LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - There's a big job boost from one of Little Rock's largest companies.
Acxiom is planning to hire at least 300 people, and they're already advertising for more than half those jobs right now.
Acxiom Spokesman Jonathan Portis says that this latest hiring is part of a new effort to bring their clients more into the digital arena for marketing. And that means beefing up company offices in Arkansas and beyond, and recruitment that will include Arkansas universities.
It's an evening of job coaching Monday night at UALR, with a special panel helping students like Eric Sullivan of Sherwood, graduating in May.
"I'd actually like to be doing a lot of designing, I'd like to be a design engineer somewhere, that would be ideal," Sullivan said.
And he says the outlook is strong for his major.
"There are jobs out there," Sullivan said.
And jobs are apparently available in other fields too, including one of the companies represented on the panel.
"Please emphasize when you're graduating, your GPA is," an Acxiom representative said.
Acxiom is in the first phase of filling about 300 new jobs; 170 of them are currently posted on its website. They range from software developers to product testers, helping clients navigate everything from social media to mobile and email commerce. The jobs will spread throughout offices in Central Arkansas, Fayetteville, Silicon Valley and New York.
Back at UALR, one of the universities that Acxiom will recruit at for its future hires, it's not a match for Sullivan. But he's feeling just the same as those it is a match for.
"The draw is to find a place to land, find a place to get when I finish college, I'd like to stay local but I'm open to going anywhere," Sullivan said.
We're told Acxiom also plans to recruit at Arkansas Tech and UCA. They've actually hired 20 people so far in overall recruiting. And they're not releasing any pay range information for competitive reasons.