Everything from A-Z including a job for ME! (hopefully)
March 7, 2013 4:19 PM   Subscribe

Those of you who have been through the amazon corporate hiring process, what was it like? Did I commit a major boneheaded move in my application for a job?

For those of you who have been through the process, either getting hired, getting an interview but not a job, or getting nothing at all, what was it like? What can I expect?

I'm concerned about the ICIMS recruiting thing. It keeps matching me to jobs in IT positions, even though my background, clearly stated on my resume, is in writing/shooting/editing video. Should I be concerned that my experience is being misunderstood?

Also, I applied for a what is, I guess, a "corporate" job as a video editor at the amazon fulfillment center near me. One of the requirements listed in the posting at the amazon website is a link to work samples. But there was no where to submit a hyperlink in the online submission.

So, since, the job I'm applying for is only 15 minutes from where I live, I drove over there and asked to drop off my resume with someone in the photo/video dept. and get the name of someone to submit my work samples to directly. When someone showed up to talk to me, he seemed very confused, albeit very polite. He insisted that I just paste the links to my demo reel in the body of my resume and that would be good enough. He did take my paper print out resume with him and I left with telling him that I had lots of relevant experience.

Did I commit a major Faux-pas by showing up there? I've always been told that employers like to see initiative in the hiring process, but I'm concerned that I may have screwed myself by seeming clueless on this one.

Anyone have any thoughts, word of encouragement or sobering advice for me in the nerve wracking job search?
posted by tylerfulltilt to Society & Culture (3 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
You probably didn't commit a major faux-pas, but I doubt it did much good either. Just as in any other large company, they typically aren't equipped for people to show up in person with printed resumes. Especially at a fulfillment center. Most likely the hiring for that position is being handled by a recruiter in another location, and it's possible that even the hiring manager is in another location. So, best case, this person ends up having to scan your resume and send it to the person who actually handles it. And since it's a scanned paper resume, it's not going to go into the system nearly as cleanly as an electronic copy like everyone who applied online will have submitted. Worst case, they toss it in the recycle bin.

The vast majority of the information you'll find online about getting jobs at Amazon is related to technical jobs in the corporate offices. The hiring process for the type of position you're applying for is likely to be quite a bit different, so a lot of the experiences you hear about won't be especially relevant. I know that's not very helpful, but it's important to realize.
posted by primethyme at 4:32 PM on March 7, 2013


I have interviewed at Amazon a couple of times, though the positions were more on the technical side of things. You really need to go through the official recruitment process to have your resume in the system. Put a link to your work samples in the resume as well as in the cover letter.
posted by joan_holloway at 6:01 PM on March 7, 2013


What you did was neutral.

Functionally, you handed your resume and demo reel off to someone who probably isn't involved at all in the hiring process, or possibly only peripherally. Possibly he knows to hand resumes to their recruiting team, and possibly he just tossed it in the recycling bin or put it in a pile on his desk that he'll look at again in a year before recycling.

So, no harm, no foul, but no bonus points, either.
posted by rosa at 7:50 PM on March 7, 2013


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