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So I went to an Apple Store Hiring Event today.

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Trancetronic

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A friend who works there referred me there. So I went, in business casual clothes and interacted with the staff the other applicants for about 2 hours. Roleplay, questions, what the company is, etc. It was actually very fun and engaging-and not the "lets stuff Apple down your throat" that I expected. There were a few applicants that were Apple fanboys, but it was nothing too extreme. I gave valid responses to questions like "Why would you be a great Apple employee?" Pretty much focused on building customer relationships and structure versus ranting about how much I love technology (although that can be a plus). The staff was very pleasant and everyone that came to work seem to have a smile on their face. It just seemed very laid back versus where I'm coming from (working as a Pharmacy Tech in a retail chain).

Has anyone here worked at the Apple Store or have gone to a hiring event? I know 2 people who work there, and I know the process is like 3 scheduled interviews. I just want to know the odds of me being hired (I'm eager to leave my current position due to bullshit staff and regulations the current company I'm working for is forcefeeding down our throat, and jobs are being a bit scarce around here). I also heard that you move up pretty quick, and they're really open for growth and development.
 
Went to a few of them in 2011 and 2012. Was called for a second interview at the first one, but they were upfront about the money and how it was way below what I made now.
Second time I had a second interview in person but didn't get the job.
Third time I applied with Apple it was a phone interview which I bombed hard. I have botched all phone interviews and hate them.

The events themselves are good though, and very different from any other hiring event I have gone to.
 
Just be thankful you don't work in their overseas factories. Nobody has a choice whether they work there or not.
 
It's still just a retail job, going into it (if you want/get the job) don't let the Apple name fool you into thinking it will be all that different from any other retail gig and you'll be fine

bad pay and shitty customers, there's no escape from either in retail
 
bjb said:
Just be thankful you don't work in their overseas factories. Nobody has a choice whether they work there or not.
Click to expand...

I would love to visit the alternate reality where this thread was "Had an interview at Toys R Us today" to see if you would make the same post
 
Row said:
It's still just a retail job, going into it (if you want/get the job) don't let the Apple name fool you into thinking it will be all that different from any other retail gig and you'll be fine

bad pay and shitty customers, there's no escape from either in retail
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know that, but it'll be a step up from my current situation. I work 30+ hours a week and my manager refuses to change anyone to full time status, shitty "raises" every year, nitpicking you for just about every little thing, "everything is your fault", etc.

My friend who works at the Apple Store also used to work with me, and he just left the position all together. He enjoys it much more at Apple than where I am now, and that just sounds like a big plus to me.
 
I've been to one of these... it was a lot like the keynote presentations.
 
Trancetronic said:
Yeah, I know that, but it'll be a step up from my current situation. I work 30+ hours a week and my manager refuses to change anyone to full time status, shitty "raises" every year, nitpicking you for just about every little thing, "everything is your fault", etc.

My friend who works at the Apple Store also used to work with me, and he just left the position all together. He enjoys it much more at Apple than where I am now, and that just sounds like a big plus to me.
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if anybody but managers/supervisors get full-time hours at apple stores
 
Steelrain said:
Three interviews??

For a retail job?? Well that's new.
Click to expand...

It pays really well.

Unrelated but After being a salesman at retail for almost years I'm burned out. Sales are harder and harder to make so you have to push more and the clients gives you a mean look, they hate you.
 
i went to one. i didnt do too well i guess, since i didnt get hired.

i actually felt depressed when i went to my interview, since it was in a group setting. everyone that was there was just really in need of a job and you hear all of their stories and stuff...
 
davepoobond said:
i went to one. i didnt do too well i guess, since i didnt get hired.

i actually felt depressed when i went to my interview, since it was in a group setting. everyone that was there was just really in need of a job and you hear all of their stories and stuff...
Click to expand...

Well I guess I was charimsatic at the event. I was asked what my oddest job was, I said "I was a bartender and I got tips every night and people knew who I was, so I must have been pretty damn good." Everyone got a nice chuckle out of it, even the managers. So hopefully I made a good impression on being confident and straightforward, but at the same time knowledgeable of my experiences.
 
Had a friend who interviewed for the store manager/leader position. Made it past the phone interview but flunked the face to face interview. Even if he got past that there was still another interview to be done. Pay was pretty good.
 
The Technomancer said:
I would love to visit the alternate reality where this thread was "Had an interview at Toys R Us today" to see if you would make the same post
Click to expand...
Don't bother:
bjb said:
Just think of all the impoverished workers who made those unused phones and likely had their limbs cut off - sent to a "farm" somewhere when they refused to work under Apple's conditions.
Click to expand...

bjb said:
I wonder if apple's design has a special wing for involuntary inhumane labor.
Click to expand...

bjb said:
I just thought apple killed their own mistreated factory workers.
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Dude is nuts.
 
I was in one before, it was fucking ridiculous IMO. We watched a slideshow of Apple's history and there were questions like:

"Here's the opening of our first retail store in New York, where we had 1,500 customers in the first day. Why do you think Apple is able to attract so many different types of people?"

"Here's our new product, the MacBook Air. How do you think Apple's amazing innovations keep people interested in their products?"

Everyone was falling over themselves to fellate Apple harder than the previous speaker. At one point we were split into two and we had to interview our partner and give a presentation on why they should be hired, that was pretty cool I thought, but overall it really seemed like they were having a contest to discover the region's hardest core Apple fan. Makes sense that that's who they want to work there, but I wasn't into it.

davepoobond said:
i went to one. i didnt do too well i guess, since i didnt get hired.

i actually felt depressed when i went to my interview, since it was in a group setting. everyone that was there was just really in need of a job and you hear all of their stories and stuff...
Click to expand...

My experience was similar, my interview was in 2009 or 2010 and unemployment was something insane like 20% (I live in California's central valley) and it was really uncomfortable watching these people fight to prove their Apple loyalty knowing they'd likely been looking for work for months.
 
davepoobond said:
i went to one. i didnt do too well i guess, since i didnt get hired.

i actually felt depressed when i went to my interview, since it was in a group setting. everyone that was there was just really in need of a job and you hear all of their stories and stuff...
Click to expand...
Group interviews are the fucking worst.
 
I went to one, it felt like they were trying to brain wash me. Everyone kept dickriding too. It was terrible and then when you do those questions while passing around the ipod in a circle felt too AA for me.
 
dr3upmushroom said:
I was in one before, it was fucking ridiculous IMO. We watched a slideshow of Apple's history and there were questions like:

"Here's the opening of our first retail store in New York, where we had 1,500 customers in the first day. Why do you think Apple is able to attract so many different types of people?"

"Here's our new product, the MacBook Air. How do you think Apple's amazing innovations keep people interested in their products?"
Click to expand...
Wow, I don't think I could even work there.
 
Retail sucks.

But, while its been a good 6 years since I knew anyone in Apple retail, everyone I knew said it was about the best retail job they'd ever had. Some room to move up, and when you get to those positions there are perks. (A friend was sent on a paid trip to Cali for training for a week, for example).

They take their training seriously, though. Though its general customer service stuff not any fanboy bs like some will tell you.

I was in a shitty retail job with another company at the time and would much rather have been there.
 
Trancetronic said:
Yeah, I know that, but it'll be a step up from my current situation. I work 30+ hours a week and my manager refuses to change anyone to full time status, shitty "raises" every year, nitpicking you for just about every little thing, "everything is your fault", etc.

My friend who works at the Apple Store also used to work with me, and he just left the position all together. He enjoys it much more at Apple than where I am now, and that just sounds like a big plus to me.
Click to expand...

You get a raise every year!?!? As for the nitpicky/your fault stuff, that's pretty much expected with any job. You think if apple's sales start to fall it will be all peaches and cream?
 
OP get an education and focus on a real career. If you work retail for the rest of your life you will be overweight and miserable.
 
bjb said:
OP get an education and focus on a real career. If you work retail for the rest of your life you will be overweight and miserable.
Click to expand...

Well that's why I want to work there. I do a lot of graphic design and I want to learn multimedia editing, and I believe Macs work the best on that account. I was just going to work there to eventually save up for a Macbook Pro (I was told they get a nice discount) and test drive the software there at work or something and steadily teach myself graphic design on a Mac. I can't afford to go to school right now. I live on my own and I make enough to just pay bills and buy food. I do have money saved up, but that's for like emergencies.
 
dr3upmushroom said:
I was in one before, it was fucking ridiculous IMO. We watched a slideshow of Apple's history and there were questions like:

"Here's the opening of our first retail store in New York, where we had 1,500 customers in the first day. Why do you think Apple is able to attract so many different types of people?"

"Here's our new product, the MacBook Air. How do you think Apple's amazing innovations keep people interested in their products?"

Everyone was falling over themselves to fellate Apple harder than the previous speaker. At one point we were split into two and we had to interview our partner and give a presentation on why they should be hired, that was pretty cool I thought, but overall it really seemed like they were having a contest to discover the region's hardest core Apple fan. Makes sense that that's who they want to work there, but I wasn't into it.



My experience was similar, my interview was in 2009 or 2010 and unemployment was something insane like 20% (I live in California's central valley) and it was really uncomfortable watching these people fight to prove their Apple loyalty knowing they'd likely been looking for work for months.
Click to expand...
Exactly my experience with the interview I had I Toronto. One dude introduced his partner with sign language....I was fucked....
 
Went to a Hiring event. It was strange seeing Apple enthusiasts shill for them so blatantly and in person. Before that I thought they only existed on the internet.
A few people referred to Steve Jobs as some deity figure, Jonathan Ive too.
 
Trancetronic said:
Well that's why I want to work there. I do a lot of graphic design and I want to learn multimedia editing, and I believe Macs work the best on that account. I was just going to work there to eventually save up for a Macbook Pro (I was told they get a nice discount) and test drive the software there at work or something and steadily teach myself graphic design on a Mac. I can't afford to go to school right now. I live on my own and I make enough to just pay bills and buy food. I do have money saved up, but that's for like emergencies.
Click to expand...

What about a community college? If you just want to get your feet wet you could find a decent starter class there in digital design or editing. Surely if you can afford a Macbook Pro at some point you could afford a CC class (no doubt cheaper).
 
Trancetronic said:
Well that's why I want to work there. I do a lot of graphic design and I want to learn multimedia editing, and I believe Macs work the best on that account. I was just going to work there to eventually save up for a Macbook Pro (I was told they get a nice discount) and test drive the software there at work or something and steadily teach myself graphic design on a Mac. I can't afford to go to school right now. I live on my own and I make enough to just pay bills and buy food. I do have money saved up, but that's for like emergencies.
Click to expand...

If you want to get into graphic design, this is not the way to go about it. NO!

You could say I work in a design field and experiences with Macs aren't mandatory.
 
The experience I got was that I was screwed out of it.


I went to that and I actually made it to the third interview but I was screwed out of the job though.
I went through two interviews but when i arrived to the third, the asst. manager said they had to reschedule for another day. I was fine with that then I got an email saying I didn't suit Apple's needs for the future and said they hired someone. I tried asking the manager but she ignored all attempts of communication.

Later learned she used the hiring event to hire a relative of hers and was clear who she was hiring no matter what. That info I got from someone I knew working in there.

The hiring event then the interviews went superb. They were impressed and I was having a good time.
 
I went to one and had a follow up interview. There are two rooms you interview in and both times it was done in a group situation. I thought that went pretty well but I never heard back from them. :( This was a few years ago.
 
dr3upmushroom said:
I was in one before, it was fucking ridiculous IMO. We watched a slideshow of Apple's history and there were questions like:

"Here's the opening of our first retail store in New York, where we had 1,500 customers in the first day. Why do you think Apple is able to attract so many different types of people?"

"Here's our new product, the MacBook Air. How do you think Apple's amazing innovations keep people interested in their products?"

Everyone was falling over themselves to fellate Apple harder than the previous speaker. At one point we were split into two and we had to interview our partner and give a presentation on why they should be hired, that was pretty cool I thought, but overall it really seemed like they were having a contest to discover the region's hardest core Apple fan. Makes sense that that's who they want to work there, but I wasn't into it.
Click to expand...

God damn that's pretentious. It's a nice job...and Apple products are high quality...but that just perpetuates the stupid, holier-than-thou culture that makes me resent Apple. :-(
 
Trancetronic said:
Well that's why I want to work there. I do a lot of graphic design and I want to learn multimedia editing, and I believe Macs work the best on that account. I was just going to work there to eventually save up for a Macbook Pro (I was told they get a nice discount) and test drive the software there at work or something and steadily teach myself graphic design on a Mac. I can't afford to go to school right now. I live on my own and I make enough to just pay bills and buy food. I do have money saved up, but that's for like emergencies.
Click to expand...

I thought this was a myth.
 
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