Does Amazon Check For High School Diploma Or GED?

Amazon is among the biggest U.S. employers, and many people ask us how the company’s hiring process is, if they offer an Amazon GED program and if they do education and background checks. So, let’s take a look at Amazon GED employment options.

In this post, we will explain how Amazon works and what you should know when you’re applying for a job with Amazon. When you say you have a GED, you can be sure the company will check if that’s indeed the case.

We’ll also take a look at what you can do to make sure that there’s nothing in your records that the company might object to.

Usually, to qualify for a job with Amazon, you’ll need to hold a high school diploma or GED®.

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Recently, however, the company has also started to hire employees without a secondary education degree and developed initiatives to help workers earn a GED diploma or even a college degree at the company’s expense.

In just over two decades, Amazon has evolved from a small start-up to one of the biggest employers, not only in North America but across the globe. Today, the company has more than one million employees across the U.S.

There are no signs that the company’s employment spree will slow down anytime soon. This year, Amazon already added almost 400K employees to their already immense workforce, and in 2025, a similar growth in employment numbers is expected.

The Hiring Process – Amazon GED Program

Let’s take a closer look at Amazon’s process of hiring new employees, what education they require, and what sort of background checks they run on new staff.

Most applicants for a job at Amazon will file their applications online. The company runs a website that lists all of its vacancies nationwide and even beyond. If you’re looking for job openings at Amazon, this site is the place to go.

If you happen to live in an area near an Amazon office or warehouse, you might also learn about job openings from the company’s employees or come across local advertisements.

If that’s the case, you can perhaps leave your resume and cover letter there, but usually, even then, you’ll be directed to Amazon’s job openings website.

On the Amazon job openings website, you’ll have to set up your account, and if you do, you can search for any vacancies and learn about the job description, education requirements, and so on. Here, you can also learn in detail how you can apply for a position.

On that website, you can look for positions by keywords, business category, job category, or location. And if you find a position that interests you, click on the button “Apply Now.”

Just follow the instructions on the screen, and if you already uploaded your profile to Amazon’s system, the application process is quite smooth.

If you need to upload your profile, you’ll be asked to submit the requested information right there, but even then, the process won’t take long.

Is a High School Diploma or GED Required?

Yes, usually, Amazon requires applicants to hold at least a high school or equivalent diploma.

These days, however, we also hear many reports that Amazon, due to the enormously expanded services, also hires workers without a secondary education degree.

So Amazon, like most employers, requires workers to hold at least a high school or equivalent diploma to apply for a position, but the company has also launched new initiatives that have tossed those prerequisites right out of the window.

So, getting a GED really pays off, and the company will help you achieve that through the Amazon GED program.

Amazon has set up pilot programs to help seasonal workers get a GED diploma for free. In Fort Worth, Texas, for example, the company hires workers without a high school or diploma to work as warehouse associates.

The jobs pay $15 an hour, and Amazon will help the workers earn a GED and will pay for the cost of taking the four GED subtests ($145) if they qualify for the program.

GED Works Program – Amazon GED

Amazon runs more of these programs across the country, and the employees will receive lots of benefits such as healthcare benefits after a 90-day period, holiday & overtime pay, paid time-off, weekly pay schedules, and flexible work schedules for workers who are in an education program at school.

The program is similar to the GED Works Program, where several large U.S. employers, such as Hilton Hotel Group, Walmart, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and many more, work closely together with GED Testing Service to help their employees get a GED and move ahead in their careers.

You can apply at one of Amazon’s Fulfillment Centers. You will be working in one of the company’s warehouses, where you will select, pack, and ship customer orders.

The jobs are usually quite physical and fast-paced and will get you up and moving. The jobs include set, full-time schedules, and let you bring customers’ orders to life, and shifts may include day and overnight work and usually also include a weekend day. Check out also this page with more information on how to get a GED for free.

Amazon’s Interview Process

Amazon’s application process is quite the same regardless of the position you apply for, but once you’ve made it to the interviewing stage, things may change.

In general, when you’re applying for a senior role at Amazon, you’ll have to complete a professional assessment to check whether your competencies and skills match the position’s requirements.

Once you’ve made it past Amazon’s assessment stage or when you’re applying for a manual role, the company will invite you for a job interview.

Sometimes, it all begins with a phone interview, and when successful, they will invite you for an in-person interview. On other occasions, you may go straight to an in-person interview.

If you’ve made it through all these phases, you will probably get a conditional job offer. One of the conditions will be that you’ll pass professional, educational, and criminal background checks carried out by Amazon.

Background Checks

True, at Amazon, you won’t make a 6-figure income that some of the highest-paying jobs with a GED will yield, but the company offers stable positions, decent paychecks, and keeps on growing at a fast pace. So promotion is definitely within reach.

Despite the fact that Amazon has so many employees, the company is extremely diligent and selective about who they hire. All workers have to go through several background checks before they can pass the rather rigorous application process.

Amazon’s background checks include comprehensive reference and education checks, full criminal background checks, and drug tests. The company requires workers to permit Amazon to take mouth swabs from them.

Usually, they will do so after an in-person interview, and the swab will be tested for illegal substances such as cannabis, methamphetamine, and cocaine. If there are any drugs found, it is very, very unlikely that the applicant will get hired.

The reference and education check is done to make sure that all experience and educational claims on an applicant’s resume are true.

Today, educational background checks are easily performed online, and to check previous employment, the company can and will approach earlier employers.

But this shouldn’t get you concerned. People at Amazon are busy, and so are other employers. In general, they will just be asking for confirmation of things like overall performance, job title, or salary. So, as long as you are honest in your resume, reference checks shouldn’t cause any problems.

Amazon Requirements

All Amazon employees are required to take annual medical assessments, including drug tests, and the company also reserves the right to spot-test employees regularly as well.

Amazon’s third background check investigates if the applicant has a criminal record. It’s not that Amazon isn’t willing to hire applicants with criminal records, but it will treat all individuals and felonies case-by-case.

This, of course, makes sense. If an applicant has, for example, a record of fraud or stealing from an employer, Amazon may not trust them to work in the company’s offices or warehouses.

On the other hand, if an applicant has a record for some minor drug offense or for something else that wouldn’t directly affect their work at the company, Amazon may well be more likely to hire the applicant.

Keep in mind that people with a high school or GED diploma will earn at least $9,600 more annually than workers without a secondary education degree. So getting your GED really pays off, don’t you agree?

Background-Checking Websites

In general, professional background check information is only available to employers. But there are also many background checks available publicly on the Internet for anyone to use. So let’s see what you can do about that.

There are websites where you can simply find all sorts of available public records about you or anyone else. Often, this information actually reveals a lot about you, so make sure you’ll be prepared for eventualities.

Let’s see how you can run a criminal background check. If you want to give yourself a good chance to secure a job with Amazon, it is worth checking what information will come up if Amazon runs a background check on you, right? Well, there are several websites to reveal what shows up.

So let’s take a look at what background-checking websites to turn to if you want to get well-prepared for your Amazon application. It is important that the sites are reliable and come up with accurate information, such as criminal record data.

There are two important background-checking sites that offer reliable information. The first is “TruthFinder,” a website that produces accurate results that are both comprehensive and detailed.

All the information is user-friendly presented, the desktop dashboard is easy to navigate, and their mobile apps are impressive, though the search speed could be improved. TruthFinder is reasonably priced, and customer support is available toll-free and around the clock.

Another interesting website for background checking is “Instant CheckMate,” a website that gives you a criminal record report faster than practically all other websites.

The website’s quality and results are quite exceptional, and everything is presented in a highly user-friendly way available on desktop and laptop computers and mobile apps. Instant Checkmate may not be the cheapest website around, but the site’s accuracy and speed are worth every penny.

Conclusion Amazon GED Program

In conclusion, we can say that Amazon checks the educational backgrounds of job applicants very thoroughly. So you should, at all times, be straightforward in your resume and cover letter, not only when applying for a job at Amazon, but really at all times!

On the other hand, Amazon has grown so immensely and fast that the company is willing to hire employees without a secondary education degree and puts a lot of effort into initiatives to help these workers earn a GED diploma.

So, there is nothing that should hold you back from applying for a job at one of the largest employers in America and across the world. Amazon’s growth potential is so big that the company will need lots of new hands, managers, and office workers in the near and far future.

Just make sure one of the positions will be yours, and if you don’t have a high school diploma, just make sure you’ll get your GED soon or let Amazon help you get your degree!

Last Updated on November 15, 2024.