Ever since news broke last November that Amazon had chosen Northern Virginia as the location for its second headquarters (HQ2)—with the potential to bring up to 25,000 jobs over the next decade—people have been excited about what that will mean for Virginia, for George Mason University, and for Mason’s students and alumni.
As the commonwealth’s largest public research university—producing thousands of tech-ready graduates each year—it’s no surprise that the Mason spirit is already strong at Amazon. More than 500 alumni work for the tech giant at various locations around the world, many for Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon subsidiary that offers cloud computing services and has a major hub in Northern Virginia.
The tech job market here is hot, according to Saskia Campbell, executive director of Mason’s University Career Services. “It is a great time to be a student, as we have thousands of employers eager to connect with Mason talent.”
In the past year, more than 1,100 tech employers posted openings in Handshake, Mason’s database for student internships and jobs. At the start of the fall semester, these employers had posted more than 2,200 full-time tech positions and 600 internships.
University Career Service has relationships with several Amazon entities, but AWS is the most active in campus recruitment. In addition to posting on Handshake and attending career fairs throughout the year, AWS recruiters hosted a virtual open house for Mason students and conducted a “serverless” workshop on campus, in which students learned about cloud computing and had the opportunity to work on cloud architecture.
Meet some of the Mason alumni who work at Amazon, and learn how their Mason education prepared them for the workforce.
Jason Paul Pate, Class of 2020
Rao Ahmad Rahil, MS Telecommunications ’18
Brandon Mohabir, BS Information Technology ’15
Taylor Cacciotti, BS Information Technology ’19
Rajitha Devabhaktuni, MS Computer Engineering ’16
Cameron Isaac, BS Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’11
Prinkle Lopes, MS Information Systems ’18
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