Student interest in internships at Stellar Industries is rising thanks to the company’s work with CIRAS and Iowa State University’s Engineering Career Services (ECS). The three entities have been collaborating on strategies to enhance awareness of internship opportunities, and their efforts are paying off.
Stellar Industries, headquartered in Garner, manufactures service trucks, cranes, hook lifts, trailers, and service truck accessories. The company opened in 1990 and has grown to an industry leader with more than 800 employees across multiple U.S. locations.
“When I started at Stellar five years ago, there was already an internship program established, but we recognized the need to find ways to enhance our engagement with students and increase interest in Stellar,” said Nathan Meyer, lead design engineer at Stellar Industries. “During my discussions with Mayra [Ramirez, CIRAS project manager], she mentioned several options, including working with student clubs and offering capstone projects.”
“Engineering Career Services is one of our partners and a point of contact for evaluating student recruiting practices and suggesting other approaches to gain attention,” said Ramirez. She advised reaching out to ECS.
“Touring the facility helped me get a better idea of the engineering majors they needed to attract, the positions they were recruiting for, and some of the challenges they were having with the process,” said Kellie Olson, ECS director.
The ECS team advised updating job postings, ensuring they are current and appealing. They added details like summer housing, a significant draw for students considering rural Iowa internships, which was not previously mentioned in postings.
“Stellar attended our Engineering Career Fair, which is a great way to connect with students, but we encouraged them also to take advantage of more casual ways to interact with students like Career Fest and Pizza with Engineering Professionals,” said Olson. Both are newer networking events that Olson describes as offering students opportunities to engage with prospective employers in “a less intimidating atmosphere.”
Meyer said working with both groups on recruitment strategies has equipped Stellar with the tools to engage with students and share more about the company.
“We usually have about eight intern openings between our design and production engineering departments,” Meyer said. “The increased interest generated through ideas from CIRAS and Engineering Career Services has given us a larger group of students to interview for those positions. Without their help, we would still struggle to attract enough students to fill our positions.”
For more information, contact Mayra Ramirez at ramirezm@iastate.edu or 515-520-3101.