company, but I can’t after what I’ve experienced. 

If you like your mental wellbeing then this company isn't for you. I have been within the company for nearly 5 years and recently moved to a better job. Management treat you like dirt to say the least, I have heard area managers talking about employees in a malicious way while staff were present.
I have seen a woman literally have disciplinary after disciplinary just to get her out the door because managemnet didn't like her, she must have had at least 3 disciplinary's within 2 weeks, she was reduced to tears and made to feel like she wasn't wanted.

My father passed away and i fell out with one of the driver/valeters who happens to be mates with the manager, started doing childish things like block my car in near hometime etc, told the manager and nothing happened, he basically told me that i make mountains out of molehills, to the point that i lost my patience and blew my top, i then told the manager that i wanted to raise a grievance and broke down in tears to him as my father passed away 2 weeks prior. t
The Peoples Team came out and told me that if i exploded again then i would be in for a disciplinary? I was also diagnosed with depression from my doctor and the company knew this also.

I gave my resignation and stated a few of the incidents and they wrote to me asking if I wanted to raise a grievance (again) gave me literally 4 days to do this, so I rang up to speak to a member of the People's Team, which it does state in the letter, yet all she said was to send the letter back signed and they will investigate, no return envelope provided either? and she was very blunt on the phone, so I ask, is it worth it. (might get another disciplinary!!). 

I have heard managers talking down to you and tell you that your jobs are 'ten a penny' and that you could be replaced in no time. 
If your after progression you have no chance, i applied for a panel beater position that had been advertised when i first started 4 and a half years ago only to be told that i am too old? but then the company decides that they will employ someone older who has had panel beating experience 25 years ago??

As a driver/valeter you are the bottom of the pecking order and anyone can treat you like dirt and talk to you like dirt too, manager will tell you that it is something for you and the individual to sort out?

They boast that they are a family friendly, yet they love to increase your hours as they please, and increase your working days, sometimes working 51.5 hours in a week, and if you don't like it then you can use the door on your way out.

So eventually after being spoken too by the front desk girls like rubbish, and reporting it to the manager, only to be told that i wouldn't want the same incident happening after my father passed away!,  They are also moving to Warrington, so i decided to say goodbye to this place, and i have never been more happier.

It is a very poorly run company that doesn't mind commiting all kinds off discrimination and will discipline you for turning up a minute late, you need to look at staff turnover because i have seen hundreds of people come and go, and the things you see management get away with will leave you shocked. you soon realise that the peoples team are there to defend all managers from staff.

avoid like the plague, there are much better companies out there.

A typical day at work with Arnold Clark involves a quick team meeting in the morning follow up by organizing your day and chasing up any customer quotations from the day before, and then looking to get more customers at your desk throughout the course of the day. You may also be asked to get stock cars to take photos of, or do a site walk to improve presentation of stock. Throughout the day you will also be expected to prospect customers and try to create appointments for customers to come and see you if they are looking to upgrade their car. 

What I learned at Arnold Clark is that hard work can pay off. The more effort you put into your day to day work, means that you can walk home at the end of the month with more money in your bank. You have to be proactive within the car sales industry and you have to meet your allocated targets to really reap the benefits. 
It's not the kind of job where you can be lazy as there is always something for you to do.  In a short sense, what I learned from working as a car salesman, is: Work hard, Play hard. 

The management of the job can go one of 2 ways. You can have sales managers/ general managers who are greedy and want the branch to strive but at the cost of salesmen under stress, or because they are mistreated. Or you can have a sales manager/ General manager who wants their salesmen to strive and earn as much as they can by helping them along the way and motivating the team in order for them to perform better. 

The workplace culture at Arnold Clark can be very strange to adjust to as there are always new salesmen coming and going. You will always have senior salesman who have been there from what feels like the dawn of time, and you will always get the gap stop employees or the salesman who cant cope under the long hours and stressful environment. The workplace culture, generally revolves around getting on with other people very well as, if you aren't able to get on with your team, then your days will be long as you are there a lot of your time. It's almost a second home to you, and if you can't get on well with others you will struggle, even with your customers. 

The hardest part of the job is by far the amount of time you spend there. Its a lot of hours and you can miss out on a lot of family time as the work/personal life balance can be very unfair. 

The most enjoyable part of the job, easily, is making customers happy. If a customer walks away from your desk happy with their new purchase and drives away in their new car with a grin on their face, then its a job well done. Things aren't meant to be difficult for customers, and while this isn't always the case, there are always going to be mistakes happening and customers feeling upset over things that may not be within our control. But at the end of the day, we are there to assist them in making the second biggest purchases of their lives, so why not make it as smooth as possible for them and feel happy about it when a customer can drive away complaint free and give you that well deserved positive feedback that can make your day.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Arnold Clark. I am 6 years with the company and have seen it come on leaps and bounds in this time. As a company they are always looking to better themselves and employ from within. I started with the company straight out of college into a sales assistant role and have progressed to a sales manager position. This is down to a brilliant support network and vast opportunities for growth if you are willing to grasp them. The company has shown that they are willing to invest in their employees and they understand that university qualifications aren't what shape a person’s career path unlike most companies. I am excited to be part of the journey that the group is on and would encourage anyone to join.

The company is continuously working on developing their core beliefs and over the past year I have seen a massive change in the manor of which they achieve their goals. They are making strong efforts to make everyone feel a part of the process, which gives you as an employee real confidence and belief in what you are doing so instead of being a small piece of a jigsaw not know how you are making a difference, instead they are developing was to show you the full picture at the beginning with full transparency in how the communicate this. 

The most enjoyable part of my Job is achieving my monthly goals, there is a real buzz about achieving your goals and seeing the plans you have set out come to fruition. 
Ironically this is also the hardest part of my Job, The Company strives for growth, and standing still is not an option for them, so when you are not achieving your goals the pressure starts to mount.

The introduction of the People team and within that the Think Employee team for me is one of the most encouraging changes that I have seen happen at my time with the company. They show a real interest in you as an employee and the stigma of HR only being there to dismiss people is slowly beginning to lift.

I think the company still has a long way to go in achieving their goals, I think communication and transparency is the best it’s ever been but there is still a lot of stigma around how decisions are made and this getting relayed to staff in a timely manner. I also believe there is a lot of good staff hiding in the shadows of the company and that not all staff have the luck of having a great mentor or management team to really optimize their potential. I think the company would benefit from a career progression department within the Think Employee teams.

I work within the People Team (HR) at Arnold Clark who were one of only a few companies willing to hire me fresh out of University with little to no experience and put the time, effort and money into training me up and providing me with the knowledge I now have, in such a short time. I have just completed one successful year in the People Team with AC during which I started as a People Assistant and was offered a promotion to People Advisor within 5 months. I reached this level in such a short time thanks to the outstanding support and training I received daily from my individual mentor I was assigned on my first day as well as the supportive management team I have been lucky to have (who don't mind being asked 1 million questions per day, and actually encourage asking!). 

Their hands-on and practical approach to training involves shadowing different kinds of People Team meetings from day one with Advisors and Senior Advisors, rather than classroom training. They believe that the best way to learn is to experience the scenarios you may face first-hand and shadow the experienced senior advisors, learning their techniques of dealing with difficult situations, and I completely agree. This level of support and training is given to all new starters in the department, whether you have no experience or 10+ years, which ensures we are consistent within the team and everyone feels supported. The supportive atmosphere within the office also allows for open dialogue to discuss queries or difficult cases with the rest of our team, meaning that we learn new things every day and learn from each other through our difficult cases. 

I also enjoy the travelling element of the role which sees us in branches nearly every day, meaning we are an 'HR' department that is truly in-tune with what is happening in the organisation, something not a lot of businesses can say with centralised HR departments. The travelling element of the job also gives you a great sense of autonomy by organising and managing your own diary and meetings, again something not a lot of people experience in their jobs!

Overall, I could not have asked for a better way to start my HR career and for better people to have helped me start it! I have grown a lot career-wise and more importantly have grown as a person since starting here and being exposed to a variety of cases which can be as equally challenging as they can be heartwarming. I would thoroughly recommend Arnold Clark to anyone, especially if you are looking to start your career in a Company that you want to grow and develop. And where every day is different!

I have worked with Arnold Clark for nearly seventeen years.  I have worked in a few different departments over the years.   In my opinion Arnold Clark is a very good company to work for.  You get good benefits for example great staff discounts, a good pension scheme, private health insurance, etc.  

A typical month for me.  

My job title is Administrator.  On an average month I can be doing the following: 

- Checking third party websites and doing deep-link checks (on various motor websites)
- Scanning returned mail.  Basically customer deletions.
- Placing stationery orders
- Stock take for the departments I work in. 
- Running various reports (weekly & monthly basis). 
- Hand-filling.  This is usually when we have campaigns and boxes are needing made up and campaign items put in and packed.  These are usually good fun but can be quite stressful at times.  Especially if not all of the items arrive occasionally there's something that arrives at the last minute from a supplier.  
- Online enquiries.  

Above I have listed just a few of the main things that I work on. 

I would not like to do a job which has just one role or task as this can be very boring and monotonous.  Having done a job like this in the past.  I came to realise that I like a job which includes a variety of different tasks.  

My favourite part of my job is probably doing the stock take for my department, checking stock levels and talking to the branches on the phone re orders or queries or deep-link checks which requires me to phone the branches.  I am very much a people person and have very good communication skills. 

I currently work in a very busy department and have quite a varied role which I like.  I have many friends and colleagues at Arnold Clark who look out for me.  I have recently suffered a loss of a close family member and my department, the company were, have been incredibly supportive to me.  They are very good at looking after its staff especially at these difficult times.  

Arnold Clark is a business that is not only about selling and buying vehicles but is also about people.  It is a company that cares about its staff and values each member of staff, looks out for its staff.  As an Arnold Clark employee I have been told and know that I am a valued member of staff.  It's always nice to be told, though.    

I would and have recommended Arnold Clark to friends and associates who have been looking for jobs over the years as I said earlier It is a good company to work for.

Worked there for about 3 months. First thing to note, the salary WILL be below anything you can imagine - was told on my first day that when I "got off the license programme" my basic would be either £9'000 (with company car) or £12'000 (without) which is a "motor industry standard" apparently. What's the license programme? I'll get to that ... Now, if you work that out for a 6-day, 55+ hour week is around £4.20/hour. That's less than half minimum wage. How do they get around it? The commission structure.

So the license programme is basically a training-wheel safety net for new starters until you have proved you can hit your KPI's and actually sell the way that AC want you to sell. Whilst you are on it, your basic wage is bumped up to £12'000/£15'000 but your commission is severely capped but it does give you that little bit of security if you need some help when you get started. For those that are experienced in car sales it might be tedious though. This means that to get your top commission, it's not about selling volume of cars so much as getting people to sign up for the extras.

My GM and Sales Manager allowed me to sell cars from day one. This was not the case in all branches when I went on the 5 days sales course about 5 weeks into working. The training that I went on was pretty good and helped me understand the process that they want you to follow - if you stick with it and follow the brand standard way of selling, you WILL sells cars and extras to hit your commission targets.

What I would say is this - the adverts that I answered mentioned nothing about a 6-day week, nothing about working 11 hour days (I was fine with finishing late, but having to start at 9am and finish at 8pm was very excessive when not much happens early doors), working EVERY weekend both days and a false basic wage was a shock to say the least. Also, when they claim you will get 100 days off a year - that included your 1 rota'd day off each week - so it was really only 48 days of holiday. If you think about it, any other job would give you 104 days off a year PLUS your holiday so it was a bit of a crock.

From the beginning of the day to the end of the day you are responsible for making your own income. A very low basic salary however high income potential if you want it. I maintained my own diary of appointments, handovers and jobs to be done. Nothing gets done without the proper advance planning and following through yourself. 

I learned many things here as if you want to learn there are the opportunities to do so, I had never sold a car or anything in fact before i had started a career as a salesman. For me the most valuable thing that I learned about sales is it is not just about the sale and the product it was about the people that I dealt with and forming relationships. The satisfaction of getting the sale was gone however the satisfaction that I had fulfilled my role to the best of my abilities and the customer was satisfied that I had done my best for them. Salesman sell a customer a product however good salesman will continue to sell them in to the future.

The management within the branch were second to none, supportive in every way were able to deal with situations without having to raise voices. If the management asked for something to be done it was a mutual respect treat people the way you expect to be treated. 

The staff group made the job easier than it was, on average you will spend around 55 hours per week at work that was more time than i spent at home with my family. With the amount of time spent at work you make some real good friends and a second family.

The hardest part of the job is easily the customers expectations and the opinions of many customers, the stereotypical car salesman. Sell the customer something that they do not need and once the sale is done it is not their problem. Harsh reality many salesman do not care and unfortunately we were initially tarred with the same brush until proved otherwise and i did prove myself many times. Customers that buy a car several years old and expect a brand new one, unfortunately you get what you pay for.

For me the most enjoyable part of the job was the customer meeting some fantastic people everyone was different and all had a different story to tell. You meet everyone from the bottom right up and not just the directors or the controllers but from the kitchen porter to the company director and many more in between.

I have worked for Arnold Clark since 2016, I have always felt very welcome in the company. They have great training courses to ensure you are working to the best potential in the workplace.
I started off in Sales as a Product Genius, The job was great - Being obsessed with anything car related I felt this job was well suited for me - I was taking photos of vehicles on a daily basis, Taking customers on test drives and also doing vehicle handovers ensuring the customer was happy with the car they have purchased. 

About a year after I started in Rental, The job was so much more customer based, It was very challenging but made you feel so happy and please at the end of a busy work day when seeing how much you have done in a day. I was a Driver/Valeter and Rental Advisor in the department (They called it a Hybrid). It expanded my horizon on what was happening on the front desk for customers collecting vehicles, what was returning but also what was needing to be delivered. Due to being a driver too I knew what deliveries were able to be tied in with other deliveries/collections. 

Just after a year and a half I was moving to a different location. Now working in such a busier location I felt it was such a great challenge and opportunity for me, we had a lot more stock on fleet, more customers, longer working hours. It was great! 
A few months into the job in the new branch however I started to realize how unappreciated I was, There was also so many more procedures that would double the work amount when there was such easier ways to go about completing the task. I was getting paid less at the job but was working more hours which was a shame, I loved the job role I was in but just didn't feel welcome in the branch I was now working in. I felt worried that it would put me off the job and i'd loose interest. I stuck at it and kept working hard and being as helpful with customers as I could - I wanted their rental experience to be perfect. 
The only thing that ruined it was the fact I felt like I didn't get on well with the staff. I really wanted to make friends at the branch but didn't feel like this was happening, When working in the branch I felt I didn't fit in and it was quite unsettling. 
That's just a one off experience though so it hasn't changed my mind on how company is to work for or buy/rent from.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Mechanic 117 salaries reported	£44,829 per year
Sales consultant 66 salaries reported	£36,973 per year
Customer service representative 40 salaries reported	£25,700 per year
Product consultant 3 salaries reported	£25,500 per year
Parking attendant 37 salaries reported	£30,966 per year

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