In December 2023 I had to opportunity to visit BCN1 in Barcelona, Spain to meet some of Amazon’s inspiring apprentices. I met with Jenifer Torrent Gomez, Camila Andrea Moreno Padilla, and Dana Michelle Perdomo Estrada, who are all RME Mechatronics apprentices. They gave me a tour of their site, and I got to see all of the festive decorations! I had the opportunity to ask them some questions about their programme and their future careers. Here are some highlights from the interview:
Lottie: Why did you choose a technical area such as mechatronics?
Jenifer: I completed a technical baccalaureate, because I have always been very interested in technology (since I was very young I liked cars) and I knew that at some point that is what I wanted to do. I researched and came up with this mechatronics offer, which at first I didn't know what it was! And when I dived deeply, I found out that it covered mechanics, electronics and robotics and I thought it was very interesting and with a good career path.
Dana: I did a social baccalaureate and when I finished it I didn't love it so much, so I started looking for other things that might interest me. At first I was focusing on the field of electricity because my grandfather was an electrician and I was always doing little repairs at home, but when I found the mechatronics offer on LinkedIn, I ended up applying to the Amazon offer because it was also an area that was within my options and covered many more things.
Camila: I did a superior vocational training in prosthetic audiology and in it I had a subject that was based on hearing aid electronics, it was when I started looking at electronics that I thought “why not do it on a larger scale? If I can repair a hearing aid, I think I can repair machines”. That's why when I finished it, I enrolled in another superior vocational training - this time of automation and industrial robotics -, but when I saw that there were places on Amazon for the mechatronics program, I considered it because they are very similar, mechatronics is cool, they cover other topics than the other cycle and I took the leap.
Lottie: Wow,that's so interesting! And did you ever think that this technical area could mean having to do more physical or heavy work and that this could be a barrier?
Jenifer and Camila: No, the truth is that I didn't even think about it!
Dana: On the contrary, I wanted a job that wasn't just sitting there and that was monotonous. This is not the case here, although there are things that can be repeated as a preventive process, there are always new things. There's always something you can learn and do more research.
Lottie: In what ways do you think the program can enrich your professional or personal life?
Jenifer: The program can help you learn about the wide variety of things that are done here and it gives you an advantage if you want to stay at Amazon, for example, before you start working, you already have a lot of knowledge that maybe another person who wants to apply to a technician from outside does not. Also, people here work a lot as a team, when there is a problem everyone helps you. The truth is that I feel very comfortable and I like it a lot.
Dana: Yes, it's really like a big family. The other day, for example, a colleague from the program was having problems with an engine, a technician passed by and offered to help him without it being his task, staying until they finished solving the problem. Simply “if someone needs it, lend a hand” and they have welcomed us very well, indeed. Even though we're all watching and asking a lot of questions, the technicians take the time to make sure we are actually learning.
Jenifer: In addition to that, today, for example, I was doing a preventive work and the technician who was with me started by asking me “now have this task, so tell me what risks you have and what possible failures there are”, so you are alone (although with the technician is next to you) and you have to focus 100% on what you are doing and it's a great practice for the future when I’ll really have to do these jobs on my own.
Camila: I think the program has taught me a lot in terms of standardization of industrial processes, because I’ve been in another factories simply as part of the production process and the truth is that seeing the level of safety there is here, that the whole processes are standardized, knowing that if I go to this Amazon as if I go to another one, it will always be the same steps and with the same tools, is something that is highly valued (especially at the beginning since you have no idea, you have a guide to follow).
Lottie: What would you say to someone who is hesitant to study mechatronics or hasn't even thought of it yet?
Jenifer: Well, I say it to my brother, in mechatronics you never focus only on something, you always study something else. If you want to learn a little bit about everything, mechatronics is great.
Dana: I think that if you're undecided it's the best because it gives you a little bit of everything and if you end up liking some part of it, you know what you can focus on. When I decided to go for mechatronics, I did it based on that.
Camila: The best I can say is: ask, try to talk to the schools and if you can go somewhere to see how they work, the better! Because one thing is the first impression you have, mechatronics sounds very difficult and even many girlfriends tell me “I can't see myself doing that”, but it's simply because they never really looked at it, when you do it you discover it's not as big or impossible as it seems.
Jenifer: I think that nowadays it's quite difficult to find women in this area, so there are companies that are specifically looking for women to give them the opportunity to grow in this world.
Dana: It's important to know that you are not going to be pushed back just because you're a woman.
Jenifer: Exactly! And not because you have more or less strength is may going to be an obstacle, because I am often asked “and can you handle the engines?” The thing is that I’m not alone, there are always people who help and between two or three people we can lift an engine. And there are also tools that help you!
Camila: And something very important, I think, is that being very few in the sector, girls help each other a lot. Sometimes I ask my doubts to girls from other Amazon centers, even if we don't even know each other, and the answer is always super good, there's a lot of connection between girls.
Lottie: What would you like for your professional future after you complete your apprenticeship?
Jenifer: I would like to continue being a technician, if not at Amazon then in another company, and I don't rule out continuing to study another area, but always related to mechanics because that's what I like the most.
Dana: The truth is that, if I can, I’d stay as much as possible at Amazon, also trying other things because I don't like being pigeonholed in one place. And apart from that, I’d like to continue to study, I don't know if a career or other vocational training related to something I've done this year, as long as it is something that I like and am passionate about, I'll be making my path little by little.
Camila: For now, I want to focus on being a good technician. Because I think you have to learn a little bit about everything, here there are a lot of things to learn about, so I’d like to keep learning mostly through complementary courses. Perhaps take a communication course, a more specific course on mechanics, on variators, and so on.