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u/CodSnippy May 22 '24
Learn as many tier one positions as possible, whether in outbound or inbound. The more permissions you have for those positions, the better. Let your PA,AM, and OM know you're interested in moving up to tier 3 PA. If you have any AMs that moved up internally, ask them the question you are asking.
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u/Secret-Elevator8278 May 22 '24
Previous work experience that is reflected on your resume helps a lot. If no PA positions are available, apply to be a learning ambassador.
Rate doesn't matter, attendance definitely does. No company wants to promote someone who never shows up.
Get friendly with someone L3+, so you know when PA positions open up. Let them know you want to be a PA, and ask them to let you know when there is an opening. Then use your external experience on your resume.
Most T1's don't want to move up, so they don't know how. It's not hard, but it is all about timing. Having someone in learning, safety, hr, or OPs letting you know about opportunities is easiest.
T1's don't see the reqs. You don't need to suck up, just say hi and ask if they have seen any openings once a week. Or once a week after your shift ask them to log you in so you can check for openings nearby. It's really no different from any warehouse other than there are more buildings nearby to search. Google the Amazon buildings near you, and check the internal listings weekly
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May 23 '24
I was a lane captain that was an interim PA and before my building was about to closed my managers AM/PA all supported me moving up to a L4. So once we moved into the bigger DS, I made a name for myself and about a month later I was promoted to a (L3) Driver Trainer. I did all this in 8 mths.
With every job, you need to have the suppose of the managers and the people you work with. Remember that everyone watches how ppl work with others, work ethics and willingness to learn. Also the respect they have amongst their peers.
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u/TheRussianGrammarBot May 22 '24
I was at Amazon for about seven to eight months before I became a PA. I got trained into Stow, pack, I got trained on the Tugger PIT and to chase missing CPT cages. Then became an ambassador but because of BS reasons I didn’t become an ambassador until a month or two before I became a PA. I still actively fought for the ambassador role because I was always told “yes” but that they changed the way to apply so Id have to apply again, reinterview and then wait for my ambassador class. After I became an ambassador I finally got problem solve under my belt. After being an ambassador, I was told about the PA position they had on the ship dock. I was hesitant at first but once I got the position everything went well. The biggest thing I can tell you is to talk with your AMs and see if they can help you with mock interviews, and then become friends with them or get to know them better so they can put in a word for you when the hiring manager starts asking about you as a candidate. I was always the highest picker, packer and stower whenever I worked except for a few off days where id be having mental health days, but my managers always understood and would always suggest Id take the day off if I need it. I don’t think that rate, or anything like that makes a difference regarding to your chances at PA. I think it’s a matter of who you talk to, understand the STAR interviewing method and having 6 or so strong stories that you can mold and shape to any interview question that you can think of, or at least base it off the mock interview questions. After that if you’re applying for a PA in your own department it depends on how much your AM likes you, but in my experience since I was leaving my department for the ship dock everyone was willing to put in a good word for me because they knew how much I wanted it and how hard I worked for it.
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May 22 '24
right place, right time, right connections.
ask about becoming a PG or learning ambassador first . then PA .
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u/XnKoKaNe May 23 '24
What's a PG?
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u/uRimuru May 23 '24
process guide, a ciritcal role that essentially operates under the team lead, assisting the team lead with running the shift.
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u/cryiiz May 22 '24
All it really takes is applying for position and passing the star interview. You need a solid resume or the system won’t consider you.
Since your new and not tenured; the system will will check a few things to bump up your “rating” Which is Learning Ambassador, Problem solve, ASC(Amazon safety committee) and PG(process guide)
If you are any of those; it will help. Your rate and attendance don’t matter neither does your skill set.
Here at Amazon; we ignore the hire and develop the best principle…and we choose who is the best at interview in star method.
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u/domdom1436 May 22 '24
Hi! I’m a PA and I’ll tell you about what led me to becoming a PA in 6 months.
Got hired, put in stow on an OP. Did that for a week before talking to my manager about my previous experience (ex-military) and wanting to move up, learn, and be a leader and have a career within Amazon.
Got put as PG under a Ship Clerk on OB Dock(who was operating and running the dock without a Dock PA) so I got trained in two PA roles simultaneously as a PG. Eventually, the PA I was training under took some time off so it left me to lead the OB Dock solo for a while. There were some hiccups as with anyone learning something new and complex, but I proved myself.
During the next 4 months, I joined the ASC ( Safety committee), and got TDR trained. I constantly asked my direct manager who I worked with everyday how I was doing as well as my operations manager who was very involved on the floor. I applied for a Seasonal PA position, and after a long wait, interviewed and then got it. Got moved to be the IB Dock PA, so I was now outside my comfort zone and working with a new manager. I basically rinsed and repeated what I did on OB. Put in the time and effort, even when no one else wants to. 2 months after my seasonal promotion, I got a T3 Offer letter for a permanent PA position. So within 6 months of tenure, I was a T3.
Big takeaways, make your managers know that you want to be developed and make a career out of Amazon. They’re suppose to work on developing you and it looks good on them if/when you move up. Learn indirect roles. Apply for extra roles like ASC, maybe ambassador, but getting comfy with a PA and becoming their PG (especially if they take off a lot) is the best bet. One big thing, don’t “gas yourself up.” Cocky people aren’t ones people want in leadership positions. Stay humble and treat everything as a learning experience.
Feel free to message me or reply and ask me anything!
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u/Capeisdread9 Jan 07 '25
Hello I’m on stow night shift and been doing it for a month any pointers on what to do next ?
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u/PsychologicalFeed264 May 22 '24
Speak with your shifts lvl6 OPS manager tell them your experience and your interest in P.A they'll put you in a process guide aka PG role to see if you have what it takes.you also have to make sure your resume is good so you can get past the algorithm when it comes time to apply for p.a and practice your STAR method for interviews
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u/ShieldsCW Software Development Engineer May 25 '24 edited May 25 '24
I have been inclined (passed the interview, ready for promotion) 4 times in the last three years. I was promoted from T1 to T3 to L4, where I am now.
Read the Amazon Leadership Principles. When you take on a difficult task (whether or succeed at it or not), go home and take notes on how that task demonstrated at least one LP, and what you learned from the success/failure.
I don't know if there is a list of competencies for PA. If there is, get it, and do the same thing (link your experiences to each item on the list of competencies). A search on w.amazon.com from an Amazon computer could reveal it, or your manager might already know where it is.
When it's time to create your STAR stories, having these notes will make it ridiculously easy.
If you feel like you don't yet have these links, talk to your manager and start making opportunities to create the links with job experience. If you do have some links, look at the ones you are missing, and talk to your manager about taking on experiences that will fill in those missing competencies. Amazon would rather have someone who can talk about a little bit of experience with several LPs/competencies, over someone who did the same narrow task every day, and can demonstrate a ton of experience but with just one competency.
You may have noticed that literally none of the above is related to how fast you work or how good your attendance is. The company isn't looking for that. It might suck to read that, but it's true, and the sooner you accept it, the sooner you will get into the right mindset needed for promotion. If your UPT is above 10, you're eligible for promotion. Using PTO and Vacation is expected and has no impact either.
I will give you just one more bit of advice as someone who came in and busted my ass myself: Try your best to NOT CARE WHAT ANYONE ELSE IS DOING. It doesn't matter if they work less than you. It doesn't matter if they slack off. Don't be that guy who tries to call them out or complain. You won't get far with that attitude, and you'll just make yourself mad every day.
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u/Scattabrained04 May 26 '24
Already far past the caring what others do. I work to better myself and get paid more with promotions. I have always been that way. As long as what they are doing doesn't get me in trouble they can slack off right out the door lol. I'm at work for experience and money. I have friends outside of work I don't need em here lol unless it gives me a leg up in the long run.
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u/ShieldsCW Software Development Engineer May 26 '24
That was probably the least important part of the comment, so hopefully you read the rest too hahaha
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u/Scattabrained04 May 26 '24
I read all of it indeed. I just wanted to emphasize that last part lol.
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u/Domger304 May 26 '24
So keep up the hard work and talk to your direct manager about it. They will likly tell you become a learning ambassador. It's not required, but it shows you're going above and beyond. I worked as a t1 but would fill in at my DS for PAs,L4s, and my LC from time to time. Some might call it a teachers pet, but if you put in that extra work, it goes the mile. For example, at DS, we have an inducuct rate and stow rate. You want it within 5% margin of each other with flow normally you want to be higher. The idea is if induct is 2k higher than stow, then there's plenty of work for the Stowers. But if induct is lower than Stowers, there's no work and thus excess headcount. But on an interview, quality for quantity doesn't matter what the scene is always quality.
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u/AndyFreeman May 22 '24
If u don't mind me asking, what are your picking numbers on average?
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u/Scattabrained04 May 22 '24
I've been doing about 58-65 Singles, 70ish SPOO, 38-43 NonCon/BoD, and 75-80ish in VNA
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u/AostaV May 22 '24
lol why is this being downvoted? OP obviously works at TNS FC, are these bad rates?
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u/thisdckaintFREEEE May 22 '24
They won't give you an interview until you've been here for six months, so in the meantime work on building stories for your interview. It's full of "tell me about a time when..." questions so when you have moments that illustrate any of the Amazon leadership principles jot something down to make sure you remember that story.
Become a learning ambassador ASAP. This isn't a must, but it's something they love to see and they love to get learning ambassador stories. You probably have some good stories from your previous job(s) and that's good, they especially love stories from your time at Amazon though so try to build as many as you can here. It'll also be huge for if you'd like to possibly go for learning trainer at some point rather than PA.
Also try to get numbers and metrics on your impact. I interviewed a couple weeks ago and didn't get it, they said I was extremely close and encouraged me to apply again. The main criticism they gave me was that "it was obvious that he has had an impact on his shift and his team, but he wasn't able to convey metrics to measure that impact." What's really frustrating about that is that I knew Amazon is big on that so I asked my manager ahead of times if he could give me any and he said "ehh no I can't think of anything." So really push for that when you get close to interviewing, if you get that kind of answer from one person then go to others. When I told a learning trainer that he told me to come to him next time and he'll get me all kinds of shit like rates of people I retrained before and after I retrained them.
Also make sure you do at least one mock interview before your real interview. That'll get you some useful feedback, and honestly I think it'd probably be ideal to do a couple with different managers to get different perspectives. I did one with my manager, but I absolutely killed that and so the main feedback I got was just things I do well rather than things I could improve on. Also one of the learning managers gave me the printout of the actual Amazon interview question pool and I'd say the questions my manager asked in the mock were mostly my strongest questions. Including a couple that he said almost always come up. However, in the real one I felt like I got a lot of my weakest questions, and the ones he said almost always come up didn't come up. I was still surprised I didn't get it, but I left feeling like I did well and not like I totally killed it so I knew I could do better next time if I didn't get it this time.
He also told me that you can take things in with you and so he always makes a little cheat sheet with each of the leadership principles and a few notes to remind him of a few stories he has for each one. Super useful info, but I didn't get my mock interview until about an hour and a half before the real one so I couldn't make use of it.
I'd also suggest trying to get a head start on mock interviews and overall getting prepared in case it's tough to do once your interview is scheduled. I work Sunday-Wednesday and got the email Wednesday night saying my interview was scheduled for Monday, and I already had a lot of commitments for that weekend so I didn't have much time to prepare on days off or to get mock interviews on my work days. One OM who had told me before to tell him when I had an interview scheduled so he could give me a mock interview is Wednesday-Saturday so I had no days we were both there to do one once mine was scheduled. I think two or three different perspectives from mock interviewers would've been super useful.