That’s right! You read that correctly! I’ve landed a job with Amazon and I’m going to tell you just how I did it and how my study abroad experiences helped me do it!
I attended an Amazon information
session earlier this semester. The recruiter was informing us about entry-level
career opportunities with the company. At that time I was only focused on
internships because I had full intentions of enrolling into the MBA program
directly after graduation, but l decided to search for full-time positions
instead (I’m choosing to postpone enrolling directly into the MBA program
because I believe that I will perform better in the program and be able to
contribute more first-hand experiences to the program rather than if I were to
enroll immediately after graduation).
So, I filled out the online job
application (not thinking that I would even be considered as a candidate). The
next day, I received an email to finish an online assessment. The very next day
after that, I received an email inviting me to an onsite interview in Orlando,
FL! I was going crazy. I couldn’t believe that this company wanted to fly ME
out to Florida for an interview, not as an executive with the company but as a
PROSPECT! And they paid for EVERYTHING! Flight, hotel, rental car, food, all of
it!
During my interview I was asked
mostly behavioral questions which I answered using the STAR Method (situation,
task, action, result). The questions I answered were: "tell me about a time
when...how did you handle this situation when...what did you learn when....”
-all those types of questions.
Every time I answered a question, I found myself
referring back to my study abroad experience in Panama. I talked about how
studying global supply chain management benefited me through personal,
academic, and professional development. Specifically, I spoke about how I grew
as a person by raising my cultural awareness of socioeconomic issues and cross
cultural understanding by working in teams with my study abroad peers and
Panamanian natives.
Pertaining to academics, I spoke about how I have
contributed my time and dedication during my leadership roles at the University
through mentoring, mutual sharing of knowledge, and what I learned from being a
leader through programs such as Leadership Walton, being a Student Ambassador,
and the Walton Dean Student Advisory Board to name a few. In addition, I
incorporated my leadership and mentoring roles into my study abroad experience
and how it not only benefited myself, but the program, and the university as a
whole (recruiters love hearing about stuff like that, through those types of
stories, recruiters can visualize how beneficial you can be to their company).
Lastly, for professional development, I really honed in on Amazon’s Leadership
Principles. I took bits and pieces of everything that I just said and
cultivated them into those principles and clearly stated how I can make an
impact within the company.
Basically, I talked about a life
changing experience, what happened that was life changing, how did I benefit
from it, and how I can use that experience to better Amazon. Also, my
interviewer mentioned that her sister is thinking about studying abroad and I
informed her that if her sister did not study abroad, she would be making the
biggest mistake of her life.
Studying abroad is about more than
having fun, it’s more than just becoming more educated and well-traveled.
Studying abroad is about the mutual sharing of knowledge, culture, and life
itself for the betterment of society through international education.
I’ll be starting my new job June 6,
2016 (but before that I’m getting in one more study abroad experience in
January to Vietnam). I don’t know yet where I’ll be located for my
position, but I’m praying it's California!
I hope that my story inspires you
and everyone you know to study abroad. You never know how your experience could
land you a job with such a prosperous, successful company like Amazon!
Au revoir! #StudyAbroad
#Amazon #WaltonImpact
--Cordarius Enright, Study Abroad Peer Advisor
See more about the benefits of studying abroad at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/getting-started/why-study-abroad.php
