Amazon recruiter, Army vet, eager to open door to veterans

SEATTLE – Ardine Williams, one of the lead recruiters for Amazon.com's fast-growing cloud computing unit, knows well the technical skills and can-do attitude veterans bring to the table.

But she also knows, first hand, how hard it is to make those first steps in the civilian world.

As a captain in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during the 1980s, she had done specialized telecommunications work and data analysis.

But in her first real foray into the private sector she found herself selling clothes at Gymboree, which as a young mother returning from Kuwait she joined "because they had a great discount in kids clothes."

"I really felt like I was lost," Williams, 55, said in an interview.

Now, after three decades and a successful career in pharmaceuticals and technology, she leads efforts to staff up Amazon Web Services, an Amazon division that has more than 6,000 jobs open worldwide, in the midst of a veritable war for talent among technology titans.

She wants to open the door to as many veterans as she can who are a "great fit" for the company, she says.

"They find careers at Amazon, and add incredible value," she said. "Your mission-driven, results-oriented approach is exactly what my team seeks in candidates."

Seattle-based Amazon says it has hired more than 10,000 veterans in the past five years, and vows to hire more than 25,000 veterans and military spouses in the next five. If Amazon keeps growing at the pace it's led in the past few years, there'll be plenty of space to absorb them, not only in cloud computing, but also in logistics and warehouse operations.

There's what a company spokeswoman calls a "very active" affinity group of veterans dubbed Amazon Warriors; and there are even a sizable number of recruiters with military backgrounds who make incorporating former service members a priority.

About two dozen of these recruiters met recently at a happy hour, a monthly event that they have baptized "Commander's Call," in honor of the gatherings they saw in service. There they socialize, reinforcing what is a growing community of Amazonians with military experience, and exchange tips on how to help new hires adapt to life in corporate America.

The company's pledges come against a backdrop in which many large U.S. businesses have made incorporating veterans a top priority, a policy that has resulted in relatively low unemployment levels for former military.

But a divide remains between those emerging from the armed forces and their new civilian employers and co-workers, given the small percentage of the U.S. workforce that has any experience in the military.