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| Business alum credits his success to "grunt work" and real-world experiences that brought lectures to life. He also credits mentorship, paying it forward by connecting current students with opportunities in the automotive industry. |
Gary Bundshuh (MKT/MIS ’03), a senior powertrain analyst for LMC Automotive in Troy, Mich., is an Oakland University graduate who didn’t fully realize the value of his degree until he entered the working world.
His education at OU’s
business school had prepared him so thoroughly that he was able to launch his career immediately using the knowledge, the skills and the tools from his courses.
His education, combined with the experience he gained at an internship at Bose Corp., helped Bundshuh land a position at DENSO, an automotive parts manufacturer, which he learned about at an OU career fair. At DENSO, he received two promotions in 11 years before moving to LMC Automotive last spring.
Advantage Oakland
“Attending Oakland University served me well,” Bundshuh says. “Here I am in a career with colleagues from Big 10 schools surrounding me. I have the same office as they do, and I’m doing as well as they are.”
One key difference: He doesn’t have student loan debt. Bundshuh chose OU because of its affordability and worked his way through college holding various jobs, including providing maintenance at a banquet hall.
“It seemed like grunt work at the time,” he says, but it taught him how to speak to a boss, how to please a customer and the importance of customer service – skills pertinent to nearly every professional career path, including the auto industry.
As a double major with a minor in
English, he had many professors who instilled a love for learning. One of his favorites was Dr. Mark Isken, associate professor of management information systems.
“I learned so much in his information technology class. I didn’t really understand how much until I got into the real world and started at DENSO,” Bundshuh says. “Everything Professor Isken taught made sense.”
Making connections
Bundshuh has only one regret. Between balancing the coursework involved in a double major combined with footing the bill for his college education,
he never found time to participate in the business school’s large selection of student and professional organizations.
He isn’t carrying that regret into his professional life.
In addition to his career at LMC, he serves as the director of the Young Professionals Network (YPN) for the Society of Automotive Analysts (SAA), a post he’s held for two years. Before that, he planned all of the events for the organization.
His YPN involvement reconnected him with OU’s business school and Associate Professor of Marketing Dr. Janell Townsend, with whom he partners to give Oakland business students an inside look at the automotive industry.
Networking know-how
Bundshuh is certain the network he built since graduating led him to his current position at LMC.
“It definitely helped me get into the organization,” he says. “My dream job? It’s where I am right now.”
That’s a feeling he wants other Oakland business students to experience.
So, this year, Bundshuh arranged for a group of Oakland business students to attend the 2014 SAA Outlook Conference, an exclusive executive kick-off to the North American International Auto Show, where the industry’s brightest contributors review the new vehicles and offer insight into technology and the economic outlook for the coming year.
“Helping the business students enables them to accelerate building their own self-confidence,” he says. “Studying and lectures are important. But applying that knowledge in the real world can be intimidating.
“Gaining the self-confidence to do so is critical,” Bundshuh adds. “Not everyone can reach that level quickly without some help from a mentor within a company or an organization like SAA.”
— by Rene Wisely
