I Got a Job at an Amazon Warehouse Without Talking to a Single Human
What the experience taught me about automating the hiring process
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.
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 the world seriously for the first time.
A few days later, I went through with the drug test and checked some boxes for the background check, and I was set to start work at Amazon in just over two weeks. Applying to work at Amazon was so easy, but it made me take the notion of automation taking over the world seriously for the first time.
When I brought my documents to the warehouse, I interacted with two human beings. I was in the recruiting warehouse where I would eventually work for less than five minutes.
“That’s it?” I asked.
“That’s it,” the guy said.
Even though I got the job, and quickly, I have mixed feelings about automating the job application process. It’s unsettling to get a job so quickly and without talking to a single person. Did they really not care about any human aspects of my application? Did they care…
