At Gentex’s North Riley Campus in Zeeland, there’s an employee recruiting event going on. But instead of the usual forms, resumes, and career-focused conversations, there are marshmallows, beachballs, and towers being assembled from sticks of spaghetti by 65 energetic sixth graders from Sandy Hill Elementary in Jenison.
As the kids wrap up their construction, Angelica Velez, Senior Quality Warranty Manager at Gentex, goes over how different communications styles on the students’ teams impacted their projects. She ties it back to how different teams work together effectively in the manufacturing facility across the hall.
It’s a far cry from a job fair. But for Gentex, Early Talent Recruiting has been an important part of the company’s efforts to build a pipeline of future employees in the area. Regularly, groups of students ranging from fifth grade to high school tour the manufacturing facilities and engage with Gentex employees to learn about how STEAM subjects have fascinating real-world applications that lead to fulfilling careers.
“It’s important for us to show kids the possibilities there could be in these fields early on. Eventually, they all start start thinking, ‘What could I do? What do I want to do?’” said Daniel Quintanilla, Director of Talent Acquisition at Gentex.
”In high school, they steer themselves toward classes that interest them. But if we show they possibilities that are out there early on, they remember it. They gain a good understanding of what we do and the potential to apply themselves to these careers, whether at Gentex or somewhere else,” he continued.
The events put together through the Early Talent Recruting program at Gentex have become touchpoint for local schools. Local educators often reach out to Gentex to plan visits, including the most recent Sandy Hill Elementary visit. For students, a visit to Gentex can often be more than a simple field trip to a production facility. Visits often include interactive and problem-solving elements. Hamilton Community Schools even partner with Gentex on a semester-long program, called Project Based Learning.
In Project Based Learning, students are assigned a real-world business problem faced by local companies at the start of the term, such as employee retention or talent development. An initial visit at the start of the semester to local companies provides students with the opportunity to ask questions and explore how these issues are impacting the business.
Students then take the problem back to the classroom, where they develop solutions that could help the business with the problem at hand. A workshop visit in the middle of the semester preps students to present their ideas as a business pitch. During their second visit, students have a chance to get feedback from team members and develop their ideas to better align with the realities of the business world (beach party Fridays during the summer may not be exactly feasible, for example).
Students then present their pitches on-stage at a competition at the end of the semester, in front of business representatives, who select the one that seems most likely to be implemented. Through developing their ideas through the program, students often identify needs that are known within the business: 2022’s winning concept was an on-site daycare to help recruit new employees. Gentex was, at the time, working on finalizing plans for an on-site daycare project which broke ground this spring.
Ashley Meyer, Work-Based Learning and Experiential Learning Coodrinator for Hamilton Community Schools, recognizes the impact that a longer-term program with manufacturers like Gentex can have on young students—long before they’re seriously considering careers. Meyer coordinates the Project Based Learning Program with local companies, including Gentex.
“Students love seeing that their ideas matter,” she said, “It’s so rewarding for them to see that business and industry leaders value their opinions.
For Meyer, though, participating in Project-Based Learning at Gentex does more than just familiarize students with the business they’re visiting. The program also open a door for learning about new subjects from a fresh, practical viewpoint. “Students don’t know what they don’t know,” said Meyer. “Exposure to any industry helps our students explore their options, get to know what’s out there, and navigate next steps in their education.”
Quintanilla sees the impact each Early Recruiting event has on students’ perspectives as well, noting that many people underestimate just how important it is to show younger children where their education can take them outside of the usual homework and assignments.
“You want to make sure kids are excited about math, science and engineering from a young age. By the time they’re in high school, it’s too late,” he said. “Many students at that point already think, ‘I don’t like science, I’m bad at math,’ and cross those subjects and careers off entirely. If you get students excited early, they’re exposed to the possibilities of these areas—which they might not have been otherwise.”
In a world where labor shortages in every industry make headlines, such a long-view approach might seem impractical. After all, workers are needed now, not in ten years. But Quintanilla says Gentex takes a more pragmatic look at the effort, having seen results from students who participate in the visits in more ways than one.
“I have met students during high-school visits who have come back to Gentex and gotten jobs and internships here, but I also see how students start to think about their future and their careers when they visit.”
Michelle Styf, science teacher with Holland Christian, saw in person how students quickly connected the brainstorming, teamwork, and problem-solving skills they apply at school with the work that happens at Gentex. Her eighth-grade class toured the manufacturing facilities in the spring, and very quickly linked the skills they were learning at school to the brainstorming and problem-solving that happens at Gentex daily.
“Often, students only think of a handful of jobs—ones that their parents have or ones they have heard of before,” said Styf. “Being able to see how many types of jobs and backgrounds in schooling contribute to the success of a company broadens our students’ perspectives and allows them to see more possibilities.”
In addition to getting younger people interested in STEM careers at Gentex and beyond, Quintanilla sees the Early Recruiting efforts as a great way to emphasize diversity in STEM careers, as well.
“It’s important for us that students see people that look like them in these roles at Gentex,” said Quintanilla. “For example, it’s not a secret that engineering is a still male-dominated field, but we have so many great female engineers at Gentex. Young girls in the classes see that, and have a moment where they realize, ‘Wow, that person looks like me, is so much like me–I can do that too!’”
Ultimately, said Quintanilla, it’s about both the social impacts and the long-term potential in every visit that takes place at Gentex. “The long game is understanding what happens when we talk to the younger kids, the fifth and sixth graders,” he said. “Ultimately, would we love it if they all came back to Gentex as employees? Of course, yes. But it’s about more than that—it’s about their career, their future, and them not putting any limits on what they can achieve.”
“The long game is understanding what happens when we talk to the younger kids, the fifth and sixth graders. Ultimately, would we love it if they all came back to Gentex as employees? Of course, yes. But it’s about more than that—it’s about their career, their future, and them not putting any limits on what they can achieve.”
