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The Antelope

GI workplace offers fun, laid-back atmosphere

Recent grad Bailee Schuster shares unique experiences working at GIX Logistics, recruiting on her UNK campus
Abbie Rohr
Antelope Staff


Visitors to GIX Logistics in Grand Island immediately notice the open layout of the office; all the desks are in one big room and chatter can be heard.

They might see coworkers playing ping-pong, foosball, Xbox and Wii, sharing essential oils or even riding a skateboard through the office. To say the least, GIX would be a dream working environment.

This fun and laid-back atmosphere must be doing something right because GIX has had record breaking weeks every week so far this year.

“GIX is a company that plays the part of middleman between clients who require freight to be moved and trucking companies who can move that freight,” said Bailee Schuster, the Recruitment Coordinator at GIX who is also a 2016 graduate of UNK with a degree in organizational communications with an emphasis in business.

“We don’t like to put a box around the new positions and say ‘This is what your job looks like.’ I’d much rather reel them in than have to push them.”  -Mike Young

Schuster first heard about GIX from her cousin, who owns a financial firm in Grand Island. He mentioned GIX, and she submitted an application on their website. Then she took a logic test that they require for hire.

The test is compiled of questions like “the temperature in a tool shed is 18 degrees above zero and the temperature outside is 6 degrees below zero. How many degrees’ difference is there between the two temperatures” and “SOUND is to SILENCE as SUNLIGHT is to what?”

Jeffrey Olson, a 2015 UNK graduate with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing, at his stand up desk in the GIX office in Grand Island. “It’s a team atmosphere, where we’re always pushing towards the same goal – to make GIX the best freight brokerage in the country,” Olson said.
Jeffrey Olson, a 2015 UNK graduate with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing, at his stand up desk in the GIX office in Grand Island. “It’s a team atmosphere, where we’re always pushing towards the same goal – to make GIX the best freight brokerage in the country,” Olson said.

Schuster was offered a phone interview, a face-to-face interview and then was offered a position in sales.
 
“Sales didn’t scare me,” she said. “This was my first job out of college, nothing was off the table for me at that point.” The Monday before she was going to start, she got an email from Mike Young the Vice President of Logistics asking her if she wanted to be their recruiter instead. Schuster agreed.

Recruitment Coordinator was a new position created for Schuster. “We don’t like to put a box around the new positions and say ‘This is what your job looks like.’ I’d much rather reel them in than have to push them,” Young said.

Schuster said that the business is most active on UNK’s campus. “This year we did the supply chain career event, the College of Business career event and the industrial distribution career event” Schuster said.

“Since 2013 in one form or another, we’ve had 38 UNK students or graduates that have worked in our office,” Schuster said. She has hired more people since being hired on in September than Mike had hired in 2013, 2014 and 2015 combined, and they are even growing into another office in Dallas. They anticipate that office will be twice the size of the Grand Island office. “GIX is having a growth spurt,” Schuster said. They even anticipate on sending UNK students to the office in Dallas in the future.

“We attribute all of our growth to the caliber of applicants we have. With that being said, roughly 60 percent of our current office staff has a degree from UNK,” Schuster said.  

Schuster can be found giving class talks to supply chain management students and at the College of Business. She also sets up booths and job panels “anywhere we can get involved on campus,” she said.

Young says that a lot of their recruitment is now word of mouth. “Now we are getting people referred to us, and it is almost self-recruiting; students are talking to their frat brother or their team mates or their sorority sisters or their band members,” he said.

“Mike always says that ‘it doesn’t matter if you majored in the flute’ as long as you are work hard and are coachable. If you can take some direction and just run with it, that’s what we look for,” Schuster said.

“We are jeans and ball cap-wearing people.  Some of us talk like sailors, some have teacher voices and some have the sweetest mom voices that you ever heard,” Schuster describes the office culture and environment as “a great mix of people.” When interviewing for new positions Young likes to think about where the person would fit in the office, “who would they sit by in the office or who they would get along with?”

Another member of their team, Jeffrey Olson, a 2015 UNK graduate with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing, said, “It’s a team atmosphere, where we’re always pushing towards the same goal – to make GIX the best freight brokerage in the country. I’ve also met some of my best friends at GIX. They have also given me a chance to explore my interests and prove my ability in marketing while still performing my everyday responsibilities. I love that they’ve given me the autonomy to put my ideas into action.”

Bailee Schuster, a 2016 graduate of UNK from Minden with a degree in organizational communications with an emphasis in business, works at her desk in the open plan office area. Schuster works as recruiting coordinator, setting up events and following up with potential recruits. Schuster attributes some of her success to making lists. “I’m big into lists,” she said.
Bailee Schuster, a 2016 graduate of UNK from Minden with a degree in organizational communications with an emphasis in business, works at her desk in the open plan office area. Schuster works as recruiting coordinator, setting up events and following up with potential recruits. Schuster attributes some of her success to making lists. “I’m big into lists,” she said.

Olson is also the team member who set up the GIX website to show the fun work atmosphere. Under “Team” on the GIX website, pictures of all the team members show a bit about the individual, some hold fishing poles, golf clubs and even a motorcycle helmet, so website viewers can get a feel for the personalities of the GIX team.

“We have students who come in their first job out of college and they stick with us; they don’t want to go anywhere,” Schuster said.

For more information about this laid back, ping-pong playing office, visit http://www.gixlogistics.com/. To apply for an upcoming internship or full time career, email Schuster at bailee.schuster@gixlogistics.com or apply on their website. Also visit their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to see more of their office culture.

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