Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
“We actively seek leaders who can invent, think big, have a bias for action and deliver results on behalf of our customers. These principles look very familiar to men and women who have served our country in the armed forces, and we find that their experience leading people is invaluable in our fast-paced work environment.”
– Jeff Bezos
Look, I know that Amazon is a ridiculously large and immensely valuable organization who has the ability to produce a lot of content for its website. But, seriously, they have a lot about hiring military veterans. You can tell through the sheer volume of info and content on their site that they want military veterans working at Amazon.
Amazon is really big on its leadership principles. Look at them and you will see a lot of overlap with principles common in the military:
(Only a partial list)
Ownership
Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job.”
Insist on the Highest Standards
Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.
Bias for Action
Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.
Deliver Results
Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.
Earn Trust
Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.
I feel like I could see this list posted on a battalion headquarters at Twentynine Palms and it wouldn’t look out of place.
Amazon military support
Ok, great. Looks like the values line up well. But what do they actually DO to support veterans?
- Wounded warriors- Through Adapt@Amazon, Amazon supports military veterans who gave a lot for the country — in sacrifices they and their families will carry with them forever. Partnerships with organizations focused on helping these wounded warriors gives them training and accomodations to help their journey be a successful one.
2. Support to Guard and Reserves– Every part-timer worries about their job security. Not only will Amazon ensure you keep your job, they will try and reinstate you at the position you would have been at had you not been placed on active duty orders. Oh, and if the pay you receive on those active duty orders is less than your Amazon pay, they will cover the difference.
3. Spouses and dependents- Amazon also realizes that while veterans have a lot to offer, so do military spouses. That’s why they have special hiring initiatives just for spouses and dependents. These are often flexible and remote jobs that someone can take with them as they bounce around from base to base.
4. Skillbridge- The DoD Skillsbridge program is one of the best opportunities out there for those set to leave the military. Amazon is one of the companies you can work with through Hiring our Heroes and the DoD Skillsbridge program, which you can find out all about here.
And to back all this up, Amazon pledged to hire 25,000 veterans and military spouses over the next five years. And beyond hiring, they pledged to train 10,000 active duty service members, veterans and military spouses in cloud computing through AWS Educate memberships and offering a path to AWS certifications.
That’s actual action you can see.
5. Military Leaders Program
If you have significant leadership and performance experience in the military, you may also want to try for the Military Leaders Program.
This program is meant to serve as a fast-track to higher levels of responsibility within Amazon. You’ll start as an Area Manager, a role well-fit for military leaders used to leading a team of people in a fast-paced and results-oriented role. Amazon loves military veterans for these roles because of the strong team-focused leadership the military develops and the bias for action that veterans have.
The idea is that you work at this role for 6 months, then move up to an operations manager, overseeing a team of area managers, for 12–18 months. You can then expect to become a senior operations manager and then, potentially, a warehouse general manager overseeing thousands of employees.
6. Amazon Web Services
You know the “cloud” that everyone talks about and seemingly runs modern society? Yea, well, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the largest cloud service out there–running businesses and governments alike. And Amazon has ways to help you get certified on AWS.
LOTS of companies want people certified at working in AWS-including the government. And according to IT Career Finder, the average starting salary for a AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate (entry-level), is $117,773.
They also have the Amazon Military Apprenticeship program. This not only gets you certified at working in these structures but even guarantees you a job on the backend. That’s a value that’s hard to beat.
7. Student roles
If you are an MBA grad, there are also specific pathways for you to enter Amazon. But for undergraduate veterans, there are also great prospects.
(Quick plug for my friends over at Next Step- Inbound, a great resource for veterans interested in attending top-tier undergraduate school.)
But even if you aren’t getting your MBA, they have internship roles for student veterans.
8. Franchise opportunities
Interested in entrepreneurship? You know those blue vans that come around and deliver packages? Those are part of their network of Amazon Delivery Partners.
Basically, each area is a franchise run by a business owner. Amazon actively touts on their site that they want veterans for owners. So much that they they’ve committed $5 million towards funding startup costs and offering $10,000 reimbursements as part of the franchise fee. For more on becoming an entrepreneur as a veteran, check out this article.
Veterans are great for these roles, as they are focused on results and to succeed you need a lot of hands-on leadership. It sounds like something a veteran would excel at.
Related:
10 Ways Google Is Helping Veterans.
You Should Learn to Code. Seriously.