What a virtual internship at Amazon is like -By Riya Santhosh from XLRI Jamshedpur

Interning at one of the Big Four technology companies is not everyone's cup of tea. Read how a fresher from XLRI Jamshedpur made it to the virtual internship at Amazon.

Due to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, many companies decided to go for layoffs and slash in salaries but many of them emerged as the beacon of hope. One such among them was Amazon, an e-commerce giant that also has a stronghold in cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Like many, it did not revoke the internship offers, rather it turned up even stronger.

My journey of virtual internship at Amazon started with its crisp selection process, which consisted of:

1. CV submission

1. Online simulation

1. Interview

Post CV submissions, there was an online simulation that needed to be completed. Candidates selected on the basis of these two rounds were called for two rounds of interviews. The first round was with a panel of two and the second round had just one interviewer. The majority of questions were mostly based on CV and past experiences. After cracking all rounds, I successfully bagged the role of a Human Resource Business Partner Intern at Amazon. 

A rigorous connection to facilitate the virtual process

The 2020 summer internships were virtual, owing to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. However, this did not stop Amazon from delivering a wholesome experience to the interns. The Student Programs team was constantly in touch with us through emails. A webinar was conducted for new interns wherein we were formally introduced to Amazon. We were given an overview of the internship timeline and what to expect during our internships. We were also told of several fun activities that had been planned for us at various points of our internship timeline. The team always welcomed our doubts and queries.

Apart from this, the fun part was equally given importance. I cannot forget the final ‘graduation day’ of my virtual internship at Amazon where everyone was supposed to wear caps and I ended up with a cycle safety helmet as I couldn't find anything else. The team conducted several leadership connects and live broadcast sessions where interns asked questions to senior leaders. Moreover, there were fun connect sessions with other interns where we played games like Pictionary and found fun facts about each other.

High-impact learnings

As a fresher, when I was told that I had to conduct meetings and one-to-one discussions with leaders, I was rather nervous. However, a couple of weeks into my internship, I became really used to these conversations and began enjoying them. My communication skills improved as a result of my internship.

Due to the huge scale of Amazon, I often had to work with large volumes of data. It gave me a realization that although I was really comfortable with smaller datasets, working with large volumes is an entirely different ballgame. As a result of various analyses during my stint with Amazon, I am now comfortable with large datasets as well. I also learnt the importance of taking feedback from multiple people and the impact it can have on one's work.

The importance of feedback multiplies in virtual mode

Owing to internet connectivity issues, most meetings were held in audio-only mode. There were a lot of challenges because of it, since non-verbal communication including facial cues, make up for 93% of communication. As a result, it was really important to make use of every bit of feedback that I received. 

Amazon has an open feedback culture and because of this, I could understand what was working and what was not. The key takeaway from the feedback sessions with my mentor is the importance of having an open mind and willingness to listen.