I Got a Job at an Amazon Warehouse Without Talking to a Single Human

What the experience taught me about automating the hiring process

Photo: Andrei Stanescu/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus

A few weeks ago, I had just completed an application to work in a warehouse for Amazon. I had watched a video and completed a quiz showing that I knew that to stow items — heavy goes on the bottom, light goes on top. About 20 minutes later, Amazon emailed me that I had the job at the shift I desired. The email said to come into the warehouse recruiting office in Baltimore to take a photo for my ID and have my official documents, like my social security number and passport, ready to be scanned.

Instead of Teaching Summer School, I’ll Be Working at an Amazon Warehouse

I was conflicted. It was the easiest and most streamlined hiring process I’d ever gone through, and I was happier to have the job than to not have the job. At the same time, I got a job at one of the world’s biggest companies without ever speaking to a single human being.

Applying to work at Amazon was so easy, but it made me take the notion of automation taking over…