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Arkansas
is home to some of the biggest and best companies in the world, and they
need your skills and talents to compete successfully in the global
economy.
Here’s
a sampling of the companies that Arkansas has to offer. Among them are
firms that have been recognized as some of the best to work for in
America.
You’ll
find details about the educational levels required and the types of jobs
available. Many of the opportunities described by these companies may
surprise you. Scroll down to read the whole list, or click on a company
name to jump to the company description.
Acxiom
Corp.
Little
Rock-based Acxiom Corp. is one of the state's largest technology
companies. Acxiom currently employs more than 5,000 people in the United
States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Australia.
In
June 2000, Acxiom was named by Computerworld magazine as one of the
"Top 100 Best Places to Work in Information Technology" in the
nation. The company was recognized for, among other things, its fun and
flexible working environment and providing employees with training and
education to stay current in the field.
In
1998, Acxiom was named by Fortune as one of "The 100 Best Companies
to Work for in America," and it was listed in Wired magazine's
"Wired Index: 40 Companies Driving the New Economy" in 1998 and
1999.
Founded
in 1969, Acxiom is a computer software company specializing in database
marketing. Acxiom collects information about people's spending habits,
where they live, homes they buy and other facts available through a
variety of sources. This information is compiled and analyzed using
computer programs, and it's used to help companies sell services or
products to customers through mailing lists. Credit card companies are
among Acxiom's biggest clients.
Acxiom
is seeking job candidates with a bachelor's degree in a computer or
information systems-related field. Majors in computer science or a closely
related field such as engineering or math are preferred.
Acxiom
pays competitively, offers quarterly bonuses based on the company's
performance and offers some long-term employees the option of working from
their homes. Other employee benefits include pet insurance, health and
dental insurance, retirement savings and stock purchase plans, wellness
programs, on-site cafeteria and child care.
Alltel
Corp.
Alltel
Corp., a multifaceted technology company, provides traditional telephone,
wireless telecommunications and information services.
With
its world headquarters in Little Rock, Alltel offers many career
opportunities in the high-paying technology field. The company is the
state's largest and fastest-growing technology-based firm with $6.3
billion in revenue as of Dec. 31, 1999. One of the 500 largest companies
in the United States, Alltel employs more than 24,000 people worldwide.
Alltel
brings together two of the world's fastest-growing industries: computer
and telecommunications services. The company is at the center of these
revolutions, which include traditional telephone service, wireless
telephones, Internet access and long-distance telephone service. A variety
of college studies can get you on board at Alltel. Degrees in business
administration, marketing, computer science, computer engineering or
management information systems are some of the backgrounds the company is
looking for.
Some
Alltel programs include:
-
Telecommunications
Leadership Development Program. This is for graduates with a master's
degree in business administration and a bachelor's degree in business,
marketing, liberal arts or a related area.
-
Programmer
Analyst Development Program. These candidates have a master's or
bachelor's degree in management information systems, computer science,
business, mathematics or liberal arts and must demonstrate technical
ability.
-
Client/Server
Developer Program. This is appropriate for master's or bachelor's
degree-holders in computer science, computer engineering or a related
area.
Alltel
has internship and co-op programs that are great for college students from
a variety of academic backgrounds and majors.
The
company supports career development by offering on-the-job learning
opportunities, in and out of the classroom. Employees receive ongoing
training through Alltel's Performance Development Training Centers.
Alltel
spends more than $96 million per year to provide its employees with a
competitive benefits package, including health insurance, profit sharing,
tuition assistance, employee referral bonuses and discounted Alltel
services.
American
Freightways Corp.
Started
modestly in 1955 as Garrison Motor Freight, the Harrison-based American
Freightways has grown to a multimillion dollar, less-than-truckload
carrier that is growing by leaps and bounds.
The
company currently operates in 39 American states, Canada, Caribbean
islands, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central America and South America.
Careers
associated with the trucking company are wide in range and experience. A
college degree in business or sales can lead to a career as a sales
account manager or an operations manager. Information technology skills
also are needed. Trucking companies also need weight and research
inspectors, jobs that require knowledge of The National Motor Freight
Classification system, as well as good "people skills" and
computer literacy.
American
Freightways requires its city or road drivers to be at least 22 years old
and have excellent driving records.
Arkansas
Best Corp.
Arkansas
Best Corp. is a transportation holding company with headquarters in Fort
Smith. Several companies - ABF Freight System Inc., Treadco Inc., Data-Tronics
Corp., Clipper Group, FleetNet America Inc. and G.I. Trucking Inc. fall
under the umbrella of Arkansas Best.
Through
its motor-carrier subsidiaries, Arkansas Best provides national and
regional transportation of less-than-truckload general commodities
throughout North America. Another division of the company provides
commercial truck tire retreading and new commercial truck tire sales.
Arkansas
Best also provides domestic freight services, utilizing over-the-road and
rail transportation modes. Another subsidiary offers road rescue service
for matching commercial fleet repair needs with appropriate repair
vendors. A data-processing division provides information services for the
entire corporate family of Arkansas Best Corp.
The
company offers a broad variety of job options - from drivers to engineers
to data-entry personnel.
ABF
requires drivers to be at least 25 years old and have two years of
commercial driving experience. The company also seeks industrial
engineers, who help develop truck routes and devise strategies for freight
loading and other processes.
Data-Tronics, which provides information services, needs employees with
backgrounds in computers.
Arkansas
Children's Hospital
The
private, nonprofit Arkansas Children's Hospital is the only pediatric
medical center in the state and is one of the 10 largest in the nation.
ACH offers comprehensive medical care to children from birth to age 21
regardless of a family's ability to pay.
Patients
come from across Arkansas and from many nearby states. More than 10,000
patients are admitted to ACH each year. More than 31,000 patients visit
ACH's emergency department each year, and nearly 200,000 outpatient visits
are made annually to the hospital's more than 70 specialty clinics.
ACH
has a medical staff of 408 and is the pediatric training site for medical
and nursing students, post-doctoral residents and paramedical
professionals attending the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Nurses
are in high demand at ACH, where they work in environments as varied as
acute inpatient specialty units, critical care, surgical services,
ambulatory and community settings.
Other
medical-related positions include biomedical technologists, social
workers, dentists and pharmacists. Nonmedical opportunities exist in areas
such as administrative clerks, medical records coding, systems analysts
and more.
Some positions at ACH only require an associate's degree, while others
require advanced degrees.
Arkansas
Eastman Chemical Co.
A
division of Eastman Chemical Co. based in Kingsport, Tenn., Arkansas
Eastman manufactures chemicals for use in plastics, paints, medical
products, detergents and other applications.
In
Batesville, Arkansas Eastman employs about 700 people, with more than 100
working in technical fields. Challenging opportunities also are available
in accounting, administration, research development, design,
manufacturing, engineering and sales.
The
company offers competitive wages and benefits and provides cooperative
education and internship programs for college or university students.
The
engineering and science co-op program gives students the opportunity to
apply classroom knowledge to practical on-the-job experiences. Co-op
students alternate terms at school and at work.
The
summer internship program for undergraduates are typically offered to
participants of the Eastman Scholars Program. Other resumes are accepted
as space is available. Check with the chemical engineering and chemistry
departments at your university to determine if your school participates in
the Eastman Scholars Program.
Summer
internships also are available for graduate students in chemical
engineering, chemistry and business. Graduate students may contact their
academic departments or career services offices for more information.
The
Eastman Chemical Co. as a whole employs about 16,100 people in more than
30 countries. It maintains three other regional headquarters in The Hague,
Netherlands; Mexico City; and Singapore. Eastman's other principal
manufacturing facilities are in Texas, South Carolina, New York, West
Virginia, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, England and Wales.
Arkansas
Electric Cooperatives Corp.
Arkansas
Electric Cooperatives Corp. is a wholesale power supplier for 17 electric
distribution cooperatives in Arkansas. The AECC's member cooperatives
serve nearly 409,000 customers across Arkansas and in some neighboring
states.
The utility has a need for people with technical degrees as well as
advanced degrees. Currently, AECC employs about 535 people in areas such
as human resources, engineering, marketing, communications, accounting,
chain saw operators, assembly line workers and more.
The
utility operates a summer internship program for high school juniors and
seniors in its human resources, engineering, marketing, communications and
accounting departments. Contact the AECC's human resources offices
directly for more information.
Baldor
Electric Co.
Baldor
Electric designs, makes and sells a line of energy-efficient motors,
adjustable drives, speed reducers, industrial grinders, buffers, polishing
lathes, stampings, castings and replacement parts.
Based
in Fort Smith, the 80-year-old company sells its products to distributors
and manufacturers in 55 countries.
Baldor
touts about 3,854 employees worldwide; 350 of them are Arkansas-based. It
hires a broad range of employees, from plant workers and plant managers to
electrical and mechanical engineers. Other important employment areas
include manufacturing, purchasing, sales and marketing.
Fortune
highlighted Baldor among its "100 Best Companies to Work for in
America" in 1998. Employees cite the company's clean plants, a heavy
commitment to continuing education and good communication with top
management as benefits to working there.
In
addition, customers like Baldor motors and consistently rank the company
No. 1 in trade publication questionnaires that ask, "If you could
choose only one motor, which would it be?"
Baptist
Health
Baptist
Health owns five central Arkansas hospitals as well as clinics and other
facilities across the state, making it the largest health care network in
Arkansas. With more than 7,000 employees, it also is the state's
fifth-largest employer.
The
hospitals are Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock, Baptist Memorial
Medical Center in North Little Rock, Baptist Rehabilitation Institute in
Little Rock, Baptist Medical Center Arkadelphia and Baptist Medical Center
Heber Springs.
Baptist
Medical Center in Little Rock is the flagship hospital and has built its
reputation on cardiovascular disease, orthopedic services, women's
services, ophthalmology services and helicopter/fixed wing emergency
transport and organ transplant programs.
Baptist
Health offers career opportunities for nurses, physical therapists,
physical therapy assistants, speech pathologists, lab technicians,
clinical dietitians, surgical scrub technicians, respiratory technicians,
pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and social workers. Other professional
jobs include marketing, public relations, human resources, engineering,
architecture and purchasing agents.
Baptist
Health often seeks help in clerical areas, including medical records
transcription, telecommunications, accounting and bookkeeping.
Beverly
Enterprises Inc.
From
a small, one-facility operation in California in 1963, Beverly Enterprises
has grown to become the nation's largest nursing home operator. It
operates 559 nursing facilities, 37 assisted living centers, 180
outpatient therapy clinics and 63 home care centers in 34 states.
Headquartered
in Fort Smith, Beverly is the state's eighth-largest employer, with 4,986
people working in Arkansas.
Beverly
offers three college internship programs. Students interested in finance
may enter the accounting/audit/risk management program. There also is an
internship in information technology.
Beverly's
Executive Director-in-Training Program is a comprehensive, standardized
training program, typically six-12 months long. It is designed to prepare
a person to become a competent nursing home administrator by focusing on
working in every department in a facility.
Positions
at the company are in finance, information technology, marketing,
management and clerical areas. Positions are available at Beverly's
facilities across the state and the country, where nurses, physical
therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists and others are
needed.
Dillard's
Inc.
More
than 60 years ago, William Dillard established the first Dillard's store
in Nashville, Ark. From this humble beginning, the company has emerged as
one of the most successful retail chains in the United States, with annual
sales of almost $9 billion.
Today,
Dillard's Inc. includes 342 traditional stores and seven clearance centers
in 29 states, offering a mix of name-brand and private-label merchandise.
With value pricing and special emphasis on fashion apparel and home
furnishings, Dillard's appeals to middle- and upper-middle income
consumers.
With
its corporate headquarters in Little Rock, perched along the bank of the
Arkansas River, Dillard's employs more than 2,800 in the state - putting
it in the top 30 employers.
The
company's philosophy continues to embrace an ambitious program of
expansion and remodeling, as well as aggressive responses to industry
trends in merchandise and pricing.
Retails
jobs are available at Dillard's stores. At the corporate headquarters, a
background in a computer-related field can lead to a job in the company's
information technology area, where programmers and data processors are
needed. Jobs also are available in finance, accounting and auditing.
Dillard's even has a need for architects for store planning and design.
International
Paper Co.
International
Paper Co., which produces paper products and building materials, is one of
the nation's top 100 largest corporations. It has annual sales of about
$30 billion.
Arkansas
has 34 IP facilities. The company, with about 3,898 employees here and an
annual payroll of about $130 million, is one of the state's largest
employers and the largest private landowner.
Career
opportunities associated with mill operations include human resources
personnel; finance experts such as accountants and business analysts;
purchasing agents; clerical workers; and chemical, electrical, mechanical
and pulp and paper engineers. The mills often need hourly workers; those
jobs pay $13-$14 per hour. Applicants must be high school graduates or
have a GED or a year of manufacturing experience.
Forest
resources and land management also are important to IP, which oversees
more than a million acres in Arkansas. The company hires professional and
nonprofessional workers to manage forests. Nonprofessional workers include
woodsmen who do everything from operating heavy equipment and building
roads to planting trees and measuring timber.
Professional
positions include foresters, wildlife biologists and engineers who study
water quality and environmental issues. Graduates with strong writing and
communications skills often are in high demand, and IP also looks for
candidates for sales and research positions.
J.B.
Hunt Transport Services Inc.
The
career opportunities at J.B. Hunt in Lowell might surprise you.
It's
best known as Arkansas' biggest trucking company. It's the largest
publicly traded trucking firm in the country and the 20th-largest employer
in Arkansas with more than 3,000 workers. J.B. Hunt also is ranked in
Fortune magazine's top 700 largest companies in the country.
Like
other companies with corporate headquarters in Arkansas, career
opportunities at J.B. Hunt are diverse. They include information systems,
engineering services, transportation logistics, operations management,
customer service, administrative support, human resource and diesel
mechanics.
J.B.
Hunt recruits students who have degrees in subjects such as computer
science, industrial engineering, management, marketing,
transportation/logistics and diesel mechanics. Truck drivers are in great
demand but you have to be at least 21 years old and meet other
requirements. In 1997, J.B. Hunt increased driver pay by 33 percent to
help recruit and keep good drivers, and the company is currently replacing
its cabover tractor trucks with a model that drivers consider to be more
comfortable.
The
company revolutionized the trucking industry by developing the use of
railroads to help move freight across the country. Today, other companies,
such as retail chains, are seeking J.B. Hunt's expertise in transportation
technology and processes to ship merchandise in an efficient manner.
Computer
World magazine once named J.B. Hunt as one of the country's 100 best
places to work in information systems.
Murphy
Oil Corp.
El
Dorado's Murphy Oil markets crude oil and natural gas liquids from on- and
off-shore drilling operations worldwide. The company also owns or
partially owns three refineries and sells petroleum products.
Murphy
has petroleum and natural gas exploration and production operations
worldwide and is one of the largest operators in the Gulf of Mexico.
The
company hires engineering and business graduates.
Riceland
Foods
Riceland,
a marketing cooperative based in Stuttgart, is the world's largest miller
and marketer of rice. Riceland also markets soybeans, wheat and feed
grains grown by its 10,000 farmer members in Arkansas, Missouri,
Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. Familiar brands are Riceland and
Chef-way.
The
company is so large that employment opportunities are spread across many
fields, including business managers, executives and department managers.
These employees are generally college graduates or have significant
experience comparable to a college background. Professional positions run
the gamut, including accountants, engineers and chemists.
Technicians
with a command of basic scientific knowledge and good mechanical skills
play a key role in Riceland operations and include computer programmers,
engineering assistants and lab technicians. Riceland depends on its sales
force to develop domestic and international markets for its products.
Bookkeepers
and secretaries, electricians, welders, equipment installers, forklift and
machine operators, as well as laborers, round out the Riceland workforce.
Unskilled workers must have a high school diploma or GED, while other
jobs, depending on the position, require an advanced degree or comparable
experience.
St.
Bernards Regional Medical Center
The
Olivetan Benedictine Sisters founded St. Bernards Hospital in Jonesboro in
1900. Since that time, St. Bernards has grown to become a major regional
medical center providing health care and comprehensive services including
a heart center, a cancer treatment center, a women's diagnostic center,
dialysis center, imaging center, neurological services, rehabilitation
services, behavioral health and home health and hospice.
The
hospital is part of a health network, St. Bernards Healthcare, which
includes the hospital, Cross County Hospital in Wynne, St. Bernards
Behavioral Health, a retirement village and three rural health clinics in
northeast Arkansas.
Health-related
professions in the network include nursing, patient care technicians,
radiation therapists and nuclear medicine technicians. Jobs also are
available in areas not normally associated with the primary business. The
hospital offers jobs in accounting, marketing, information technology
(maintaining various computer systems) and clerical services.
Stephens
Inc.
Stephens
is an investment banking firm with headquarters in Little Rock. Stephens
offers career opportunities in many banking and finance-related areas.
Securities traders and analysts are among the dominant careers at
Stephens, but the company has a strong reputation in other areas as well.
These include special investments, corporate finance, public finance,
research, the firm's private client group, financial asset management and
insurance services.
College
graduates might want to find out about the company's analyst program.
Stephens recruits from top-tier Southeastern schools and hires five to 10
analysts a year to complete two-year programs that often serve as a
stepping stone to top-notch business schools.
Stephens
requires employees to have thorough knowledge of many industries because
of the diverse nature of its investments and finance projects.
Tyson
Foods Inc.
Tyson
Foods is Arkansas' third-largest employer and has one of the most diverse
offerings of career opportunities with varying education levels. More
chicken is produced by Tyson Foods of Springdale than any other company in
the world.
Tyson is best known for growing and processing chickens and produces $8
billion in annual sales. Careers in management, computer technology,
poultry science, graphic design, trucking, marketing, finance and sales
are abundant.
Here's a sampling of the variety of job openings Tyson has at a given time
for college graduates: hatchery specialist engineer, auditor, corporate
staff attorney, computer security analyst and production supervisor.
Tyson's operations beyond Springdale can be found in Bentonville,
Berryville, Clarksville, Dardanelle, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Grannis,
Green Forest, Hope, Nashville, North Little Rock, Pine Bluff, Rogers,
Russellville, Scranton, Texarkana, Van Buren and Waldron.
Wal-Mart
Stores Inc.
It's
probably safe to say that all Arkansas students have visited a Wal-Mart
store. But have you ever considered the career possibilities with the
world's largest retailer?
Wal-Mart,
the state's second-largest employer, has three types of operations in the
state: corporate headquarters in Bentonville; distribution centers; and
dozens of retail stores under the names Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and the new
Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market.
And
much like the other large corporations based in Arkansas, there is a need
for persons with backgrounds in business, finance and computer systems.
In
addition, the company has a formal 26-week program to train assistant
store managers and offers store operations internships to give students a
preview of what it is like to work in the retail environment. The majority
of interns are between their junior and senior years in college; some
sophomores are accepted into the program.
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