Club Car enhancing recruiting relationship with Auburn Engineering

For today’s engineering students, co-ops and internships continue to be an essential part of a well-rounded education. Club Car, a manufacturer of electric and gas-powered golf carts and small utility vehicles, is committed to providing students with the best opportunities to gain just that.

The Augusta-based company has recently been enhancing efforts to build relationships and recruit top engineering talent in the Southeast, so a relationship with Auburn was imperative.

“Club Car is committed to workforce development and cultivating the talent to support innovation and growth in our industry,” said Dan Schmidt, vice president of engineering and technology at Club Car. “Our partnership with the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University has been a tremendous success. Auburn Engineering students come to us ready to work and eager to bring fresh ideas to our business.  We value the opportunity to provide hands-on experience and to develop future leaders in our industry.”

Jeremy White, ’02 mechanical engineering and the design and prototype technologies leader at Club Car, said the goal of this partnership is to provide students with real-world workplace experiences.

“We’re a large company with a small feel,” he said. “We pride ourselves in letting students be actively involved in projects and to apply what they’ve learned. We use our co-op students in a real engineering environment and I think it gives them a good idea of what they’ll be doing in their careers." 

Students on co-op with Club Car rotate through different roles during each semester with the opportunity to work in test engineering, product design and more. The ultimate goal, White said, is that by their last rotation, they can work in an area where they have developed a special interest. 

Jesvin Joseph, a junior in computer engineering from Kerala, India, is one student who has benefitted from Club Car’s increased co-op efforts. Joseph has already finished his first two rotations with Club car in Augusta. 

“I learned many professional skills during my co-op period including professional communication, analytical skill, exposure to business side of an industry, working in a team environment, public and client interactions, time management, problem solving approaches and methodologies and so on,” Joseph said.

Club Car’s relationship with Auburn Engineering is rooted in the Office of Career Development and Corporate Relations (CDCR). 

“In the last few years, Auburn Engineering has created a strong recruiting partnership with Club Car, who is a leader in best recruiting practices,” said Apryl Mullins, the assistant director of corporate relations in CDCR. “They have provided meaningful work experiences for co-op students, sponsored capstone engineering projects in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and have attended several recruitment events such as career fairs and table talks, showcasing their golf carts on campus as a show-and-tell of the great work they are doing in the industry.”

Club Car will be on campus at the upcoming career fair on Feb. 26 to meet with prospective students and share more about the opportunities they provide.

“We’ve had a lot of awesome success here,” White said. “There are plenty of schools that have co-op programs, but I don’t think that we’ve found another university that is as dedicated and focused as Auburn.”