Gentex Corporation

Intern

May - August 2022 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

Friendly environment, great boss/mentor

What I wish was different

Nothing

Advice

Do it

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Research and Development Chemist

May 2022 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

Gentex gave really good work experience by providing projects that were important to the entire company, and everyone was helpful and supportive of the projects given.

What I wish was different

Advice

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Mechanical Engineering Technician

May - August 2022 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

Good company. Lots of work benefits, lunches, and downtimes. Also worked hard when the job required. We were mostly on call, so it was a balance between busy days and slow days.

What I wish was different

A little more structure would have been nice.

Advice

Do it.

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Factory Line Worker

May - August 2019 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

The relationships you can make with the people you work with is great. If you are willing to put yourself out there and try meet new people, you will have a great experience. There are many opportunities available for where you can work because Gentex has a range of products they produce.

What I wish was different

Nothing. It's a really good summer job for students who are trying to pay for college.

Advice

Go in with an open mind and don't be hard on yourself. It is very easy for people to feel stressed because they don't move as fast as they workers who have been there for a long time. Practice makes perfect. You will get faster, it will just take time.

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Machine operator

May - August 2019 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

I loved the people and opportunity to continuously grow within my field along with the resources needed to become whatever I wanted to be within the company.

What I wish was different

I wish the pacing was different. They expect people to be able to work so fast so quickly into the job that it was be quite stressful your first couple of weeks.

Advice

Be ready to work hard every single day and make friends with the people around you. Everyone is always looking for good conversation, don't be afraid to start one while you work.

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Electrical Assembler

May - August 2019 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

They treated all employees fairly and with immense care.

What I wish was different

N/A

Advice

Gentex was definitely a fantastic first company in terms of engineering, but unless you love the company a lot, it would be a best to use your experience there as a springboard in your career than a final destination.

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Software Engineering Intern

May - August 2019 • Holland, MI

What I liked

There were small-company aspects that made it nice while working at a large company like Gentex.

What I wish was different

I wish it was easier to get my feet under me at the start, but that's somewhat to be expected when starting a new job.

Advice

Don't be afraid to reach out to people and explore the company. Everyone I talked to was very helpful and glad to show me around if I asked.

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Manual labor

June - August 2019 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

The hours, if I needed a day off for anything, they were understanding.

What I wish was different

I wish the pay would have been higher. And with me being summer help, I did not get any bonuses.

Advice

It is a good place to get your foot in the door and get lots of hours if that is what you want.

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Chemistry Intern

May - August 2018 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

I really enjoyed the group project we were assigned. It allowed all of the interns in the chemistry department to work together, while also allowing us to reach out to the department and other interns throughout the company. The project was a great way to push us outside of our comfort zone and network. I also enjoyed my regular day-day activities; I liked working on various tasks that would be beneficial for the department and the company. Gentex really allows their interns freedom and trusts them with projects that are actually still used even after we leave.

What I wish was different

I wish there was less downtime. Sometimes you'd have a long waiting period before you can do anything else and I wish we would have filled that time with some other tasks.

Advice

Do not be afraid to talk to people and ask questions. Everyone is super helpful and would gladly answer your questions. Also, make sure to take the opportunities available to explore Gentex as a company; it allows you to see what they do outside of your area/department.

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Engineering Intern

May - August 2018 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

Welcoming atmosphere, Rewarding work.

What I wish was different

More feedback midterm

Advice

Dive in and get to know everyone, they are there to help

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Production Worker

May - August 2018 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

The people I worked with were very cool and very accepting.

What I wish was different

Nothing. It's factory work so I knew what to expect going in.

Advice

Be willing to work hard because it will pay off in the long run.

1 One person found this helpful

Materials Support Engineer

May - August 2018 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

Happily, I can say that this is somewhere I can see myself working after graduation. I appreciate the amount of collaboration that goes on here, one doesn't feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. Also, there isn’t a lot of bureaucracy; the sky's the limit for what you could do in any given role (aside from the responsibilities.) For example, there is someone who moved into an Industrial Engineer position who did their undergrad in Business Management. I would recommend Gentex to friends and family because of how supportive people are here. Leaders here want to help people find their niche within Gentex.

What I wish was different

Personally, I would like to have been assigned projects with the option of working on a different one. I never thought any grievance would stem from finding a problem to solve as opposed to the actual problem solving itself. This summer, I was given a list to choose from and even encouraged to find projects outside of the list. I'm so accustomed to structure (given my schooling and everything) that it was a bit of shock being able to choose what I worked on and when to work on it. In hindsight, it's very practical to have it that way because some of the issues you come across here in the materials department (and in life actually) can't be solved systematically--they can be messy and layered. If I could’ve done this summer over again I would have taken on a higher priority project so I could’ve made a bigger impact. I wish that the list of potential projects given to me at the start would’ve been filtered by highest priority and also that they would be considered for how much experience they’d offer with EBS, CT+, and other programs. Most of the things I worked provided little experience with the programs.

Advice

If you are keen on structure and knowing what you're gonna be given each day this is not the experience for you. Motivation was very crucial in my role because there wasn't anyone constantly looking over my shoulder or checking up on me to see what I was working on. I set up, took, and lead meetings for projects that I worked on. Although resources were plentiful one had to do a lot of digging and ask lots of questions to sort through what you needed to get things done. All in all, this experience is what you make of it; If you are confident, personable, and motivated then this is the place for you!

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Production Support engineer

May - August 2018 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

The people at the company were very nice. They also had a huge pool of resources if I needed something to be done.

What I wish was different

I wish I was in a different role. I don't think I was a good fit for the position I was in.

Advice

If you don't like where you are at, speak up and try somewhere else. Also, learn as much as you can and interact with a ton of different people.

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Production Support Engineer Intern

May - August 2018 • Zeeland, MI

What I liked

Gentex stays true to their foundations of quality, innovation, ownership mentality, and unpretentious management. I felt valued by each person there, and I even had an opportunity to give the CEO a tour of a project that my department had worked on over the summer. The internship opened my eyes to the versatility of industry and the wisdom that comes from doing what you love.

What I wish was different

The internship was what each person made of it. You got out of it what you put into it. I wouldn't change anything except having to be pulled away to go back to school and finish my degree.

Advice

Go out and ask questions; explore your interests because there are so many different aspects to every company. No matter if the question or request is big or small. The worst anyone can do is say no.

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Chemistry Intern

May - August 2017 • East Lansing, MI

What I liked

I really enjoyed the ability to see various departments throughout their chemistry department. I was able to gain experience in analytical, research and development, and prototype testing.

What I wish was different

I wish I was able to get more of a direct project after the first month, but I was also very young for their program and appreciate the opportunity to gain experience from their departments.

Advice

This is a great company to get involved with; they treat their employees well and everyone is super nice. Do not be afraid to ask questions - everyone is there to help you succeed!

1 One person found this helpful