In every aspect of life, change is always constant. If you look at the job market, things took an unprecedented turn at the climax of the last decade, pushing for remote and hybrid working, virtual conferences, and increased automation of most operations across various industries.  

The status quo has witnessed an irreversible shift, compelling industries and their workforce to adapt and be adaptable. Amazon is one of the pioneer organizations committed to supporting employee career advancements and growth opportunities through different upskilling and mentorship programs.  

The company has set aside around $1.2 billion to facilitate its Upskilling 2025 pledge to expand workers’ upskilling opportunities, setting the stage for similar organizations to follow suit. As an Amazon employee, you can make career changes or advancements through the many Amazon training and upskilling opportunities offered as part of the company’s apprenticeship or partnerships with platforms like Pathstream.  

In this article, we explore how upskilling through Amazon career advancement can help you reach your career goals and the benefits it can bring. 

Importance of upskilling for career growth

In a world that’s entirely dependent on technology, there’s no predicting how the evolution of these technologies can radically disrupt the job market.  

What’s apparent, however, is the challenge most organizations face in their quest to keep up with the pace of digital transformations.  

It presents technology as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it brings immense business opportunities. On the other hand, it presents new pitfalls like skill gaps for the current workforce. 
 

A report by Gartner HR Research seems to agree with this. It showed that companies would need to equip at least 58% of their existing workforce with new skill sets if they are to be productive and impactful in their roles in the future. 
 

To address this widening skills gap, organizations must include upskilling as one of their core employee retention initiatives to empower employees to capitalize on training opportunities across departments.  

Such initiatives must emphasize learning new skills, attaining new and exciting capabilities, and staying ahead of the competition.

Benefits of continuous learning within Amazon

The advantage of continuous learning within Amazon cuts both ways: employers and employees stand to gain tremendously.  

For example, a study by Amazon and Workplace Intelligence conducted across different industries and companies, including 3,000 U.S. employees, reported that most focus on development opportunities.  

Of these, a significant majority are Gen Z and millennial employees, three-quarters of which would be quick to quit their jobs if their companies were not keen on upskilling support or career mobility options.  

That demonstrates how today’s job market is highly employee-driven. No other time has witnessed such a level of empowerment enjoyed by employees as it is now.  

Today, workers can move on to the next employer genuinely committed to their long-term career goals and ambitions.  

And companies that acknowledge this and are ready to provide a high level of support ranging from skills development to learning opportunities and upskilling programs stand to win the battle for top talent.  

So what benefits can employers and employees enjoy from continuous learning within Amazon? 

• Increased employee retention
• Cost savings
• Attracts new talent
• Boosts morale

Understanding Amazon’s corporate culture and values

Amazon has a set of several principles that guides its philosophy and operations, but four of them stand out from the rest.

They include customer obsession as opposed to focusing on competitors, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. 

Amazon strives to be Earth’s best company, employing a customer-centric approach and the safest workplace. 

Through its four leadership principles and 15 core values, the company demonstrates its commitment to a customer-centric leadership approach and decision-making. These principles and values are known as:

• Customer Obsession
• Ownership
• Invent & Simplify
• Are Right, A lot
• Learn and Be Curious
• Hire and Develop the Best
• Insist on the Highest Standards
• Think Big
• Bias for Action
• Frugality
• Earn Trust
• Dive Deep
• Have Backbone; Disagree & Commit
• Deliver Results
• Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer
   

Amazon’s leadership principles aim to guide the actions and decisions at the leadership level. Each principle highlights which decisions employees should take under various circumstances. 

These principles allow leaders to raise the bar for performance when hiring and promoting. They’re able to identify and reward exceptional talent through internal promotions. These principles also allow leaders to mentor and coach future leaders and create avenues for development, like career choices. 
 

One of Amazon’s core values impacting career advancements is the Hire and Develop the Best principle. The company expects its leaders to focus on hiring the best talent, with every new hire expected to raise the performance bar. 
 

In addition, each successive promotion allows leaders to elevate their team’s overall capabilities mentoring employees to become exceptional performers.  

Amazon also provides a Career Choice program where 95% of all tuition for in-demand courses is prepaid.  

Finally, Amazon strives to encourage employees to incorporate initiatives and ideas into their roles as part of its open and inclusive culture, which promotes diversity and inclusion of all its employees.

Overview of the various career paths available at Amazon

Amazon is one of the largest global employers offering various employment opportunities ranging from corporate to technical, operations, and logistics roles. 

Such roles can be classified as official and warehouse-based. A few examples include: 

Corporate Roles 

• Strategic Customer Engagements (SCE)  
• Senior Account Manager at Amazon International Seller Services (ISS)
• Senior Corp Development Manager
• Senior Program Manager in charge of Billing Operations and Reconciliation Program

Technical Roles 

• Senior Software Engineering at Amazon
• Device Software Engineering
• SW Automation Test Engineer 
• AWS Software Development Engineer, Internet Automation and Optimization
• Software Development Engineer – Music Technology, Machine Learning

Operations and Logistics Roles

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Commodity Managers (Technical and Business)
• Forward and Reverse Logistics
• Operations Program Managers
• Product Quality Managers
• Prototype Lab Technicians
• Quality Engineering Managers
• Supply Chain Managers
• Supplier Quality Management

Remote and Flexible Work Opportunities 

• Warehouse Associate
• Customer service  

How to Determine Which Amazon Career Path is Right for You

One of the best things about being an Amazon employee is the unique opportunity to develop your career path by being in complete control of your development processes, job, and future. 

Having innovative ideas and initiatives will define which paths to explore, the opportunities you invest in, and their overall impact.  

Choosing from Amazon’s diverse pool of career options can be challenging. However, these tips can help you determine which Amazon career path to take: 

• Outline your career goals plan: Know from the onset what you want to do, how you want to get there, and what role or position you want to hold within a specific time. In short, have a road map of where you want to be in 5-10 years. 
• Compare job requirements to your education: Evaluate your educational level and qualifications before upskilling or reskilling. Determine if your current qualifications meet the requirements for the job you’re eyeing or if you’ll need to up your capabilities to meet the cut.
• Assess your current skill set: Do you have the skill set for the job, or can you acquire them through continuous learning?
• Note your interests and passions: These should align with what you want to do with your life. You will only be impactful in your role if you enjoy what you’re doing.
• Identify your core values: Your values and beliefs should match the company or the role you want to undertake. You won’t make a significant contribution where there’s a conflict of interest.  
• Consider your paycheck needs: Aim for a role that will fulfill your long-term career objectives and provide high-income potential. No matter how passionate you are about your job, you need the money at the end of the day.  
• Conduct informational interviews with Amazon employees: Interacting with employees gives you a broader perspective on various career paths and helps inform your decisions.  
• Utilize internal career resources and tools like the Amazon Web Service and Pathstream 

Identifying the skills needed to advance at Amazon

As a job seeker looking to be part of the world’s leading online e-commerce brand, you need exceptional skills. Since there are several jobs available at Amazon, your resume should feature various skill sets for related roles to improve your chances of getting hired or promoted.  

For example, if you’re looking for a role as an area manager or Software Development Engineer (SDE), the following should are some of the required skill sets: 
 

• Sales
• Customer service
• Merchandising
• Inventory control
• Profit and loss management
• Employee supervision
• Teamwork
• Motivation 

Similarly, when seeking a position at an Amazon Warehouse and Fulfillment Center, your skill sets should include inventory management, order fulfillment, warehouse operations, material handling, shipping and logistics, and time management.  

If you’re an aspiring eCommerce specialist, you should be able to create and manage online product listings, optimize websites for search engine ranking, generate sales reports, analyze website traffic data, and be conversant with eCommerce platforms.

Tips for Developing Amazon Skills and Becoming a Stronger Candidate for Promotion

The criteria for promotion at Amazon are thorough and detailed. However, it’s pegged on consistency. As an employee, you must demonstrate consistent next-level performance, which shows you can operate at the level you’d be promoted to.  

This demonstration should be at par with the company’s promotional requirements. The following tips can best support your chances of a much-deserved promotion.  

• Leverage Amazon-sponsored upskilling courses through Pathstream.
• Seek mentorship and networking opportunities within the company
• Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals for skill development

Examples of successful career advancement stories at Amazon & Pathstream

One of Amazon’s commendable initiatives is giving back to communities and employees through its robust upskilling programs.  

These programs have seen many people from diverse career backgrounds develop new skills that would shape their careers and life.  

Below are the testimonials from people who have capitalized on Amazon’s training programs to excel in various professional fields. 

Rowenda Sabajo, IT Specialist and Cost Optimization Manager 

Before her role at Randstad Group, Rowenda Sabajo was a grounds operations manager at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam for fifteen years.  

In 2019, she felt it was time to take a new career path in the IT sector, and that’s how she enrolled for the AWS re/Start, a full-time, offline cloud entry-level training program that saw her pass the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam.  

Three months after completing the program, Sabajo landed a Junior IT Specialist at Randstad Group before being promoted to member of the company’s Cost Optimization team, where she leverages her AWS skills to maximize savings opportunities for Randstad Group.  

Speaking of her transition, Sabajo attributes her experience and success to her dedicated team of trainers and mentors who were genuinely committed to her growth and development. 

Mark Glazener, From a Production Leader to Fusion Splicing Technician

Mark Glazener had worked as a production leader at a little-known manufacturing company when he felt he needed to pursue a different career.  

His passion has always been in the fiber optics industry, and he wanted career growth in that trajectory. He took up AWS’s Fusion Splicing Certificate program in partnership with Sumitomo Electric Lightwave, which took place at Danville Community College. 

Here, Glazener met his next employer, Team Fishel, an AWS contractor, who gave him the role of a Fusion Splicing Technician he currently occupies. 

Andre Grass, from Packer to Associate2Tech (A2Tech) Support Manager

When Andre Grass dropped out of high school as a teenager due to family problems, he felt his academic and professional aspirations had hit a dead end. 

He would later join Amazon as a packer in a warehouse fulfillment center in Phoenix, Arizona. However, he soon discovered the many upskilling opportunities at Amazon, and a few months later, he enrolled for the Associate2Tech (A2Tech). 

The program enables him to pursue his childhood passion for technology, an experience he terms as the best that happened in his life. Today, Grass works as a tech support Manager at the same facility in Arizona.

 “I just needed somebody to give me a chance,” he says.  

From these success stories, you can see that anyone can take up a career path of their choice, whether with Amazon or elsewhere. 

Amazon’s most incredible commitment is ensuring that whoever takes up their upskilling programs succeeds regardless of their professional background or academic level. 

You, too, can succeed with these or similar partner programs through Pathstream. There’s undoubtedly something for everyone. 

Conclusion

Amazon is trying to live up to its core values of becoming the world’s best company and the safest place to work. We see this manifested in the retail giant’s relentless pursuit of success for its employees and communities through its life-changing upskilling programs. 
 

As we have seen, these programs benefit not only the employees but also organizations in many impactful ways.
 

As an employee, you stand to gain tremendously by taking advantage of Amazon career advancement, offered by Pathstream, which aims to help workers upskill into higher-paying jobs.