Thousands pursue jobs at Amazon
They arrived by foot, car, Uber and scooter. Some wore their best interview suits, others wrinkled T-shirts.
Many already had jobs — no surprise in an era of historically low unemployment and a booming national economy. But now Amazon, the world’s largest Internet company, was beckoning. And these folks wanted in.
A Seattle-based technology company held a nationwide job fair after opening 30,000 positions — from technical software engineers to program managers to customer fulfillment jobs, and thousands of people attended. “Amazon Career Day” was held Tuesday in six U.S. cities including Arlington, Va.; Dallas, Seattle, Boston, Chicago and Nashville, Tenn..
Officials say Amazon recruiters helped attendees with their resumes and interview skills before encouraging them to apply for a job they like online at Amazon.jobs/careerday.
“I really want someone to give me a chance. Everyone wants to work here,” said Leo Versel, 26, of Rockville, Md., one of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people in a line that snaked down 12th Street South and around the corner onto Army Navy Drive in Arlington on Tuesday morning.
Amazon wasn’t offering jobs Tuesday or officially taking résumés. Rather, the event was a chance for potential applicants to talk to recruiters, get tips on how to advance, and learn about jobs and businesses within the company.
Amazon has facing heightened scrutiny over antitrust issues and has been criticized for poor working conditions in warehouses, harsh productivity quotas and an overreliance on contract workers.