This post is to share some ideas that could hopefully inspire you if you’re feeling stuck looking for a job, at Amazon or anywhere. If it all sounds crazy then good! Your tactics should match your ambition!
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I sometimes get asked what advice would I have for someone who is trying to get a job at Amazon.
It’s one thing to prepare for the interview (btw, I made an eBook for you on that ;) 5 Keys To Getting A Job In Tech) but it’s another thing all together to even get that at bat.
This post has my ideas on how I would go about trying to get an initial phone screen with a recruiter (which is usually the first step towards an interview) if I were starting from scratch without any contacts.
I have no knowledge or hacks about how the algorithm works when you submit your resume online to amazon.jobs. All I know is that it probably seems like a black box.
This is what I would do today, my ideas that pretty much all revolve around using LinkedIn. Let’s talk about:
(1) Mindset For LinkedIn
(2) Posting
(3) Engaging With Others’ Content So They Discover That You Exist
(4) Your Profile
(1) Mindset For LinkedIn
LinkedIn is not just a digital replacement for our resumes or roladex. It gives us the ability to broadcast ideas and thoughts to our networks and beyond and make one-to-one connections at scale for free.
Two skills that will open up opportunities for you in life are adding value for others and communicating effectively. This is why you should create content related to whatever it is you want to do. Such as getting a job in tech.
Behind the scenes you still need to do whatever it takes to be a valuable candidate. But just posting your resume on LinkedIn will get you a job like a driver’s license will help you win the Daytona 500. I think you need to actively participate - post and engage if you want to maximize your chances.
(2) Posting
You should post stuff. Let me explain.
Posting serves multiple purposes:
It forces you to sit down and think through the ideas and hypotheses in your head.
It gives people deeper insight as to what you’re proficient at or interested in.
It lets people learn about you in a way that adds value to them, whether it be informational, entertaining or both (no one’s going to go read your resume for fun).
It gives you an excuse to engage with people on a deeper level.
It’s a way that you can add value to others and demonstrate that you are someone who adds value to others.
It’s fun.
So what type of content should you post?
As a general rule I recommend posting anything that can add value to other people in your network. Here are some ideas:
If you’re graduating business school and looking to get a job in tech you could post articles for younger professionals who are contemplating getting their MBA. Same goes for graduating undergrad, or high school, or dropping out of school. There are always people just behind you who you can help by sharing ideas about the thing you’ve just accomplished.
You could do mini-written interviews (or mini podcasts or video if you enjoy making that type of media) asking all your classmates the same 3-4 questions (eg: do you have any tips for starting out in the workforce? or succeeding in business school?) and make posts about that. Make it into a regular newsletter or series.
Interview professionals who are just a year or two into the industry you want to be in. Show them that you have a regular article or show set up and tell them you’d love to get their wisdom to share on LinkedIn. This has the double benefit of sharing your newfound knowledge with your peers on LinkedIn AND making the provider of the information look good as well. (hint – think how much easier it would be to ask someone for their time because you want to write an article about them versus could you ‘pick their brain’ about getting a job.
Those are just a few ideas, the options to be creative are endless.
What type of media should you post?
If you want to work at Amazon, writing is a critical skill so it could only help to start getting some practice writing articles. Show some evidence that you have chops.
Short videos also work well in the LinkedIn feed. I’ll give you that it takes courage to post selfie videos on LinkedIn. I do want to inspire you to expand your comfort zone but I know it’s not easy. I post mini-video clips on LinkedIn from my podcast of me and my co-host interviewing someone else. That’s how I got over the video hump. But maybe video isn’t for you. That’s fine. Just write.
PDF’s actually work great in the feed. But use them like you would a short Powerpoint deck. I like the way you can flick through them quickly in the feed. Make them visual, fun, engaging. LinkedIn doesn’t mean it has to be dry or boring. Use your creativity.
The creativity here is going to be the difference. You can’t just post anything. Same as how interviewing and live public speaking were traditional skills that made you an effective communicator nowadays the skill of being adept at sharing the written word, pictures, video and audio online are equally if not more important.
So, how does all this lead to getting a phone screen?
Stay with me here…
(3) Engaging With Others’ Content So They Know You Exist
When I interviewed with Amazon in 2013 I didn’t have the experience of trying to LinkedIn message a recruiter to try and get a phone screen. If that works just do that and forget the rest of this article. But I have no idea if it does so if not, here is another way I think you could get on their radar. If you start with only one thing towards your goal I would start with the ideas in this section.
Recruiters for Amazon and all other companies are all over LinkedIn and I imagine their inboxes are flooded with requests to connect and for phone screens. Due to the nature of their jobs they all seem to have thousands of connections. I would guess another red alert badge on their inMail would probably blend right in with the rest.
Here’s the trick, instead of InMailing them (LinkedIn messaging, whatever it’s called), engage thoughtfully with the content they are putting out.
Start by searching for Amazon recruiters. There will be a ton. Try and see if you can find ones in your particular area of interest based on what they write in their job description. Try to connect with them or at least start following them so you will see them more in your feed.
Right away you can go into their individual profiles, go down to the activity section and you can find all of their activity on LinkedIn; articles they’ve written, posts they’ve made, documents they’ve shared, or even just places where they commented on other people’s stuff.
Go in and start consuming their content. Some only post job openings but others share articles or post articles they’ve written themselves. See what they’re talking about and leave thoughtful responses with your take on the subject.
I just did this and found two recruiters right away with recent posts that only had only 2 or 3 comments on them. Seeing a red alert notification that someone has commented on your post is an eye catching thing in LinkedIn. I’m sure if you left your comment your name would get noticed. Probably more so than sending another InMail.
The thing is you have to be genuine. Take the time to actually join their conversation. Think about their point of view and add yours. Or maybe add an anecdote that contributes to what they’re saying. Don’t just leave spam comments, that won’t help you and it’s annoying. Be interested in them as a human.
Do this regularly with lots of recruiters and I’m sure you’ll start to get some name recognition. Maybe they will start to respond back to you on the comments. This could be a great way to start having conversations with them. And that’s what I think could help lead you to a phone screen.
(4) Why Your Profile Is Key
Once somebody gets curious about you they will go and check your profile. They may go check yours out after one comment, or maybe after you’ve left 10 comments on their last 10 posts, or their 10 next ones. This is where you want to have your profile dialed in and this is where I think being good at making content can help you.
Here are the features I would focus on in your profile. (I try to embody these in my profile if you want to see an example).
1. Your job description. This is effectively a tag line that everybody sees anywhere your name pops up on LinkedIn. Don’t just stop with the generic title such as ‘MBA Candidate’. This is an opportunity to creatively use prime real estate to communicate something better. Mine says ‘Infrastructure Finance at Amazon Web Services. Free eBook: 5 Keys To Getting A Job In Tech’. I do this so people know that they can click on my profile and probably get some stuff that might be helpful to them. What do you want readers to know about you? Or do after seeing yours?
2. Your profile banner image. This is a billboard. Don’t waste it on some stock photo of the skyline. I use mine to advertise some of the key content that I’ve made.
3. Your about section. Instead of making it full of corporate speak about your past job descriptions make it about the ideal person who you want reading your profile and tell them what are the ways you can add value to them. My about section starts with ‘Here are some ways I think I can help’.
4. The featured section. This comes just after the ‘About’ section. Here you can post links to the best content you’ve made and you can give it a catchy description that describes the value you are adding.
Closing Thoughts
I got my offer from Amazon in 2013 and even just seven years ago the landscape for finding a job was quite different. I did go on LinkedIn but I only treated it like a Rolodex on steroids, I didn’t have any good strategies.
These days I enjoy using LinkedIn a lot so I wanted to offer my brainstorms of what I’d do now if I was starting from scratch. Maybe they can get your juices flowing.
It’s a lot of work.
But if working at Amazon is your professional dream job, or even just a dream launching point for the next step in your career then why not spend several hours a day (or night) working these angles? If the payoff means meeting your dreams then perhaps it’s worth the investment.
If you’re only window shopping at new jobs then I would bet you probably stopped reading this article already anyhow.
I just wanted to give you some ideas that could maybe light a fire if you’re feeling stuck looking for a job. If it all sounds crazy then good! Your tactics should match your ambition!
But I hesitate to call them tactics. As I mentioned, this engagement has to be genuine. LinkedIn is a tool that lets us increase actual human connections. Real is the only thing that will ‘work’.
There is no road map anymore for a typical career progression and it is not random chance that luck strikes people who put in the effort.
The specific manifestation of luck may be random but the fact that it occurs is not.
So good luck my friend and let me know if I can help!
Have some thoughts? Feel free to drop a comment or hit me up: charlie@charleskunken.com