15-Year-Old Employee

[EthanLMT]

Hello! I am 15 years old and am thinking of applying for a job at my local Apple Store. It is the only job I am really interested in. My question is this: Do you think they would hire me or am I too young (incase you haven't noticed there aren't many teens working for Apple)?

I was thinking being a Genius, at the Genius Bar, would be an awesome job for me (I love helping people with technology related issues).

Any advice is helpful, thanks so much!

 

[chown33]

I advise calling your local Apple Store and asking them. They're in the best position to give you a definitive answer.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

http://www.apple.com/jobs/us/

Would Apple hire a 15 year-old? It depends in part on what your local labor laws allow. A 15 year-old would likely have to be a very, very exceptional individual, as he/she would be competing with applicants who have years of pertinent work experience, college degrees, and the like. Since Apple has no lack for job applicants, and just a small percentage of them are hired...

But who am I to discourage you? I started my career while still in high school (17), but I ran errands, stuffed envelopes, and the like. Now, maybe you're even more talented than I thought I was at that age, and can skip some of the preliminaries, but as talented as you may be... A job at the Apple Genius Bar is kind of like getting into in the starting lineup of a professional sports team. You need to be tested (and succeed) in less demanding circumstances before moving up to the big leagues.

And don't try to get answers by calling the store. If the people who answer the phones are doing their job correctly, they're going to tell you to visit this web page: http://www.apple.com/jobs/us/

 

[maflynn]

Any advice is helpful, thanks so much!

You can try, but depending on the schedules, they may be less inclined, i.e., they may want someone to work, days/nights/weekends where as you may have school or other constraints.

Also your local labor laws may (or may not) complicate this. Here's what the I found googling.

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/028.htm

When and how many hours can youth work?
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the minimum age for employment in non-agricultural employment is 14. Hours worked by 14- and 15-year-olds are limited to:

• Non-school hours;
• 3 hours in a school day;
• 18 hours in a school week;
• 8 hours on a non-school day;
• 40 hours on a non-school week; and
• hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (except from June 1 through Labor Day, when evening hours are extended to 9 p.m.)

Youth 14 and 15 years old enrolled in an approved Work Experience and Career Exploration Program (WECEP) may be employed for up to 23 hours in school weeks and 3 hours on school days (including during school hours).
The FLSA does not limit the number of hours or times of day for workers 16 years and older.
Many states have enacted child labor laws as well. In situations where both the FLSA child labor provisions and state child labor laws apply, the higher minimum standard must be obeyed.

During the normal week, you can only work 3 hours legally, I'm not sure how that will fit in with apple's typical work schedule.

 

[Blackstick]

When I worked there, you had to be 18. Can't hurt to show interest early I was hired at 22 as a Specialist, and then became a Mac Genius when I was 24. Genius is a much tougher workday than the engineering position I hold now at 30 outside Fruit (and Genius pays about half). You have to handle people's delicate emotions when they've lost every photo they had because their machine's drive failed, or just as bad-- they spilled something in their machine and it costs $1240 to fix- even though they bought the AppleCare. Sometimes you can truly make the difference in a person's day, but a lot of the time it's an uphill battle to win the customer back. That's the art... Telling people bad news (or neutral news) and keeping them happy enough to not destroy the store's customer service score on their survey. In comparison to traditional IT/tech jobs, you're more psychologist as a genius than computer technician. Especially these days, it was 75% Mac / 25% iPod when I started. By the time I left, our traffic was 90% iPhone.

Follow your dreams though, the six years I worked at Apple, I would say we're the best times I had as a twenty-something. I made incredible friendships with like-minded people, I even met my wife through a mutual friend who was my customer and suggested I call her. I learned what makes good retail managers and lousy ones, and of course, I learned how to take apart any Mac in under 10 minutes. I also learned it's nice to have weekends and nights off when you get a little older, which Apple Retail doesn't offer.

 

[The Doctor11]

I've asked. You must be 18 to work at Apple

 

[Scepticalscribe]

When I worked there, you had to be 18. Can't hurt to show interest early I was hired at 22 as a Specialist, and then became a Mac Genius when I was 24. Genius is a much tougher workday than the engineering position I hold now at 30 outside Fruit (and Genius pays about half). You have to handle people's delicate emotions when they've lost every photo they had because their machine's drive failed, or just as bad-- they spilled something in their machine and it costs $1240 to fix- even though they bought the AppleCare. Sometimes you can truly make the difference in a person's day, but a lot of the time it's an uphill battle to win the customer back. That's the art... Telling people bad news (or neutral news) and keeping them happy enough to not destroy the store's customer service score on their survey. In comparison to traditional IT/tech jobs, you're more psychologist as a genius than computer technician. Especially these days, it was 75% Mac / 25% iPod when I started. By the time I left, our traffic was 90% iPhone.

Follow your dreams though, the six years I worked at Apple, I would say we're the best times I had as a twenty-something. I made incredible friendships with like-minded people, I even met my wife through a mutual friend who was my customer and suggested I call her. I learned what makes good retail managers and lousy ones, and of course, I learned how to take apart any Mac in under 10 minutes. I also learned it's nice to have weekends and nights off when you get a little older, which Apple Retail doesn't offer.

An excellent, very helpful and exceedingly thoughtful post, one well worth reading for anyone of any age who might be thinking of trying to make a career at Apple.

I've asked. You must be 18 to work at Apple

Well, that answers the question asked by the OP.

However, even if Apple did employ 15 year olds, personally, I would be very wary of encouraging any youngster of that age to take on a job of that sort.

Leaving aside state employment law - which is there for the very good reason of trying to protect youngsters and prevent them from being exploited - the 'paper' round type of jobs allow for a little responsibility, some pocket money, and a small degree of independence. Above all, they do not demand serious concentration, which a job such as that - especially during the school year - at a company such as Apple might.

The bottom line is that at 15 your body is still growing, and your school work is - or ought to be - your main occupation during the school year. That is not the time to be pouring everything - in the sense of 'heart, mind, soul' - into an alternative occupation.

 

[Tsuchiya]

When I worked there, you had to be 18. Can't hurt to show interest early I was hired at 22 as a Specialist, and then became a Mac Genius when I was 24. Genius is a much tougher workday than the engineering position I hold now at 30 outside Fruit (and Genius pays about half). You have to handle people's delicate emotions when they've lost every photo they had because their machine's drive failed, or just as bad-- they spilled something in their machine and it costs $1240 to fix- even though they bought the AppleCare. Sometimes you can truly make the difference in a person's day, but a lot of the time it's an uphill battle to win the customer back. That's the art... Telling people bad news (or neutral news) and keeping them happy enough to not destroy the store's customer service score on their survey. In comparison to traditional IT/tech jobs, you're more psychologist as a genius than computer technician. Especially these days, it was 75% Mac / 25% iPod when I started. By the time I left, our traffic was 90% iPhone.

Follow your dreams though, the six years I worked at Apple, I would say we're the best times I had as a twenty-something. I made incredible friendships with like-minded people, I even met my wife through a mutual friend who was my customer and suggested I call her. I learned what makes good retail managers and lousy ones, and of course, I learned how to take apart any Mac in under 10 minutes. I also learned it's nice to have weekends and nights off when you get a little older, which Apple Retail doesn't offer.

This is a good post. You can learn a heck of a lot from a retail environment. A buddy of mine was a FRS and it destroyed him after about 6 months. You can't fix every problem, and customers (particularly in busy locations) can be brutal if you don't have a thick skin.

 

[lowendlinux]

@OP I worked at 15 and even earlier it was an invaluable lesson for me but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else and would probably stop my own child from following my path. The toys can wait just be patient.

 

[eko91]

15?

I thought you have to be atleast 16 to have a part time job. But the fact that you want to work at such an early age is awesome!! Not many kids have the mindset like you do! Hope you do get hired anywhere!