Internship Spotlight, Kaitlyn Susa, Amazon

Kaitlyn Susa is a Business Management major set to graduate in the spring of 2022.  This summer she interned with Amazon as an Area Manager Intern in Seattle, Washington.

What was the process for getting this internship, job, or summer experience?

I was reached out to on LinkedIn by a recruiter to apply after she had looked at my previous experience and expected graduation date. I applied online and completed two rounds of online interviewing testing my “soft skills” and situational awareness & analysis. I then was contacted to do a video interview over Chime, Amazon’s equivalent of Teams + Zoom. I interviewed with 2 different current employees to get STAR stories and experience questions done. I was contacted within 3 days of my interview with the hiring decision!

What was a typical day like?

I worked in outbound at a fulfillment center. My job was to reduce jams in their flats sorter as my 10 week summer project. I also ran the flat sorter department for 3 weeks of my shifts to gain knowledge and experience of the full-time role. I usually went in at 7:30-8:00 AM Wednesday-Saturday and left the site around 6:30-7:00PM depending on what we needed to wrap up at end of shift.

What was your favorite part of the experience?

My favorite part of my experience was gaining real knowledge and expertise of my area alongside my manager and her peers. I learned so much from them on how to deal with all kinds of people and how to be impactful at such a large company.

If you worked on a big project, please describe it below:

My summer project was focused on the flat sorter at the site, which is where envelopes, bags, and small boxes go through. I worked with my team, associates, and my senior operations manager to reduce these jams. The method we used is going to be patented and rolled out regionally in Amazon. If it stays at a 32% reduction of jams, my project is estimated to save the company over $200k in labor.

What advice do you have for other students looking for a similar experience, or advice for future students to be successful?

I think be fully open to the opportunity and take advantage that you have a variety of associates, process assistants, and other area managers to learn from. Immerse yourself wholeheartedly into it if you can.

How did Eller prepare you for this experience?

Excel! In my time at Amazon, I was constantly tracking rates and figures in different Excel macros I was sent, or Excel sheets I created. We utilized VLOOKUP the most, and knowing the basics was really helpful! My internship also utilized presentation of data, learned in BCOM314, mainly utilizing clean formats and pictures over words.