From seasonal employee to a career in marketing, Amazon is making his dream come true

By Caroline Wong

When Gerardo Rosales took a position as a seasonal warehouse associate with Amazon in 2019, he was just looking to make some extra cash.

But seeing his potential, Amazon had bigger plans for him.

Rosales became a permanent associate after a couple of months and began his upward trajectory with the company, first as a launch assistant, helping to open new sites throughout Southern California, including locations in Beaumont and San Bernardino.

“There were so many good opportunities,” he recalls.

Soon, Rosales was promoted to a leadership role as a level III process assistant in Perris, guiding the new seasonal employees – the role he had initially started in – through the onboarding process and introducing them to the Amazon culture.

Culture of support

Rosales enjoyed assisting new employees and inspired them to explore opportunities with Amazon in the same way his managers had done with him.

“The people in leadership always encouraged me to try different things,” Rosales says. “There are so many different roles that you can explore within Amazon, and I had leadership that was supportive, that made me want to explore opportunities within the company.”

Rosales initially thought he would move up the ladder on Amazon’s operational side. But then he heard about a Marketing Apprenticeship at Amazon and was encouraged to apply. He had no real marketing experience, and out of hundreds of applicants, he was one of the few without a college degree.

To his surprise, Rosales was one of 10 people chosen for the apprenticeship.

“It was just amazing to get into this role,” he says. “I never thought someone who didn’t finish their bachelor’s degree could be in this type of role. I don’t know of any other company that even gives you the opportunity to do something like that.”

Always learning

Rosales and the other marketing apprentices were enrolled in a three-month college course that paired them with professors from a local community college. After that, they were paired with a mentor for a year while they trained for their roles.

“You do the full year of training and then once you graduate, you’re officially in your role, which I have now been for almost a year,” says Rosales.

Today, he works on the eight-member Amazon Pay team in Seattle. Additional teams are located in Europe and Japan.  His role consists of running multiple Amazon-operated channels that display ads and banners to the customer – “anything you see on the Amazon retail page that has something to do with Amazon Pay,” he says.

His team also creates email newsletters, identifies trends, tests campaigns to see what resonates with customers, and presents research to leadership for forecasting.

“I’m always learning, and it’s fun and I love it,” Rosales says, noting that with Amazon, the sky is the limit as far as opportunity. He hopes to one day take advantage of Amazon’s pre-paid college tuition program to finish his bachelor’s degree.

“There are so many internal resources and classes within Amazon that teach me how to do different things,” he says. “Right now I’m using my internal resources and gaining experience. After that, I’ll see where my career takes me.”

Making them proud

Rosales is a second-generation Mexican American and the first in his family to work in a corporate job.

“Both my parents came from Mexico, and I’ve always wanted opportunities to be able to make them proud,” Rosales explains. “They’ve been supportive since day one. We used to live in a garage back in the day, and seeing now where they are is just very inspiring.

“They worked hard for our family, and I want to do the same in the future to support them. Starting as an entry-level employee at Amazon’s fulfillment center, I never would have thought I’d be able to do that, but here I am.”

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