Emma Weyrauch ’22 Interned at Amazon and Scored a Full-Time Job

Working one-on-one with faculty at Saint Mary’s gave her the confidence to ask questions and learn the ropes.

by Annaliese Martinez ’21, College Communications Staff Writer | October 4, 2021

This summer, Saint Mary's student Emma Weyrauch interned at Amazon’s TCY5 location in Tracy, San Joaquin County, and secured a full-time position at the tech company after graduation. As an area manager intern, Weyrauch worked hard to maintain Amazon’s strong reputation and ensure packages get delivered to customers’ doorsteps in time. 

“I was in charge of running sorts [shifts]. I made sure workflow ran smoothly in order for customers to receive packages in two days. I also worked on a project with another intern where we created new techniques to make sure our site was operating at its highest capacity,” said Weyrauch.  

“It was awesome to get the behind-the-scenes scoop on how operations work at Amazon—a company that actually puts customers first.”

While Weyrauch feared that she might not get an internship at Amazon because of the company’s popularity and competitiveness, she was pleasantly surprised to find success in the operations management field. “I applied for public relations and communication positions because I’m a Communication major, and I didn’t get picked for those,” said Weyrauch. “But a recruiter reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, I think you’d actually be really good for operations, maybe an area manager.’ ”

After she graduates next spring, Weyrauch will begin working as a full-time area manager at Amazon in June of 2022. Weyrauch said her internship experience will give her an advantage in promoting at Amazon and accomplishing her future career goals. “When I start my position after graduation, I’m going to know exactly what this job is and...what to expect. It’s also going to put me 10 weeks ahead of the new hires,” said Weyrauch. 

Weyrauch said the learning environment and small classroom sizes at Saint Mary’s gave her the confidence she needed to be successful at Amazon. “Saint Mary’s made me really good at asking questions, and I think that has to do with how our classes are structured. I think I was able to get a lot out of my internship because I was asking so many questions and I had practice knowing how to ask them,” she said. “If you’re at a big school, you’re not used to going up to [professors] and talking to them. I’m used to going up to a professor and talking to them, so in the office...I felt confident just going [to managers] and asking them [questions].”

Weyrauch said her favorite part of the internship experience was learning from her managers, and she looks forward to climbing the corporate ladder at Amazon. “It’s really cool being at one of the top companies in the world and being able to work with them, and be with some of the best people.”