Arkansas State University hosted a career fair for the college of engineering and computer science (EoCS) to help students prepare to enter the industry

The fair, hosted at the Cooper Alumni Center, featured over 20 companies and their representatives arranged booths to showcase career opportunities within their field.

Hytrol, a common sight at A-State career fairs, once again made an appearance at the EoCS fair. Hytrol is a conveyor belt manufacturing company, producing everything from small 10-foot conveyors to multi-million dollar lines.

Zacharry Charette, a technical product supervisor at Hytrol, represented the company at the fair.

“I’ve been with Hytrol for about three and a half years and have been with them ever since,” Charette said. “In highschool and college, I had the opportunity to work with robotics and automation, so getting the opportunity to dive into the details and intimate design of automation has always been a passion.”

Charette said working at Hytrol has been a rich, fulfilling experience with a positive work culture and an environment where there is always something new to learn.

The company regularly hires students out of A-State in both engineering and computer science professions. They are based in Arkansas with locations in Jonesboro and Fort Smith.

After a few semesters of absence, Continental Utility Solutions Incorporated (CUSI) returned to host a booth at the fair.

Sara Evans, a Human Resources manager for CUSI, represented the company. CUSI is a software engineering firm, specializing in billing software for utility companies.

“I started in the accounting department and I worked there for about two days and they needed someone in HR, so I transitioned into HR,” Evans said. “This is such an amazing company. I worked here for a long time, waiting for the bugs to crawl out and find the cons, and there’s really not any.”

Evans said computer science and engineering majors have to continuously adapt to stay informed. She said tech-related fields can be somewhat volatile due to how new technologies are developed.

“You have to grow, continue to adapt, continue to change, keep up with what’s going on and in the tech world and I guess you would say ‘go with the flow,’” Evans said.

Despite not having a career directly related to tech, Evans said she managed to land her job at a software engineering firm out of her sheer love of people, especially in helping others.

Pickering Firm, an engineering company specializing in all three disciplines of engineering–mechanical, civil and electrical–also held a booth at the fair. The firm’s various locations each specialize in their own disciplines. In Arkansas, for example, most firms specialize in civil engineering.

Ryan Williamson, a representative of Pickering Firm, said the origin of how he started his career may resonate with A-State students.

“I went to A-State where I graduated from in 2023,” Williamson said. “Since in my senior year I had fewer classes, I figured I’d just pick up an internship over here at Pickering.”

He said the internship eventually landed him a full-time position with Pickering, where he works on transportation and civil design.

Williamson said the problem-solving aspect of his job is among his favorite parts, and that to accelerate one’s growth in a career, it is always helpful to ask questions and for guidance from superiors.

Pickering has many locations across the tri-state area, including Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

About 50 students attended the event, coming from a variety of backgrounds. 

Nihal Rahman, a senior computer science major from Bangladesh attended the fair. Rahman said he was interested in artificial intelligence and wanted to seek career opportunities related to his passion.

“I was motivated by my dad,” Rahman said. “He used to work for an IT company and I was always around computers and got my initial involvement that way.”

Rahman said understanding the core concepts of programming is crucial to “feel the fun parts of being a computer science major.”

A-State hosts career fairs for various majors and industries on a semi-regular basis. The next career fair will host employers from the education industry and will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Tuesday at the Cooper Alumni Center.

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