Are you a veteran? Do you live in the D.C. metro area? Are you looking for a new and exciting job? Well, you came to the right place at the right time. Amazon recently announced its new 2nd Headquarters, or HQ2, will be built in the newly named National Landing neighborhood (formerly Crystal City). Currently Amazon employs 18,000 vets companywide, which is about 3% of their workforce. With the new HQ2 in National Landing, Amazon is looking to hire more vets. f you’ve ever lived in the D.C. Metro area, you can attest to the number of government and contracting jobs that are there. In the D.C. area there are many jobs for vets, and Amazon is putting the heat on other contracting/service companies in a rush to acquire talented vets.
This is in no way an advertisement for Amazon, I’m not getting paid to write this by Amazon. This is strictly a guide for vets or anyone looking for a job with a large company like Amazon with amazing benefits. Here’s a few reasons you might consider joining Amazon at the new HQ2 in National Landing.
Proximity is King!
I have never worked for Amazon, but I’m sure they are a great company to work for based on the research I’ve done for this article. What’s great about their new HQ2 is the proximity to an array of shopping, apartments, and restaurants. National Landing, which is a new name for Crystal City, is growing like crazy. Real estate is hot, and with Amazon moving in, it will only get hotter. The food in the area is amazing, with Good Stuff Eatery being my favorite. Work life balance is key with any job, and the ability to walk to work, take the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) or the Metro makes life much easier. If you want to work for Amazon in HQ2, you can get by without owning a car. The heart of D.C. is only a few short metro stops from National Landing, close to Reagan National Airport and tons of things to see and do.
Good Benefits
If you have ever worked for a large company and then made a change to work for a smaller company, you know that the benefits are often better with a large company. I worked for a large software vendor based out of Palo Alto for 3.5 years and the benefits were some of the best I’ve ever experienced. Fast forward to now, I work for a much smaller firm, where the benefits are definitely not as good as the Silicon Valley company. That is because they just don’t carry the overhead that a large company does… and that’s ok. With Amazon, you are getting good benefits, from 401k match to generous paid time off, free training, education reimbursement and solid health benefits. Benefits are either an important thing to you or they aren’t. As a vet, you already know what good benefits are. At Amazon you won’t just match what you had on active duty, you’ll get something better.
On the Job Training
Amazon is known for hiring vets and training them as needed. In 2018, Amazon had an agreement with the Labor Department to train up to 1,000 vets in cloud computing for free, without the requirement to work for Amazon first. Some of those vets eventually did go on to work for Amazon and are building their career out now. Training, especially tech training, can be a very expensive undertaking. For example, one major software vendor in the cloud computing space requires you to take an install configure and manage course before sitting for the exam. This course has to be from an approved training center and it can cost upwards of $5000. Amazon is much more flexible with their training requirements and willing to train on the job, which is a major perk.
Competition is a Good Thing
When the new HQ2 office opens in the National Landing neighborhood, there will be a rush of recruiters looking to find tech savvy veterans who would be a great addition to Amazon’s workforce. Amazon is looking to hire roughly 7,000 more veterans over the next three years as they ramp up their HQ2 workforce. The competition for skilled veterans to fill contract positions and government positions will be in overdrive. If you’ve had experience working in this field, and in the D.C. Metro area, you have likely seen an uptick of emails from recruiters as the talent pools dwindles and the demand rises. With Amazon moving in, demand will only increase, creating even more opportunities and choices for vets looking for jobs.
