I want to share how I got my job at Amazon, focusing on breaking into the tech industry as a mechanical engineer. I believe I can offer decent advice for those starting their careers. Honestly, I’ve been lucky with my job, but through my experiences, I’ve learned what makes candidates stand out. I’m considering making a YouTube video about my advice for mechanical engineers trying to work in tech, so think of this as a sneak peek!
Gaining Relevant Experience in College
When I was a junior in college, I realized I needed to figure out what I wanted to do after graduation and gain some engineering experience. At that point, I had worked at Bubba Gump’s one summer and as a surf camp counselor for another. Somehow, I got the idea that getting involved in research on campus would be a good way to build relevant experience. I didn’t really know what type of research I wanted to do, so I just approached the professor I learned from the most in class and asked if there were any research opportunities. I volunteered to do research for free but ended up getting paid to do research that summer. This led to multiple publications and a second internship at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado. I feel lucky because one opportunity led to another. In retrospect, I couldn’t have gotten lucky if I didn’t try to look for opportunities. I guess you can only get lucky if you give yourself a chance to get lucky so I am glad I reached out to my professor in the first place.
Reflecting on my experience, I think getting engineering-related experience during undergrad was crucial in landing my current job. If I were to give advice, I’d suggest looking at job descriptions you’re interested in and seeking related opportunities. It doesn’t have to be exactly related; doing research on campus worked for me and it ended up being related to my job. If you don’t know what you want to do, I would suggest doing what I did and reaching out to a professor you enjoy learning from. The main takeaway is the skills you learn. One skill I improved during research was technical writing, which I definitely use now.
Learning to Code
Another skill that helped me land my job was coding. Learning to program is a very helpful skill no matter what industry. This is advice I’d give to non-software engineers but also anyone else. I got my foot in the door at Amazon by doing a remote summer internship in 2021. During this internship, I worked on projects that required programming skills and even had to complete a coding interview question. My previous experience had some coding, but I also had a personal interest in programming and building websites. This was more for fun, but it became a useful skill that helped me convert my internship into a full-time position. Programming skills, especially the ability to automate or scale solutions, are valuable. Companies like Amazon have vast amounts of data and challenges that can be addressed with data science and programming skills.
Interview Prep
Finally, I want to talk about preparing for interviews. I didn’t realize to what magnitude, but Amazon highly values the behavioral side of the interview and dedicates more time to those questions. To prepare for the interview, I suggest having at least two examples from your experience that relate to each of Amazon’s leadership principles. You can find Amazon’s leadership principles here. Other companies will likely have something similar. For each example, have data ready to show your impact. Even if the numbers don’t seem impressive, any quantifiable value is better than none. Early in your career, you might not have worked on million-dollar projects, but if you saved a few thousand dollars by adjusting a design, share that. Examples that show you’ve thought about or actually scaled a solution to a larger scope will also increase your value as a candidate. During my interview, I didn’t have much experience scaling anything, but I mentioned how I planned to set up my research for scalability and I think that helped me pass the interview.
The Power of Referrals
I didn’t have a referral to Amazon, but I highly recommend asking someone for a referral. Many people apply to Amazon, and a referral can ensure your resume gets noticed. Reach out to alumni from your college or high school on LinkedIn. Most people are willing to help, but make sure to present yourself as a strong candidate when asking for the referral. If you’ve read this far and don’t have someone to refer you, I’m willing to help! Reply with your resume, the job posting from Amazon Jobs, and a short paragraph on why you think you’re a good candidate for the role.
As always, thanks for reading and feel free to reach out with suggestions or feedback! You can send me an email ([email protected]) or use this anonymous form. I have been just writing on topics that I have been thinking about but if anyone wants to hear about a specific topic, let me know!