Why does Apple hire such unprofessional looking employees?

[maflynn]

While I have noticed that there does seem to be a high ratio of "colorful" people I find that apple should care less on what they look like and care more on the technical knowledge. I've been shocked by their lack of technical expertise, They're trying to sell computers (at least I think they are) and they could explain the simplest things, like ram and cpu speed.

That's why I read up on the technical stuff here and elsewhere and go into a store knowing what I want to buy

 

[allmIne]

Sad though. Sometimes I go in and ask questions to employees when I already know the answer to see what they say.

That is fairly sad, now that you mention it.

 

[allmIne]

+1. All they do is talk about some pool party or their myspace pictures.

Exactly. The majority of customers want to be served by somebody they can relate to, and to achieve this, Apple recruits a representative cross section. I don't care if the sales assistant doesn't know everything - as long as they can go find out something they're unsure about, that's fine.

I'd rather interrupt a conversation about bookspace or myface than waltz in on a discussion of the relative merits of any given processor family. Would feel a lot more out of place then!

 

[KnightWRX]

True true. Its like I said, your representing the company your working for, not your self.

Sitting in an office all day, away from anything remotely known as a "customer" represents the company to ... whom exactly ? My team ? My boss ? Guess what, we'd all rather dress casually and for comfort so that we can concentrate on our jobs, not that friggin tie around our necks.

T-shirts, jeans, caps, tattoos, piercing, a person is most happy when they can be themselves. A happy worker is a productive worker.

If you want to look like a damn freak like Bomb Shell Mcgee with tattos all over your body lip and eye pearcings,

I don't want to look like anything. I just feel a t-shirt and a pair of jeans is the pinnacle of comfort.

hair all messed up and your breath to smell like hell then do it elsewhere. People wont want to be around you if you are dressing like that. I know for damn sure you wont find that "someone" unless of course that "someone" is just like you. Then you both would be considered low lifes.

There goes the prejudices again. I'm tempted to insult you as you are insulting about everyone here, but I will refrain. However, please note that personal hygiene has nothing to do with how you dress.

I can make sure not to shower for a month, not brush my teeth for 2 weeks and eat all the garlic in my fridge before putting on my 1k$ suit and tie and using my natural hair grease as gel before going to the office.

Stop judging people on looks. The guy in the biker t-shirt might be the cleaness of them all.

 

[ChrisGonzales90]

Exactly. The majority of customers want to be served by somebody they can relate to, and to achieve this, Apple recruits a representative cross section. I don't care if the sales assistant doesn't know everything - as long as they can go find out something they're unsure about, that's fine.

I was mostly talking about the employies talking to eachother. Besides I'm not sure how old you are, but most people when they shop just want to find an associate to help them find what they need. They dont care if they like the same TV show or foods.
y given processor family. Would feel a lot more out of place then![/quote]

Sitting in an office all day, away from anything remotely known as a "customer" represents the company to ... whom exactly ? My team ? My boss ? Guess what, we'd all rather dress casually and for comfort so that we can concentrate on our jobs, not that friggin tie around our necks.

I don't want to look like anything. I just feel a t-shirt and a pair of jeans is the pinnacle of comfort.

I'm not saying you have to dress like that. (besides if you are requred to dress like that with your work, you WILL dress like that or be shown the door)

What I'm saying is if you come to work, dress decently. Even if its a blue apple T shirt. Dont let it have holes or be all wrinkly.

[/quote]T-shirts, jeans, caps, tattoos, piercing, a person is most happy when they can be themselves. A happy worker is a productive worker.[/quote]

They still look like freaks. If you want to posin your body with that ink and look like you just climbed from underneath a rock be my guest.

 

[KnightWRX]

They still look like freaks. If you want to posin your body with that ink and look like you just climbed from underneath a rock be my guest.

Prejudices prejudices prejudices. You're a very superficial person.

I don't care what people around me look like. My company doesn't either. As long as the job gets done. That's how it should be.

 

[ChrisGonzales90]

You guys probley wonder why people give you looks. Well take a look at your self in the mirror.

 

[KnightWRX]

You guys probley wonder why people give you looks. Well take a look at your self in the mirror.

Yeah, I'm a bit tired of all the girls turning around when I go by them. Maybe I should garage my Harley and buy a Honda.

I do look at myself in the mirror often, it's true I look good.

 

[wakka092]

I think the argument lies here: the true problem is that you should have to have the technical expertise to go along with the "looks." I think it's okay as long as you don't go overboard.

My local store people are annoyingly bad salespeople who must be trained to repeat superlatives. I mean, Apple products sell themselves so I guess they feel they don't need to know the sale points, instead insisting on how "cool a product is gonna be" for me.

 

[Mal67]

iLook

iLook - a new app that uses the camera in your iphone etc and context sensitive suggestions so you can always turn up for any job comfortable and feeling confident in your dress and overall appearance. I could see this tying into a live forum based rating system where interested users could make real time suggestions and recommendations, and users could also post to an iLook wall where individuals could be grouped together according to job descriptions, wage level etc this would act as a reference point for those starting out, those on lower spending limits or those just looking for something different to wear.

 

[arn]

Tattoos, long hair, etc. When people walk in to buy a premium product, they expect premium service. I've heard employees walk in saying "another day in paradise" sarcastically. A lot of them just talk to each other instead of helping customers. It just really annoys me because I'm 17, have persuaded friends to buy countless Macs/iPhones, and truly exhibit passion for the product. Meanwhile, these "hipsters" get the job.

surprised Jobs himself hasn't come up

http://www.answers.com/topic/steve-jobs

Jobs persuaded a successful publicist, Regis McKenna, to join Apple. That year the Apple II was introduced. It took only about four hours for a purchaser to set it up and have it running, and it could run some business programs, reducing to minutes from hours certain accounting tasks. With a canny sales campaign created by McKenna, and Jobs's own magnetic personality helping persuade corporate buyers, the Apple II became the first successful mass-market personal computer.

Jobs had to have been a concern for McKenna: Jobs had long hair and a scruffy beard, and he usually wore jeans when meeting the conservatively dressed businessmen who had the power to order dozens of Apple IIs at a time.

 

[Stella]

Tattoos, long hair, etc. When people walk in to buy a premium product, they expect premium service.

As long as they do their jobs well, what does it matter?

 

[cleanup]

Come to Canada, where nearly 100% of all retail employees are good-looking, unless they sell food.

 

[KnightWRX]

As long as they do their jobs well, what does it matter?

Last time I checked, someone's looks doesn't have any relation to the quality of the service they give. This thread is just flamebait, should've been closed minutes after being created.

 

[kernkraft]

Last time I checked, someone's looks doesn't have any relation to the quality of the service they give. This thread is just flamebait, should've been closed minutes after being created.

I cannot avoid it any longer - please, send us a picture of you!

 

[MorganK]

Stop judging people on looks. The guy in the biker t-shirt might be the cleaness of them all.

This is so true. I used to live in Daytona Beach and was there for Bike Week, Biktoberfest, etc. Get to talking to the bikers and it is amazing the professions the majority of them had (lawyers, doctors, etc). Sure many of their professions required them to have a certain look while on the job, but it doesn't mean they didn't change the minute they clocked out. Still the same person just different clothing. Looking at a crowd you weren't able to pick out which ones were clean/dirty/etc.

I don't care if someone has tattoos, piercings, etc. However, I DO care if someone has poor personal hygiene. If I can smell you I'm running the other direction.

 

[snberk103]

Come to Canada, where nearly 100% of all retail employees are good-looking, unless they sell food.

That's not entirely true.... you should see some of the servers in our local eateries....

I have noticed though, that getting tattoos in Canada seems to be more common among the youth than south of the border. In some communities it seems everyone under 30 and older than 10 has a tattoo. And if you live in a community where tattoos are commonplace, you have only two choices to stand out. Get Really Big Tattoos.... or where a 3 piece suit to school and to socialize. I've seen both.

I've also seen a server giving a customer what-for because he was sitting in the sun with a new tattoo that was still healing. They didn't know each other, but she knew her tattoos. He moved into the shade.

 

[eastercat]

I'd rather deal with a tattooed, long haired employee than ever have to come within three feet of Tony Hayward in his $10000 suit.
Besides, the employees at the Knox-Henderson store in Dallas are awesome.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Sitting in an office all day, away from anything remotely known as a "customer" represents the company to ... whom exactly ? My team ? My boss ? Guess what, we'd all rather dress casually and for comfort so that we can concentrate on our jobs, not that friggin tie around our necks.

The consumer electronics place I work in the weekends at only tells us that Tattoos have to be hidden and piercings have to be plain. Otherwise its just the DSE shirt and anything else we feel like, but non-offensive.

Though i will say that there are tasteful and un-tasteful tats/piercings. There's also no excuse for not showering. Nothing makes anything seem 10x as long like somebody stinking up the place.

 

[allmIne]

Besides I'm not sure how old you are, but most people when they shop just want to find an associate to help them find what they need. They dont care if they like the same TV show or foods.

That's what I'm saying, though - I don't mind if they can't help me right away, so long as they go find out what they need to help me.

I only mentioned myspace because, if I have to interrupt a conversation, I'd rather interrupt one that doesn't make me feel intimidated when speaking to the sales person.

Whether I should have to interrupt a conversation is, of course, another valid point of discussion

 

[niuniu]

When it comes to the tech industry, I stereotypically expect it to be staffed by unconventional professionals. Long hair and grubby nails offset by a technical knowledge and attention to detail.

Unfortunately we often get the long hair and grubby nails, and very little technical knowledge. Give you an example - called up UK2 who host our business website and told them we were wanting to try out Google Apps, which basically meant changing the MX records to point to Google.

I'm not a great pro at these things, so I called up their tech number and got a laid back American, who sounded like a teenager (this is a UK support line) - he was completely useless. Told me all sort of nonsense to try and get me off the phone because he obviously had no idea what to do, he did do a good job of trying to sound clever. I gave him about 5 or 6 minutes to have a go and look through his online tutorial Then I got impatient and told him what I thought of him and to transfer my call. The next guy was down to earth and sorted it in a minute, easy peasy. Over £1 a minute to listen to that nonsense

Need to face it - most industries now are full of useless, untrained and untalented 'professionals'. You're best of informing yourself, I try to learn as much as I can about any problem before getting help on it.

It does feel great when you occasionally meet someone who really knows what they're talking about and sorts the problem for you instead of fobbing you off. But that's rare in my experience these days.

 

[vespagirl]

I don't care if someone has tattoos, piercings, etc. However, I DO care if someone has poor personal hygiene. If I can smell you I'm running the other direction.

Ditto on this. I had a boss once who looked like an older version of Barbie and dressed in Chanel suits, but she had breath that smelled like yesterday's diapers. There are not enough Altoids in circulation worldwide to solve that problem. And no one cared about the fancy clothes once she opened her mouth.

 

[Hawkeye411]

You look like a fine upstanding man, I think you do!

So you took off your hat and said imagine that, huh, me working for you

 

[partyBoy]

This thread is nonsense...why would you care how the employees look at a apple store ???

 

[niuniu]

This thread is nonsense...why would you care how the employees look at a apple store ???

Because humans, a race you're apparently not a part of, are sensory in nature.