Kaplan Partners with Amazon in Nationwide Upskilling Program

Kaplan, the world’s most diversified global education organization, announced that it is partnering with Amazon to make comprehensive career and academic advisement support services available to the 750,000 hourly Amazon employees in the United States. Kaplan’s partnership supports Amazon’s Career Choice upskilling program, designed to help Amazon employees grow their skills for career success.

The Kaplan-provided services will be available to Amazon employees through every step of their higher education journey, from first helping them identify the academic programs that best fit their interests, skills, and long-term goals to general support throughout their higher education experience to networking, resume development, job interview preparation, and online brand building.

Kaplan’s career and academic advisement support services are also designed to help drive satisfaction and engagement with Amazon employees through their journeys. Kaplan will help prospective students evaluate best-fit programs, provide success coaches to mentor them in support of their continued enrollment and progress, and make available career services advisors to coach and prepare them for employment opportunities.

Kaplan has dominated the education sector for 85 years

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Amazon, one of the world’s most influential economic and cultural forces, to help its employees, some of the most talented and hard working in the world, through their educational and career development journeys,” said Greg Marino, CEO of Kaplan’s North America division.

“Amazon, with its unparalleled educational employee benefits offerings, and Kaplan with its 85 years of helping students achieve their goals, are a natural fit to help transform America’s workforce. This partnership further strengthens Kaplan’s position in the business-to-business marketplace, and we’re excited to share more about our plans for this portion of our business in the near future.”

“While Career Choice has always been complimented by advisement services, feedback from participants has shown that more comprehensive and ongoing counseling, like access to an advisor, a success coach, and career counselor, would help employees to choose programs better aligned to their career goals and to better navigate the challenges of going to school while working, and ultimately use their new skills to find opportunities at Amazon or externally,” said Tammy Thieman, global lead for Career Choice at Amazon. “We see the support from this partnership with Kaplan as a game-changing enhancement to our program and the careers of Amazon employees participating.”

Helping student realise their career paths

Amazon associates are already reaping the benefits of the partnership. “In the past, for this kind of career support, I used resources at my public library and chatbot services, but they were lacking in both engagement and personalization. My Kaplan coach is dedicated to my success, gives me different perspectives, knows what my goals are, and is going to be a constant presence on my career path,” said Cicero Vieira, who works at an Amazon fulfillment center in Baltimore, and has a background in the renewable energy industry.

“In our first few meetings, we went over ways to improve my resume and cover letter and I believe the enhancements I’ve made are already setting me apart from potential competition. My coach goes the extra mile and encourages me to go the extra mile. I truly appreciate that. I don’t expect the program to find me a job, but I am confident it’s going to guide me in the right direction and help me secure my career goals.”

The partnership with Amazon signals future exciting announcements that Kaplan will make, as the benefits of these services catch on among businesses looking to upskill their employees and see them advance.

“Pioneering new advising model.”

“Strong career coaching and academic advising are a fundamental differentiator between student success and failure. In fact, great advising may account for 75 percent of the variance of success for working adult learners,” said Brandon Busteed, chief partnership officer and global head of learn-work innovation, Kaplan. “Kaplan and Amazon are pioneering new advising models that have the potential to revolutionize the impact of education on career trajectories.”

“These wraparound services will increasingly become a must-have for companies looking to recruit new talent and develop them for long term success, no matter where they work in the future. Thousands of Amazon employees who have taken advantage of Kaplan’s services are already seeing positive results and we’re extremely encouraged by their enthusiasm,” said Rachael Bourque, vice president of corporate learning solutions, Kaplan, and architect of the partnership. “Businesses can count on Kaplan to be a full partner vested in turning their vision into a successful reality.”

More about Kaplan, Inc.

is a global educational services company that helps individuals and institutions advance their goals in an ever-changing world. Our broad portfolio of solutions helps students and professionals further their education and careers, universities and educational institutions attract and support students, and businesses maximize employee recruitment and development.

Stanley Kaplan founded our company in 1938 with a mission to expand educational opportunities for students of all backgrounds. Today, all of our employees across 27 countries continue Stanley’s mission, working with hundreds of thousands of students and professionals and 12,000 corporate and 4,000 school and university clients worldwide.

Featured image: C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.