On Sept. 17 2015, employees from Ford Motor company, including the CEO of Ford Motor Credit, visited campus to interact with students interested in working for the car company.
Chairman and CEO of Ford Motor Credit, Bernard Silverstone, presented a lecture about Ford. Silverstone has been working for Ford since 1979, having many different positions in operations and leadership. He is also the group Vice President of Fort Motor Company.
Students majoring in engineering and business were invited to attend the lecture at the Varsity Theater in the Wilkinson Center. Students were treated with listening to Silverstone talk about new products from Ford, and the wide range of career possibilities at Ford Motor Company.
“Ford is a really exciting place to be,” Silverstone said. “One of our goals is to be a really cool company, building great products worldwide.”
“We launched 24 new products this year,” Silverstone said. “One of things we are exploring is flexibility in ownership.”
Silverstone explained that Ford is coming up with a way to allow people to co-purchase a car and also rent out a car from an owner as well.
He asked for the students opinions during the lecture and about half of them raised their hand in agreement. Silverstone addressed the need Ford has for talent and innovation from college graduates.
Many of the Ford representatives present at the event were BYU alumni.
“We have 130 BYU alumni,” Silverstone said. “Many of my colleagues here today are BYU graduates.”
There was a recruiter meet and greet where students could ask questions about positions and other inquiries after the lecture.
A BYU alumni, 2012, Catalina Johnson, shared her story with many of the students about her job at Ford.
“Ford gave me the opportunity to find a job and find the right position I wanted,” Johnson said. “I love my job.”
Johnson spoke about the different job positions she has had and also a typical work load required at Ford. She said she is especially grateful that she is able to help make a difference in everybody’s lives.
“I’m able to learn a lot from these opportunities,” Johnson said. “I really enjoy being able to make a difference.”
Ford has been visiting BYU for many years, recruiting students with degrees in engineering, business and others. Ford is one of the few companies that comes to campus a separate time than the STEM fair and career fair.
“We love BYU,” Silverstone said. “I enjoy visiting BYU and finding brilliant students to work with Ford.”
