Alumni Spotlight: Andrew Williams

Williams (pictured right) with COB Career Center Asst. Director Robyn Slocum

Many times, graduates from the College of Business will return to visit, speak to classes, serve on advisory boards and in some cases recruit students to work at their companies.  That was the case with Andrew Williams during a recent Employer in the Foyer session where the company he works for, Grover Gaming, participated.

Andrew was born in Mesa, Arizona and raised in Raleigh, NC.  He received a BS degree in Computer Science, and a minor in Business Administration. We wanted to know how things were going for Andrew, how he got his job, and what advice he would give students to help them find their first destination job.

What jobs or activities did you take part in while you were here at ECU? Did you find them beneficial? If so, how?
I worked as a technician in the COB Student Technology Center and assisted in the migration of the College of Business’ website from CommonSpot to a WordPress platform. Both roles were very beneficial in their own unique way. As a technician, I worked closely with faculty members which helped hone my business etiquette and customer service skills, and worked with STC team members to solve various computer problems. Working on the COB website exposed me to new technologies like HTML, WordPress, and CommonSpot which in turn, helped to develop my skillset.

How did you get the job at Grover Gaming?
A good friend of mine, who at the time worked at Grover, recommended me to one of the directors who then called me to begin the interview process. I was originally hired part-time as a QA software analyst. We would test the games for bugs and other issues. When setting up our test environments, one of the steps was to set up a state server. This took 15 or more minutes to set up and was required to be done multiple times a day by each analyst, rendering it a huge waste of time and money. I explained this problem to my directors and informed them that I could write an application that would make this process take seconds. The next day they made the decision to move me to the .NET software development team. I was part time for 7 months until I graduated, at which time they extended me an offer for my current full-time position as a Software Engineer.

What did you learn in the College of Business that helped prepare you for the job you are in now?
ECU’s College of Business taught me many valuable skills. I gained an understanding of markets, managing people, operations, strategy, data, and much more. Although these skills aren’t exactly vocational to software engineering, they have positively impacted my career and have helped me to understand the relation of my role to other aspects and roles of our company.

What advice would you give students to help them find their first job upon graduation?
Don’t be afraid of rejection. As Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss every shot you don’t take.” Also, keep an open mind to all opportunities. I was having a beer with one of our executives recently when he gave me some advice that really resonated with me. He told me to keep my options open and not to pigeon hole myself. Just because I enjoy being a software engineer right now, doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t always recognize and consider other options, whether it’s a career change or even working for another company. That really meant a lot to hear the Vice President had my best interest in mind.

Tell us something that people might find interesting about you.
I played for the Jr. Hurricanes Ice hockey team in high school, where we went to nationals and placed third in the nation. I was also ranked top 10 globally in trivia crack when it was popular.

• Categories:
• Office of Expert Services