In the recent years, there has been a huge push to educate the upcoming millennials — to bring them into our industry, shape their opinions and instill an understanding of how it works. We hear about scholarships for conferences and events and for their schooling on a regular basis. However, we rarely hear from the students in how they are impacted from these experiences.
Recently, we featured an article about 21 students who had the opportunity to attend the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW) through an internship program, in partnership with GenNext and Northwood University. In that article, Tim Kraus, president and chief operating officer of HDMA, stressed the importance of exposing these new students to the industry.
Together with the help of Megan Guess, manager of marketing communications and member services at HDMA, we’ve compiled here three of the experiences from students to showcase some of what they learned by being able to participate in HDAW’16.
One of the senior-year participants, Tim Campbell, was a returning scholarship attendee. This was the second year of the program. “This is my second year attending HDAW. Last year was an incredible experience which I took full advantage of. I was surprised to see how many people recognized me from last year,” Campbell noted. “The entire industry was more than happy to welcome [the interns] with open arms. The best part about the heavy-duty industry would have to be how personable it is. Everyone knows everyone either personally or through someone else. HDAW gave Northwood students a chance to shine and it didn’t go unnoticed.”
While many of the participants were in their last years of high school, the program also catered to those just entering high school. Amanda Pokriefka, a freshman, said she felt that the program shaped her perspective of the industry. “The opportunities to network and speak with companies to intern or possibly work for were incredible,” she said. “Being a week-long intern for HDMA was amazing! I was able to see what the industry is really like through press conferences and meetings to really get a feel for where the industry might be going.”
Lisa Kisil, another senior, noted the benefits for the students who participated. “HDAW is a huge opportunity for Northwood students. It opens the door to the heavy-duty industry and allows the students to meet with suppliers and distributors. While almost all of the students leave with full-time jobs or internships, all of the students leave with connections that will help progress their careers in the industry,” said Kisil.
Continue to look for thoughts from other students on our social media channels, and watch out for a new weekly addition to AMN concerning the millennial voice.
