Summer 2014 was probably the one summer where I learned the most.  STEMCO is a truck equipment industry leader with its corporate offices in my hometown of Longview, Texas.  It was in the fall of 2013 where I received a call offering me an internship in their marketing department.  I was ecstatic to be able to work for a company that was highly respected and always gave back to my community while also having the chance to get a taste of the corporate life. 

 

Even though I was more passionate for accounting, I was eager to see how companies carry out their marketing.  My first project was perfect for me because I had to develop a “competitive brand awareness” presentation and present it to our marketing director.  I was so fascinated to find out other competitors’ marketing strategies through advertisements, advertorials, and social media; it was rewarding to be able to successfully predict a competitor’s next move and bring value to STEMCO. 

 

Apart from projects that solely dealt with marketing, I had numerous tasks within the company’s information systems.  I was able to apply many of the tools I had learned during my spring semester information systems class into STEMCO’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system as well as their product interchange.  I didn’t realize how often different business fields directly interacted with each other, and how effective employees are well versed with the entire company, not just their own department. 

 

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aside from all of the deskwork, my STEMCO internship taught me the significance of being a ‘people person.’  Josh and Vincent were my two supervisors and made a great effort to get to know me.  Being able to connect on topics such as sports, they made the transition into working life an easy one.  I really appreciate how approachable they were.  They did not hesitate to make me feel wanted by the company and that is a trait I strive to replicate every day.  Furthermore, they understood my open-mindedness for the other aspects of business and got me in contact with some of the company’s accountants, supply chain directors, and finance department heads.  Being able to ask as many questions as I wanted to, I became more knowledgeable with what goes on within the day to day operations of the different business careers that make up a company.  On occasion, the marketing director, Chip, would fly in to the Longview office.  The way the office was designed, his desk was parked right next to mine.  Although a little intimidated at first, Chip was always encouraging me and appreciative of all the little tasks I completed for him.  Even on the earliest and stormiest of Mondays where nobody had a right to be ‘a morning person,’ Chip was providing a positive attitude that radiated onto the rest of us.  Lastly, what caught my eye the most was those who were working in the plant at minimum wage jobs.  I had the glamourous intern duty of refilling the water cooler everyday which required me to pay a visit to the manufacturing plant.  The women and men at the ‘hubodometer’ assembly line had a boring job that they had to repeat 8 hours a day.  And even though I never caught their names, they never hesitated to give me the brightest smile and ask me how my day went as I refilled the cooler.  They were some of the most genuine and thoughtful people I encountered at STEMCO even though their pay checks were the smallest.  Although unintentional, they taught me my greatest lesson of all during my experience: career satisfaction is what I make of it; I define my own happiness.     

 

All in all, my summer at STEMCO reinforced three principles that I believe will lead to success in my career:

 

• Being welcoming and approachable to others comes back around full circle to me.

• A positive attitude and encouraging those I work with will improve the team’s effectiveness.

• Satisfaction within my career is a personal choice I make every day.