Getting Hired By Amazon

Image by dominikrabalski from Pixabay.com

Time truly does go by and just like that, I finished my fourth week at Amazon. As brick and mortar retail is slowly opening up again, Amazon continues its business routine.

As everyone should know, online retail is a force to be reckon with. This pandemic was like a shot of adrenaline for online business because many consumers have been urged to stay home. With many psychical stores shutting their doors (except for essential businesses), online retail had temporarily been the only option for buying certain things. Because of this, job opportunities for warehouse workers had increased. When you order something online, you expect to find a package on your porch within a few days. Or in some cases, the next day. I myself just ordered a couple of t-shirts and they were recently delivered. As you anxiously wait for your package to arrive though, I'm willing to bet that the last thing your thinking about is the work that goes behind delivering that package. Up until the start of my job, I didn't know anything about this field.

With the pandemic still looming, some parts of the United States have loosened restrictions, but not everything has returned to normal yet. With that being said, finding a job is still a bit of a challenge at this time. This is especially so for recently graduated college students. With many doors closed at this time, warehouses including FedEX, UPS, The Postal Service, and of course, online retail continue to operate (with some guidelines set in place).

It was towards the end of my final semester at Parkland College when my mom informed me that Amazon was looking for part-time package handlers. For the past few weeks, I had been applying to one job after the other and received rejections for each of them. It was without hesitation that I filled the job application out and submitted it. With the title, "Getting Hired By Amazon", it's obvious that I got the job. It was only two weeks after filling the application that I started my first shift at the Amazon.

For 4.5 hours a day, Saturday to Wednesday, I work in a warehouse which Amazon calls a fulfillment center. What basically happens in this warehouse is that trucks deliver these packages for staff to unload, sort, and stow on shelves. Once the flow of packages stops, the filled shelves are then moved to a designated area where multiple delivery vans will take the items for home delivery. I unfortunately can't go into too much detail because some of the shipping methods are proprietary to Amazon. What I can say however is that each day, I perform a different task that ultimately involves moving and sorting packages. The fulfillment center operates 24/7 and I believe each shift is a repeating cycle where a semi-truck comes with a load of packages and warehouse staff (including myself) organize those packages. Once my shift ends and I leave, the process starts over again with the next shift.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work as a warehouse employee at Amazon, but you're on your feet the whole time. The added benefit of this is you're going to get a workout but unlike going to the gym, you get paid for it. I already lost some weight and began to gain a little bit of arm strength from repeatedly carrying boxes. The second benefit is that most of the staff there are extremely friendly and are always there to help or give advice. The third benefit is that I have the morning shift where on the days that I work, my shift starts at 7:30 AM and ends at noon. What this means is that I still have the whole day ahead of me. Depending on what I do on a particular day such as unloading boxes, I probably end up passing out the moment I get home. If I'm awake enough though, I try writing these blogs or create a design.

To end things off, I ask this. What is it like working at your current job? To respect privacy, I'm not asking for the company, just what the job entails.