There go my chances of working at the Apple store :(

[paola105]

So I applied at my local store few weeks ago. Unexpectedly got a call for an interview last Friday. Went in the next day and to my surprise got the job. I mean I was definitely qualified and possess good technical background and knowledge, but did not really expect to get it considering the fact how difficult it is to land a job there. So it was definitely a dream come true. They then asked me if I'll be available to start training on Thursday. After that they proceeded to set up the background check as the next step. The same day I got a call for a district manager and few days later, on a Monday a call from some other manager from a different state. He told me what to expect from the training process and that I should get a call in a few days.

So today is Wednesday, a day before the supposed training day. Waited all day and no call. So I emailed the hiring manager of my store, remembering that he told me I'd have a better chance of reaching him through email than phone.

All I got is the typical "thank you for your interest but we chose someone else etc etc." email template as a reply.

I'm really upset and had my hopes up high. I don't see why they would go through all the hassle of hiring me and having all those managers contact me only to reject me few days later.

I'm not even sure what to do. Suck it up and deal with rejection or go in person tomorrow and ask them why I was rejected? Or should I even bother?
I think that maybe I failed the phone interviews with other managers or something and that must've affected my employment?

 

[gkarris]

Exact same thing happend to me.

They probably saw something in your background check (criminal or financial) that they didn't like.

They won't tell you exactly why you got canned as it may seem like discrimination - so it's the canned "we decided on someone else"...

Hang in there! It worked out for me - I ended up with a retail job far, far, more awesome than the Apple Store!

Cheers!

 

[paola105]

Well that makes me feel a little better.
I wonder if it really was the background check? I don't have any criminal records but maybe my credit history wasn't exactly perfect. I did miss several payments and had overdrawn accounts once in a while. ;/

Could it be that I didn't mention a short term job I had on my application and resume? It only lasted less than 4 weeks so I figured it's not worth mentioning.

Or maybe my somewhat long unemployment hiatus, but then again I had school and all of that so that was reasonable.

 

[Compton]

Exact same thing happend to me.

They probably saw something in your background check (criminal or financial)

Umm, criminal record check for a job in Apple store? Here in Finland the employer can only ask for a criminal background check if one works with children or "has the potential to cause serious mischief", e.g. by working in a nuclear plant.

One would think that this level of criminal record checking would make it next to impossible to for criminal to reintegrate back into society. Or is the record wiped after a certain period?

Edit: I stand corrected. In Finland the employer cannot acquire the criminal record from the authorities unless the work involves a nuclear plant, airfield etc. However, the employer may ask for the applicant to show his/her criminal record. If the applicant doesn't want to show it, then the general practise is not hire such an applicant.

 

[Abstract]

If you don't mind a second rejection, I'd walk into the store and ask.

 

[maflynn]

If you don't mind a second rejection, I'd walk into the store and ask.

Good idea, but be calm, respectful and courteous. Charging in there hankering for a battle won't get you anywhere.

 

[gkarris]

Umm, criminal record check for a job in Apple store? Here in Finland the employer can only ask for a criminal background check if one works with children or "has the potential to cause serious mischief", e.g. by working in a nuclear plant.

Here in the US, they do criminal checks for retail, and now financial checks as well. Actually, with the horrible job market, they are doing both for most jobs.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/how-bad-credit-can-cost-you-a-job.aspx

 

[kdarling]

Here in the US, they do criminal checks for retail, and now financial checks as well. Actually, with the horrible job market, they are doing both for most jobs.

Many companies are also checking you and your friends' Facebook etc. entries to make sure you won't embarrass them.

When I was growing up, parents and teachers would threaten that bad deeds would end up on your "permanent record", which was mostly BS at the time.

Now, with the internet, records and deeds truly last forever and can be accessed by almost anyone.

 

[paola105]

I don't think I have enough courage to face those people and ask why

I guess I'll just move on. I still wonder if it really was the background check that ruined it. Maybe a few late payments and overdraws do affect it ;/

 

[synth3tik]

I think you really have to look at the worthiness of it. Yeah working for Apple would be pretty cool. You get to work with cool toys all day, and have a better experience with customers then you might at any other retail job. However, one has to look at this as a retail job, more then likely you will start out part-time. You might find yourself working 4-6 hour days while not getting two or more consecutive days off from work. And, although Apple does pay more, you'd have to remember that this is retail.

A buddy of mine works at one of our local Apple stores, of course he loves his job, but there are some major frustrations. I applied to his store, figured I'd do good as he was one of their top specialists. However the manager prefers to only hire people with military background as she used to be a career service woman before going to work at Apple.

I guess the point is, that although it would be cool to work at an Apple store, your not out the world.

The biggest thing my friend complains about.. Got getting enough hours to save up the money to use his discount. That's the way it was for me at the music store. I'd sell $10-20K in PA or recording equipment, but could;t even afford a stinking audio cable.

 

[MacVixen]

Just as an FYI... if it was in fact a credit check that made them rescind the job offer.. you do have some rights (taken from the same article that gkarris posted a link to):

An employer is supposed to tell you if credit information is used against you. If an employer uses credit information to deny an applicant a job, fire a current employee, rescind a job offer or cancel a promotion, federal law requires the employer to do two things:

Before the adverse action is actually taken, the employer is supposed to provide the worker with a copy of the report and an explanation of the worker's rights under the law.

After the action is taken, the worker must be told which company provided the credit information, given contact information and told he or she has a right to dispute the report's accuracy.

Rather than go through all this, of course, many employers find a less-complicated excuse to give you, or they simply do not give you a reason why you weren't hired.

I was an HR Manager in retail for a number of years. We absolutely did criminal background checks, along with employment verification. If for some reason your dates are really off about a prior position, if you didn't admit to some minor petty infraction that you went to court over, etc... all reasons to deny employment. We used to call it "Falsification of the Application". Applicants would say to me "Oh! That Drunk in Public ticket I got was ages ago! I didn't know I was supposed to tell you about it!" That DUI happened 6 years ago - I didn't think you would find out!", etc.

Apple may or may not give you the true reasons they rescinded the job offer, but it wouldn't hurt to try to find out - if nothing else, you will be better prepared the next time you apply for a retail position somewhere.

 

[brentsg]

The thought of someone losing a job, pushing them into financial difficulty.. and then being denied a new job because of the financial issues is troublesome.

 

[paola105]

Sigh. I guess I'll just move on with the job search. It just kind of sucks being hired and then 'un-hired' a day later hehe. Oh well if anything it will be somewhat of an ego boost. If I was good enough for Apple, I'm good enough for other retail positions, considering the credit check doesn't come up as an issue

PS. Talked to my bank where I had few overdraw fees, they said if I pay them the next few days or so, they won't turn them over to the collection agency. So I guess it wasn't really the cause since it would've been on my permanent record. Other than a few late payments I was good on keeping up with the bills.
If anything maybe they did find someone more 'qualified'.

 

[Disc Golfer]

The thought of someone losing a job, pushing them into financial difficulty.. and then being denied a new job because of the financial issues is troublesome.

Exactly.

OP consider yourself lucky, retail is absolute ****.

 

[gkarris]

Sigh. I guess I'll just move on with the job search. It just kind of sucks being hired and then 'un-hired' a day later hehe. Oh well if anything it will be somewhat of an ego boost. If I was good enough for Apple, I'm good enough for other retail positions, considering the credit check doesn't come up as an issue

PS. Talked to my bank where I had few overdraw fees, they said if I pay them the next few days or so, they won't turn them over to the collection agency. So I guess it wasn't really the cause since it would've been on my permanent record. Other than a few late payments I was good on keeping up with the bills.
If anything maybe they did find someone more 'qualified'.

Credit checks are now the norm for ANY position requiring cash or product handling.

I would get a copy of your Credit Report, see what it says, and then go from there...

 

[snberk103]

Credit checks are now the norm for ANY position requiring cash or product handling.
....

Bad Luck, paola105

Maybe in the US. I'm gob-smacked that anyone has the right to do a credit check on an individual for any reason other than borrowing money (or similar), and perhaps being given the combination to the vault with the gold coins while working night security.

It's been a while since I've applied for a job, but I don't think it's even legal in Canada to ask an applicant the types of questions that would even allow a credit check - without the SIN# (Social Security), Driver's License #, etc an employer doesn't have the info to check. Plus you would have to give them permission first.

For jobs requiring a criminal check, I believe (maybe someone can correct or affirm this) you go to the police and get a form filled in.... in other words, the applicant gives their personal info to the police.

Unfathomable......

 

[brentsg]

Yeah I can understand criminal checks and such, but the financial stuff is sketchy.

It was bad enough having the "layoff victim" stigma when I was looking at one time.

I was in a position for a long time, about a decade. The business sector I was in pretty much collapsed, and I survived 25 or so layoffs to become one of the last to leave when they finally turned out the lights.. knocked down the building, and built a Target there. Unfortunately it paid too well, and they kept throwing bonus money at the survivors to keep them during the BS. Not to mention huge severance $ that you received when they asked you to go... Was very difficult to leave voluntarily.

But then a few months later it was "ohh, so you were laid off". Thanks for coming in..

 

[MacVixen]

Bad Luck, paola105

Maybe in the US. I'm gob-smacked that anyone has the right to do a credit check on an individual for any reason other than borrowing money (or similar), and perhaps being given the combination to the vault with the gold coins while working night security.

It's been a while since I've applied for a job, but I don't think it's even legal in Canada to ask an applicant the types of questions that would even allow a credit check - without the SIN# (Social Security), Driver's License #, etc an employer doesn't have the info to check. Plus you would have to give them permission first.

For jobs requiring a criminal check, I believe (maybe someone can correct or affirm this) you go to the police and get a form filled in.... in other words, the applicant gives their personal info to the police.

Unfathomable......

Just to be clear, these checks that occur in the US may NOT happen unless that applicant has explicitly given permission for the background checks to occur. It's not as though checks are run automatically on every single job applicant. That would be far too expensive for a business. So instead, those candidates that are being seriously considered will have the background checks run and the employer is required to have a signed agreement from the applicant.

When I was in retail it would take some time for the information to come back, so I would mainly be dealing with people who had already been hired that we then learned had potentially falsified their application.

Also, though I worked for one of the largest retail corporations in the country, we did NOT run credit checks on applicants. Only criminal background and social security number checks.

 

[gkarris]

Just to be clear, these checks that occur in the US may NOT happen unless that applicant has explicitly given permission for the background checks to occur. It's not as though checks are run automatically on every single job applicant. That would be far too expensive for a business. So instead, those candidates that are being seriously considered will have the background checks run and the employer is required to have a signed agreement from the applicant.

My application to the Apple Store and my previous job, I had to agree to both a Criminal and Financial Background check.

My previous employer didn't like something in my Financial as well, and they had to get a bunch of signatures of approval before hiring me - even though the job had nothing to do with money (it was an IT position at a school).

I got my current job because the people are awesome and they decided to call all my references (which included a previous job handling cash) instead of using a credit report.

Here's another interesting article:

http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2009/07/29/should-your-credit-report-cost-you-a-job

 

[miles01110]

It's a retail job. It's unfortunate that things went as far as they did only for them to "hire someone else" (which sounds fishy to me), but retail jobs are dime-a-dozen and are all pretty much the same (crappy).

 

[Benguitar]

Man, I'm sorry that happened.. I know what its like to really want a job somewhere and not get it even after you got pretty far along in their hiring process.

The best thing you can do is move on-

 

[Tomorrow]

Sorry to hear, OP.

Had something very similar happen to me a while back. Wasn't at the Apple store, but it felt like the rug was pulled out from under me. I got no explanation.

I heard through the grapevine (the professional community I work in is quite small) that they chose a friend of a friend to get the job over me. Someone had to pull some strings to make it happen.

Don't feel bad about it, it happens.

 

[paola105]

Thanks everyone! I do feel much better. This isn't the end of the world haha. I'm sure I could try re-applying at the Apple store in a few months or so and hopefully it will work out. I will definitely try to get a copy of my credit to see whether it's really a cause.

 

[PatrickCocoa]

Bad Credit?

I'm gob-smacked that anyone has the right to do a credit check on an individual for any reason other than borrowing money (or similar), and perhaps being given the combination to the vault with the gold coins while working night security.

It turns out there's a very high correlation between bad credit and certain other characteristics that are undesirable to an employer. Of course correlation does not imply causation, but employers may want to stay away from potential problems.

And of course society can decide, through their elected legislators, that there is some other social good that is more important than employers' desires, and outlaw the practice of using credit reports in hiring decisions.

 

[snberk103]

Just to be clear, these checks that occur in the US may NOT happen unless that applicant has explicitly given permission for the background checks to occur. ...

Canadian law at the moment appears to be that even asking for permission can get an employer in trouble, since the applicant can't give meaningful consent as there isn't really a choice to say 'No'. If an employer does ask, and the applicant declines and then doesn't get the job, they likely have a legitimate privacy complaint.

The other bit to the law is that any personal info asked for must be directly relevant to the job duties. There is no connection between an applicant's history of bill paying and serving customers... so an employer can't ask about that. etc etc

Anyway, all of the above is just from my very quick reading from some HR advice sites, so don't rely on it for legal advice!

Added This after first post:

It turns out there's a very high correlation between bad credit and certain other characteristics that are undesirable to an employer. Of course correlation does not imply causation, but employers may want to stay away from potential problems.

And of course society can decide, through their elected legislators, that there is some other social good that is more important than employers' desires, and outlaw the practice of using credit reports in hiring decisions.

I'm glad I live in such a jurisdiction....

It could be that people who are being denied jobs then turn to crime to survive, which would also account for the correlation. Or people who made a mistake, and learned from it, are then forced back into a life of crime since getting a 2nd chance is so hard.