I got a job at Amazon without a college degree. 5 years later, I lead an AWS team, bought a home, and have zero student debt.

• Fidel Contreras is a data center operations lead at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
• He opted to skip out on college because of rising student debt and the potential for burnout.
• Contreras applied to an AWS technical learning program and started as an apprentice at age 18.

A college education is the common pathway to the middle class in America. But for those of us who grew up in immigrant households, it seems more like a burden than an opportunity.

My dad worked in construction seven days a week, and my mom stayed at home to take care of us. At an early age, I knew that if I went to college, I'd have to pay for it myself.

But rising student debt (sevenfold over the last 20 years) and potential for burnout were enough to convince me college wasn't a viable option.

My brother-in-law saw potential in me I didn't see in myself at the time

I always loved building and fixing things, and enjoyed being my dad's apprentice when he fixed his cars and our bikes, so I decided to pursue a career in mechanics. When I shared this news with my brother-in-law, one of my lifelong mentors, he challenged me to reconsider.

In my senior year of high school, I was named "student engineer of the year." Even though I always had a passion for technology and computer design, I believed a career in STEM was out of reach — especially without a college degree — likely because I didn't have visible role models who worked in tech.

Emboldened by my brother-in-law, I went to get advice from my school's career center. I learned about a pre-paid, technical learning program at a local community college in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). It's paid for by Amazon and a third party, and trains high school or college graduates, veterans, and others with non-traditional backgrounds on technical skills for them to kickstart a career in tech.

I looked into it and applied immediately. Days later, I was enrolled and started as an apprentice at AWS's East Oregon data center shortly after my high school graduation.

Working at Amazon has become a family affair

As an 18-year-old entering the workforce and at one of the biggest tech companies of the world, I was nervous, but also incredibly excited. I worked hard and learned as much as I could. Five years and one promotion later, I now lead a team of data center operations technicians. 

A few years after I started my job, my brother also started working at AWS and we recently bought a house together as an investment. To complete the circle, my brother-in-law, who first inspired me to look into tech, now works at Amazon, too. 

As I look back at my experience, here's my advice for early-career talent who are starting their first apprenticeship, internship, or full-time position.

1. Have a voracious appetite for learning 

When I first started at AWS, I had a great deal of imposter syndrome. It seemed like everyone else had a deep pool of tech knowledge and a lot more experience. But I had a strategy to win my coworkers' trust through hard work and curiosity.

The more I learned, and the faster I learned it, the sooner I was able to contribute to my team. When I didn't know something, I asked questions even if it sometimes felt intimidating. 

Several years later, learning is still deeply important. I take advantage of ongoing AWS skills trainings, like the Cloud Practitioner and Solution Architect courses.

Now that I lead a team, I want to start learning effective people management skills. That, along with more technical skills, will help me reach my dream: to one day manage a region at AWS, or a cluster of data centers in a specific geographic area. 

2. There's more than just putting your head down and work 

As an early career professional raised by immigrant parents, I didn't immediately prioritize building relationships with my coworkers. I was raised to put my head down and not rely on others. However, over time, I learned that I could only get so far in isolation.

As I slowly built up rapport with my colleagues, it became less intimidating for me to ask questions, and my coworkers would often invest extra time to coach me. Even when I couldn't go to happy hours before I was 21, I made a conscious effort to engage colleagues over lunch or coffee breaks. 

What I learned was, while it's important to work on deliverables, building strong relationships — with your manager, core team, cross-functional colleagues, and even executive leadership — can make a significant difference in your career. These are the people who will mentor you, partner with you, inspire you, and advocate for you.

And don't be discouraged if some people don't warm up to you right away. It takes time to build trusted relationships. You have to be patient with the journey.

3. Slow down 

There were times I needed to slow down and think through what I was doing.

For example, once I felt I had enough technical experience, I was quick to try to help out any colleagues who might have needed guidance. But this wasn't giving them the chance to learn by doing it themselves.

While there's nothing wrong with wanting to help, it's important to think about your goal and work backwards from there. My goal was to develop new employees, so I needed to create opportunities for them to learn. If they aren't successful on their first tries, I should share feedback in a constructive way with actionable tips and let them try again.

I'm aware there's still much more to learn (both soft and hard skills) as I continue to build my career. And my experience doesn't mean that college degrees aren't valuable anymore — in fact, many careers still require one. But I'm thankful for alternative pathways for those of us who can't shoulder the price tag of a degree.

Most importantly, I realized a willingness to learn and curiosity were the only things I needed to pursue and grow my career — not a college degree.

Fidel Contreras is a data center operations lead at Amazon Web Services (AWS).