Dreaming of landing a job at Amazon but don’t know what it takes? Being part of one of the most innovative technology companies in the world requires meeting a series of requirements. Here we list the basic requirements to work at Amazon as a developer.
How to work at Amazon as a developer:
Requirements
They are looking for profiles with proven experience. Dev, if you want to apply to one of the most innovative tech companies in the world, you must have between 3 to 5 years of experience. Amazon is looking for experienced professionals who are cracks in the field. You don’t need to have experience in the same position; you can rotate in different positions and add up the experience of all your roles. If you have a rich track record working as a developer, you have already fulfilled the primary requirement to work at Amazon.
Willingness to relocate to their international offices
You must be willing to pack your bags and travel to Amazon’s offices. In this company, most of the positions are on-site, so you will have to leave your home country to work as a developer there. Of course, you will find remote positions, but they are scarce and may not be aligned with what you are looking for. If you are thinking of applying for a job on their job board, think carefully about whether you can afford to travel to their offices. It is one of the essential requirements to work at Amazon as a developer. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t travel now – make it your goal! Prepare and psyche yourself up in advance for the trip that will turn your professional life upside down.
Relevant experience before academic qualifications
Surprisingly, it’s not so important for Amazon what university you graduated from or your collection of professional qualifications. The e-commerce king prioritises the experience you’ve had over the cards you hang on your wall. As you will see, it is not a hard requirement to have a degree. Feel free and confident to apply to wear your experience on your sleeve. Mind you; it’s not that degrees are useless. In Machine Learning or Data Science positions, it will always be more relevant to have an academic degree; it will add more.
A CV that showcases your achievements and experience
Avoid listing your roles without going into more detail on your CV. For Amazon recruiters, it is essential to prove your effectiveness as a professional beyond your assigned tasks. And there is no better way to do this than to specify your achievements and accompany them with metrics that make your value as a developer tangible. Detail your achievements in bullet points. Always starting with the objective, then a number of data that can measure it and finally the actions you took to reach that result. It is also important that you list the technologies used in each project and specify how long you have been using them. Remember that what may be an advanced level for you may be an intermediate level for recruiters, as the levels of experience are evaluated differently for each company.
Therefore, it is essential that you explain how long you have been using a tool or technology.
Also, since Amazon is a company known for developing leaders, it would be interesting for the recruiter to see on your CV some of your experiences where you have taken on a leadership role in your team.
Knowing how to communicate in English during an interview
Once you have won the recruiter over with your CV full of experience and achievements, you will move on to the moment of truth: the interview. And as expected, you need to have a good command of English to be able to understand the questions asked by the recruiter and provide correct information. You don’t need to speak like a native speaker, but as a requirement for working at Amazon as a developer, it is important that you know how to carry on a conversation and how to structure your answers. You are allowed to go blank for a few seconds or ask for time to gather your thoughts. So don’t be afraid to do so. But what does detract from your chances in front of the recruiter is not being able to respond well in English. If you are not able to provide timely information for the recruiter, you don’t understand what is being asked, or your accent is so thick that it makes your pronunciation difficult, you will probably be out of the running.
Practice your English as much as possible before applying for the job.
Emphasise listening by watching videos of mock interviews on YouTube, so you can quickly understand the questions. Don’t forget to practise your pronunciation so that you speak clearly and understandably. Knowing how to communicate in English during interviews is a prerequisite for working at Amazon as a developer.