Amazon Internship Leads to “Dream Job” for UB Student
Learn how UB senior Shammah Matasva, a Computer Science major, has landed his dream job: working as a software development engineer for Amazon.
University of Bridgeport (UB) senior Shammah Matasva, a Computer Science major, has landed his dream job: working for Amazon as a software development engineer.
Shammah, who graduates in December 2021, is no stranger to Amazon, having completed a 13-week summer internship at their Web Services Office in Seattle, an opportunity he learned about through LinkedIn. Recognizing that it would be a rigorously competitive selection process as thousands of students apply every year, he was grateful that a UB alum currently working at Amazon gave him advice and provided him with a recommendation, helping his résumé stand out among the other applicants.
Shammah recalls that the experience was indeed very challenging and technical. “Out of all the top companies I applied for, Amazon had the toughest exercises in the interview process,” he said.
Upon hearing the news that he had been chosen for the internship, Shammah was thrilled. He knew that the highly sought-after internship presented a great opportunity for advancing his career. “It was really an exciting time for me,” he said “I hadn’t had an internship before, and having Amazon be the first one would be huge for my résumé. Also, Amazon is known for hiring many of their interns after graduation.”
As part of the internship, Amazon paid for all Shammah’s travel costs and provided him with a stipend to be able to spend the summer in Seattle. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon offered him the option of a hybrid program that would allow him to work at their office or at home. Shammah said, “I actually decided to spend most of the time working at their office because it presented me with more opportunities for networking with full-time employees and other interns.”
Shammah was happy that the experience gave him the hands-on chance to apply many skills and knowledge that he had acquired from his courses at UB. When asked what he gained from this internship opportunity, he responded that it was a great learning experience and that he was impressed by Amazon’s company structure. “Amazon is renowned for their leadership principles,” he added. “After studying and reading about them, I got to see how they are applied in their daily operations.”
Shammah is a very active student on the UB campus. He is president of the Entrepreneur Club and a member of Bridges: Friends of Internationals, a club that welcomes international students, and Awaken, a student-led Christian club. He also has been a member of the Student Entrepreneur Center (SEC) since his first year at UB. Shammah is thankful for the support of the SEC for working on student-led projects and building his résumé. In particular, he is grateful for the mentorship of Elena Cahill, Director of the Bauer Hall Innovation Center, who has been influential in introducing him to alumni and networking with business leaders.
Shammah is also thankful to his family in Zimbabwe for all the support that they have given him. “I am thousands of miles away from my home, and they have always been supportive of me. Here I am about to graduate and start a new chapter of my life working as a software developer engineer at Amazon!”
Listen to Shammah Matasva discuss one of his latest projects at UB: a video conferencing tool that creates live transcripts in the user’s preferred language. Watch the video.
The UBSEC at the Ernest C. Trefz School of Business is open to all matriculated University of Bridgeport students and aims to accelerate the successful development of start-ups. The mission of the Center is to produce successful businesses by providing student entrepreneurs with an array of targeted resources and services. Learn more here.