Almost Got A Job With Apple!

[Slip]

"question fear" absolutely hilarious.

Slip & twoodcc, I know for a fact their going to send me to Cupertino. Thats the first thing they tell you during seminar. I get 3 weeks of full paid training. First week is in home training and the remaining weeks in Cupertino. (definitely
looking forward to that)

CashGap, That's a really nice explanation.

Thanks, for the advice! (all) I'll definitely keep you guys posted. I'm just waiting for them to complete my background check.

I stand corrected
Its alright for some ey

 

[pamon]

good luck and keep all posted... cupertino for 2 weeks would be nice

 

[Eric Lewis]

I am a current applicant for the Retail Store in Regent Street, London, I have to attend a seminar this week and am quite excited about the whole procedure of working for Apple.

Anyone have any experiences they can share and/or details about the interview stages etc. would be very much appreciated!

Thanks

did u get it

 

[GM'z]

I think I bombed my last interview.

It was the most stressful situation I had ever been in. And Jesses Christ the question they ask are absolutely radicals...

Like: Explain what a hard drive and a Ram is to a grandmother, and you can't use any technecal words like FILES - DATA - PC - GRAPHICS..... Then use analogy for them!

O yea I loved this question. What does "Is you life detailed?" mean? do they want to know if I'm organized....

He asked me to describe what a Mac Genius does, with out using the word customer serves.

Than he asked me what my goal is right now in-regards to everything thats going on with my life. He said "where would you like to work at right NOW give the opportunity! So I replayed "to be a Mac Genius" - i thought to my self "Oveously thats why I'm here" - and the GM of Apple laughed and said "I mean seriously?". What the hell was he expecting me to say?

They were lees interested in knowing anything about my IT experience, my certifications or even the experience I had working fro AppleCare. It was unbelievable!!!

We talked about pay but it wasn't to detailed of a conversation. I said I was open for negotiation, than he asked me what my prevues pay was and i replayed with great disappointment. I have a part-time job now and i get paid ****. I know If I was to get the job there going to offer me a low pay!!!!

Anyway I wont know their decision until next week, which is going to be my 5th dreaded interview.

I know I ****ing bombed it! I stumbled on some of the questions. As I was describing what a Hard Drive was they kept saying "you can't use that word isn't too advanced" and the word i was using is ICON for god sakes.

W/e if i don;t get the job I can concentrate more on my school work.

Although, it would suck going through all these interviews for nothing!

 

[Darkroom]

Like: Explain what a hard drive and a Ram is to a grandmother, and you can't use any technecal words like FILES - DATA - PC - GRAPHICS..... Then use analogy for them!

As I was describing what a Hard Drive was they kept saying "you can't use that word isn't too advanced" and the word i was using is ICON for god sakes.

humm... interesting question... i guess i would have said a harddrive is like a basket or a purse/wallet, where you put your personal thing into it for safe keeping... but instead of those things being real tangible objects, they are like digital objects. and ram... wow... uh... i would have said that ram is like your brain. the more ram you have, the more brain power you have so that you can remember where all your objects in your purse are and therefore retrieve them faster and more efficiently...

i'm interested in what you said during your interview.

 

[Slip]

Like: Explain what a hard drive and a Ram is to a grandmother, and you can't use any technecal words like FILES - DATA - PC - GRAPHICS..... Then use analogy for them!

I think nearly all of us here could explain that in a heartbeat, but with no technical details, now that's tricky...

 

[GM'z]

but I’m optimistic!

After being interrupted so many times and stumbling a couple I finally said a hard drive is like a house, where you keep your personal belongings. Unfortunately he didn’t like my answer. At the end I asked him to give me an example and he replayed….

Well … (paused for a second) A computer is like a house. A hard drive is like a closet. The more drawers you have in your closet the more things you can put in it.

As for a RAM I said it was a part of your computer that things are stored on temporarily.

He also didn’t like that answer!

He said RAM is like a desk, where you keep things on it temporarily. The bigger the desk is the more items you can have on it at one time.
It was a brilliant analogy, but how the hell was he expecting me to come up with that in such a stressed out environment. I was interviewed by the recruiter, the GM and DM!

After the conversation he said “Thank you for proving the difficulties of my questions.” I don’t know if he meant that sarcastically or not.
I hope they focus more on my personality, certification and experience, and not so much on the interrogation. I felt that I sounded like an idiot trying to explain what RAM is. I kept my composer, but I did stumble on my words

Anyway, I had never thought that my last interview would be more difficult then the first 3. Knowing what I know now the previous interviews were walk in the park!!!

There is so much more I could talk about that pissed me off, but I’m optimistic. If by miracle I get the job I don’t want this post to haunt me.

 

[lucky3killer]

What's average of wage per hour at Apple store in USA for stocker or help consumers to explain about Mac? I don't think it would be ow wage that's similar to Wal-Mart.

 

[CashGap]

They were lees interested in knowing anything about my IT experience, my certifications or even the experience I had working fro AppleCare. It was unbelievable!!!

Lots of lessons here.

They are not interviewing to determine the skills/attitudes/experiences that YOU THINK are important for the job.

They are interviewing to determine your skills/attitudes/experiences and comparing them to characteristics that they have PROVEN correlate with success on the job.

They skip certifications, IT experience etc. for one of two reasons:

1. Those are not proven to correlate with success on the job.
2. Those are proven to have a NEGATIVE CORRELATION to success on the job. The more "prepared" you are based on our definition, the less success you have at the job based on their experience.

Based on my experience in business, running IT, and shopping (including at the Apple store), I'm betting it's the second reason.

 

[TBi]

I was offered a job on the spot for apple after my first interview with them (End 2001). Turned it down though because i got a better offer elsewhere

 

[LeeTom]

I thought everyone knew the desk/filing cabinet analogy.
RAM is like the top of your desk - it's what you're working on at the time.
HD is like the filing cabinet - it stores what you're not working on, but can hold more.

 

[TBi]

I thought everyone knew the desk/filing cabinet analogy.
RAM is like the top of your desk - it's what you're working on at the time.
HD is like the filing cabinet - it stores what you're not working on, but can hold more.

Unfortunately the desk analogy is already taken by the "desktop"

 

[GM'z]

CashGap, that makes sense!

If I was looking for support I rather talk to someone competent, who is polite, then a prick that's a genius!

O well, it's not over for me until the fat lady sings. (She's not scheduled for an appearance until next Friday)

On the contrary, if I don't get the Mac Genius position maybe I can try out the Mac Specialist! That's equail as fun right........? Kind of...........?

 

[GM'z]

Good News and Bad News

Bad news

I didn’t get the Mac Genius position, because they didn’t think I could handle a full time job and school.

The last question they asked me during the interview was whether or not I am currently working a full time job. Although I put in 40 hours a week, I still have a part time status. So, I answered NO and didn’t bother to explain!

Good news

They gave me a full time position as a Mac Specialist; in hope that if I manage my time responsibly I could advance to a Mac Genius. The recruiter said, that there is no time table for this process, so it could take as little as a month or as long as a year.


One thing I haven’t gotten a definitive answer on is the PAY. I would prefer not to wait until the day I start to find that out. Should I be bold and just ask?

 

[JoeKarame]

Oops. Posted in the wrong thread!

 

[joefinan]

I'm amazed there is so much excitement about getting a low paid job in a shop.

Maybe I'm missing something...

 

[pezza]

Get the pay issue sorted, don't start until you have a full understanding of the package.

In my experience the recruiters will give you a vague idea of the salary range, but it is often confirmed by the HR dept, after the offer has been made all over the phone.

Don't be dazzeled by the free t-shirts and staff discounts, this is a job and you need to be happy with the salary.