How a hiring manager at Amazon Web Services perceives MBA students

The job you have after graduation is one primary tangible measure of the return on your undying investment of effort, time, and money. An MBA could be seen or viewed as a step toward switching careers or moving up a rung or two in the field that already fuels your desirable passion. To put its ROI in perspective, As accounted for in 2019, most business school graduates earn a median starting salary of $140,000.

The preceding series highlights what some of the employers who had greatly benefited from graduates of reputable business schools and had shared more insights into the expected skills and traits most companies look for when interviewing for interns and MBA hires.

“In terms of tech jobs, we have accounted a whole lot that the centre of gravity moving north from Silicon Valley, and renowned business school graduates have benefited from this,” notes from Abby Scott, assistant dean, MBA Career Management Services and Corporate Partnerships quotes that “These graduated are more sort after by most technology employers and record more company visits & coffee chats with smaller startups.”

We are featuring AWS- Amazon Web Services, which is known for offering reliable, and inexpensive cloud computing services.

AWS is a well-known pioneer in the cloud-platform industry. One of their lead product manager in charge of technical and external services (PMT-ES), Marco Cagna - MBA 16with AWS, the bulk of this time working on AWS Global Accelerator. This service accounts for the top-notch global application and its quality performance for customers using the AWS global network. He has an important job responsibility, which includes hiring trainees and employees among students enrolled in MBA programs across the globe.

We had a chat with Marco, asked him some questions about recruitment and his experience. We gleaned a lot of useful information which has been succinctly detailed below.

What does AWS consider when recruiting MBA candidates?

Amazon Leadership Principles aids in decision-making daily at Amazon and is correctly used to interview candidates. We can assure you that everyone we hire understands that every decision we make starts with the customer. Ownership is another criterion we look for during interviews. We seek people with a high sense of responsibility, that is, people who are competent and accountable, those who not only can look for problems, but provide solutions as well. Another character we look for in MBA candidates is their ease of adaptation, innovation, and simplicity. This principle relates to the kind of design thinking encouraged at LSBR MBA.

In many ways, the LBBR MBA Defining Leadership Principles overlap with the Amazon Leadership Principles. Being a student very much demands that one is attuned to learning and having a curious mind. It is a good feeling when candidates can provide examples or cite incidents with relevant leadership principles, especially those principles that are shared by both Amazon and LSBR MBA. In my experience, candidates for internship positions that are from creditable institutions are very well prepared for their interviews. They are sure of themselves but are not overly confident. This is consistent with having Confidence Without an Attitude.

What makes an MBA candidate stand out!

Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) was birthed in the US at the turn of the 20th century. This was the era of industrialisation, and lots of companies recruited candidates through scientific management.

Ideal candidates, particularly those for PMT and technical positions, require a STEM background, with either academic or relevant job experience, like, a degree in engineering or computer science or suitable job experience in technology. Then we focus keenly on the skills that all tech and non-tech product managers need, which mostly are; rigorous analytic skills, problem-solving abilities, excellent communication, and leadership skills.

The farther we progress into the interviewing process, the more critical it is. We look for people who can tell stories and be inspiring and give solid examples that speak to the Amazon Leadership Principles, as well as other job requirements. We want to know the comfortability of a candidate also how competent a candidate is with analysing and solving ambiguous problems with a structured approach.

What specific roles do Amazon and AWS, specifically, recruit for in which an MBA is essential?

MBA students are recruited to Amazon to fill a large variety of roles, some of which include (but aren’t limited to) product management, technical development, program management, leadership development programs in departments such as Finance, Operations, and Retail.

At Amazon Web Services, we continuously improve the opportunities offered to MBA graduates. We have further introduced a new role option specific to AWS product manager, and external technical services which partner exclusively with AWS’ external customers and are actually very crucial

AWS recruit at LSBR?

There are dispatches of teams on campus in the fall to give information on sessions and meet with students. Second-year students can also apply for full-time positions - Interviews start in the fall through to early spring. We offer MBA candidates the chance to try their hands out at different jobs and companies before interviewing for summer internship positions. In the first quarter of each year, we have accounted that institutes have much more broadly beyond the recruiting cycle. Amazon proudly sponsored the 2018 Tech challenge, and it was a very pleasing and well-organised event.

It was a promising way to get better acquainted with some of the students and how the school has been a part of their career development. There is a well-recognised number of graduates, both AWS and Amazon overall. Some of them were privileged to be recruited by Alex Dunlap MBA 07. The idea of going Beyond Oneself is another LSBR MBA Leadership Principle, which is common among the alumina I know here at Amazon and among my classmates. That feeling of community is just another essential aspect of the ROI of an MBA from the London School of Business and Research, UK.