Megan Kearsley’s Post

Two Years of Day 1s at Amazon! Today marks my two incredible years at Amazon, and I couldn’t be happier. These two years have been filled with learning, experimenting, and growing every single day. Here are my key takeaways: 1. Writing matters. Amazon’s style of writing taught me how to craft clear, concise documents and blurbs that drive action. 2. Document everything. Good documentation doesn’t just capture work; it builds clarity and creates impact. 3. Work backwards and stay customer-focused. If it’s not helping your customer (learners, in my case), you’re not solving the right problem. I’m grateful to my managers, stakeholders, and peers for being an integral part of this journey. Looking forward to new challenges, more learnings, and continuing the Day 1 spirit!

First Half of the Career vs Second Half of the Career. What will change and how we need to change #CareerTrek You can also get your copy on Amazon at https://amzn.in/d/gmnGUp4

I can echo the importance of this, being involved in our yearly op1/op2 planning process has taught me the importance of clearly laid out plans and goals in the form of documentation

I love writing. I've been doing it for years on diverse platforms. It's an effective way to clarify your thoughts, first for yourself and then for others. Amazon leverages this approach extensively. Amazonians write documents to seek additional funding, gain approval for new product ideas, promote or fire employees, learn from mistakes, design the next big thing, and a long list of etceteras. Regardless of what you’re writing, one rule always applies: Show, don't tell. This principle involves providing sufficient data and evidence to support your assumptions and narrative. With compelling evidence, readers will arrive at the same conclusion as you and are more likely to support your case. By explaining your thought process and supporting it with evidence, you can connect the dots from the problem statement to the final outcome, eliminating any ambiguity that might lead readers to make inaccurate assumptions. Writing itself is simple. Thinking critically is not. In many cases, weak documents come from a lack of clarity of thought. In contrast, strong documents are the product of hours of careful analysis and reflection.

What if one day you get to know Amazon's work secrets? 🤔 🤐 Often in our University, we have the privilege of having successful graduates of our program as invited speakers. Last week wasn't an exception. We hosted Enrico Armilli, who told us how it is to work in the largest technological and online retail company. Let me share some of the fascinating practices: 1️⃣ It's always day one It means being as bold and fresh as on the first day when you started this job: being obsessed with the customer, focusing on the results other than progress, making high-quality decisions quickly, and embracing external trends quickly. ❗ They also have an opposite saying "It's a day two mentality". It means you're not being proactive and doing many unnecessary moves. 🚪 One-way/two-way door decisions There are one-way door decisions that you can take only once, after them there's no way back: they lead you by a certain path. And there are two-way door decisions: after making them you can always come back to the point where you were. ✍ The writing culture In Amazon, they don't do PowerPoint presentations. Instead, they prepare written notes. ✂ Frugality Being frugal means being intentional, and accomplishing more with less. 🔨 A door as a desk It's one of the examples of Frugality when you quickly make prototypes or solve problems on the spot with the materials you have at the moment. No overthinking! Would you like to work for Amazon knowing their approaches? My answer is totally yes 🙋♀️ #amazonculture #amazonfacts #jobs

As an Amazon VP I scaled by teaching my team members to be able to do more. I taught my directs 1:1 and I taught my larger team through emails and broadcast meetings. I share this same knowledge here and today I'm releasing three new classes. Class 1: How to Get Your Ideas Heard Class 2: Executive 1:1s - Using Them Well Class 3: How Being Unreasonable Drove Me to Amazon VP - Make Your Mark While these classes are available individually, they are all free to paying newsletter subscribers. The plan is to add one additional free, included mini-class to the newsletter community per month. The next class is already in the works and will be announced shortly. The goal is to make subscribing to the newsletter a complete no brainer: --Multiple in-depth career articles per week --A growing catalog of included mini-classes --Live guest interviews and networking events for members Newsletter link: https://buff.ly/3Q9UHPd Existing subscriber video access code instructions: https://buff.ly/3ysBh1w Class catalog for those who just want one class: https://buff.ly/3ysBjXc Readers - I have a long list of topics I want to make into mini classes, addressing common pain points. What is your pain point in your career you wish someone would help you address?

You are probably familiar with Amazon's "Start with the press release" or working backwards method for product releases (link in comments below). This week I had the idea to do that with my career development. Almost certainly, I am not the first to think of this, but thought I would share my version. 1) Start with the announcement - write the announcement of your next role no matter how far out that is. Include the unique strengths, skills, and experiences you are bringing to the position. 2) Create your future resume - write the resume/CV that got you the next role. What is in that future version that you don't have on your resume today? 3) Use the announcement and resume as guiding principles to get clear on any gaps and to make informed decisions on where to invest your time next 4) Start collecting the experiences you need with intention 5) Continually reflect and adjust as needed, career development is never a straight line and you don't know what you don't know yet. I am a fan of prioritizing growth and development even (especially?) when you are enjoying where you are today. Today is always the best day to do anything, so am off to write my future resume. 😃

Last night, while I was bartending my usual shift, I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting a software engineering manager from Amazon. 🧑💻🍸 Picture this: I’m shaking up a margarita when I notice this guy who looks like he spends his days wrangling code rather than cocktails. Naturally, I had to seize the opportunity! So, between mixing drinks and serving customers, I gave him the quick elevator pitch about my latest web scraper project and the frameworks I’ve been diving into. Here’s the kicker – just as I was about to ask if he’s on LinkedIn (you know, to pick his brain about Amazon’s interview process), I got swamped with guests and had to bounce! Talk about a missed opportunity! Note to self: next time, I’ll serve the drinks with one hand and send LinkedIn invites with the other. 🍹💼 But hey, if you’re reading this, mystery Amazon manager, let’s connect! I’d love to chat more about your career and what it’s like to work for Amazon. #SoftwareEngineeringJourney #Networking #MissedOpportunities #LearningToCode

Here's why you're not getting better in your skill-set. Hey you... Yes, you are the back... You've been practicing a skill set... It's been a while and it seems you're just running around in circles... Not getting better... You know why? You don't have a mentor you're looking up to. 2022, I had this friend, we both wrote for a site together, while publishing on Amazon. He brought up the idea of us paying for mentorship... I slacked, he didn't... When I saw his results this year, I had to pay him for mentorship... Now I'm seeing more results than before. Ebuka, the truth is that... You can't be full from free meals... Pay for a meal, from a reliable chef and experience what it means to be full... PS: This isn't about food. 📌👇📌 📌👇📌 📌👇📌 Don't forget, I remain that writer with a flair for the dramatics- the Distilling Alchemist, I am Joshua Chukwunye. Like ✅ my posts, Repost ♻️ Connect 🤝 and Follow🔔 me. I'm dedicated to dropping hot tips on how to grow your Amazonkdp accounts and personal business- your skill is your business. PS: The tip isn't just for those on Amazon. Apply it on that skill of yours and see the results. #amazonkdp #author #amazonauthor