Working At the Apple Store

[MICHAELSD]

I just finished writing my resume for a job at the Apple Store. I figure that applying at 3 AM at night might not seem too professional, so I'll wait until tomorrow to actually apply. I haven't finished high school yet, but I have an excellent understanding of the retail business and technology. My resume was written very professionally, so I think I might get called in for an interview. I thought you had to be eighteen to work at an Apple Store, but after some research online, I found out that Apple will hire anyone professional and knowledgeable enough. A fifteen year-old kid at MacRumors had applied for a job, stating that he was fifteen, and was called in for an interview. He didn't go to the interview because the Apple Store was too far for him and he had only applied for fun. I'm serious, though. I'm applying as a specialist. I act much older and more professional than I think that anyone in my entire school could, and even some people that are much older, and I always have my facts right. This will be my first real job, if I get it.

Is the minimum wage at the Apple Store really $18 an hour? I'm assuming that there's no commission (not that I need it if Apple really pays so well), right? What can I expect if I get called in for an interview? Should I dress casually or in a suit (Apple has their employees dress casually, so I'm not sure what would be the better choice)? Any tips from Apple Store workers to make sure that I get the job? Thanks a lot, guys.

 

[MICHAELSD]

By the way, anything I should read about Macs? I'm still adjusting to the platform and I don't know some of the more advanced commands that they sometimes ask about during the interview. Otherwise, I do have excellent knowledge of the hardware, construction, and software (other than some of the more advanced functions of the Mac OS) of all of Apple's current products.

 

[miles01110]

Is the minimum wage at the Apple Store really $18 an hour?

Uh, lol. If this is true, then I need to apply as well.

 

[MICHAELSD]

I thought that I had read that in a Gizmodo article.

 

[miles01110]

It's only a retail job. I can't see the pay being more than a couple dollars above minimum.

 

[MICHAELSD]

I just read an article about a guy that's just starting getting paid $17 an hour to work as a Genius. I wonder how much new specialists get paid.

 

[Sky Blue]

I think the $18/hour is for genius, which is pretty horrible.
You really need retail experience for the on the floor jobs.

 

[britboyj]

Apple's minimum age for hiring is 18 and most stores will not hire high school students because they're uber-flakey, don't have any flexibility in their schedule and generally less reliable and more likely to move to a different job.

I'm not sure if "No HS students" is a policy, but it's certainly practiced in most stores, and with good reason.

I worked at Best Buy all through college and with a couple of rare exceptions, the high schoolers were the laziest, neediest bunch of twerps I had to manage.

No, you cannot go early because you have homework. Learn some time-management skills.

Minimum wage at Apple is the same as it is nationwide or by your state, although Apple generally DOES pay better than other retail gigs, it's going to vary by where you live. Specialists in Texas make less than specialists in LA and NY, for obvious reasons.

 

[MICHAELSD]

I sent in my resume. Let's see what happens now...

 

[SkeffMBP]

Apple's minimum age for hiring is 18 and most stores will not hire high school students because they're uber-flakey, don't have any flexibility in their schedule and generally less reliable and more likely to move to a different job.

I'm not sure if "No HS students" is a policy, but it's certainly practiced in most stores, and with good reason.

I worked at Best Buy all through college and with a couple of rare exceptions, the high schoolers were the laziest, neediest bunch of twerps I had to manage.

No, you cannot go early because you have homework. Learn some time-management skills.

Minimum wage at Apple is the same as it is nationwide or by your state, although Apple generally DOES pay better than other retail gigs, it's going to vary by where you live. Specialists in Texas make less than specialists in LA and NY, for obvious reasons.

Not entirely true - Apple does not have a standard 'age requirement.' However, they do follow whatever guidelines are enforced by by local government. I've known a few high schoolers that have worked at Apple Retail Stores, so it is a possibility. As for pay, I wouldn't expect more than $10 a hour... ;-)

 

[FF_productions]

It's $9-10 an hour, and they tend to pick the goofiest people to work at the store. I should know, because I've tried many times to work there, and the people I see end up working there are weird as hell.

It's really tough to get a job there, good luck with that, the big thing is to be a good salesman. If you go off and kiss Ass saying Apple is your life, it's nice, but not gonna sell more Macs. Just from my experience.

 

[britboyj]

Not entirely true - Apple does not have a standard 'age requirement.' However, they do follow whatever guidelines are enforced by by local government. I've known a few high schoolers that have worked at Apple Retail Stores, so it is a possibility. As for pay, I wouldn't expect more than $10 a hour... ;-)

Must be a market thing, when I worked for Apple it was actually said pretty directly that neither our store, nor any of the other ones in the market hired high school students.

No offense to the OP but when I was a supervisor at Best Buy, I refused to hire high school students, period. Does it screw over a couple of good kids? Yeah but it saved me a lot of headaches.

 

[aristobrat]

Any tips from Apple Store workers to make sure that I get the job? Thanks a lot, guys.

IMO, the Specialist job description sums it up well. If you get called for an interview and can convey those traits, you're likely to do well.

http://jobs.apple.com/index.ajs?BID...method=mHvexternal.showPositionDetails&PID=50

A candidate we’ll love:

• You’re warm and friendly, and you love sharing knowledge
• You have retail or customer service experience, or you just like helping people
• You understand customers’ needs and enjoy connecting them with the right solutions
• You love Apple technology and believe it can enrich people’s lives
• You engage well with others and are passionate about providing an exemplary customer experience
• You’re a team player who thinks quickly on your feet
• You’re excited about the prospect of growing and learning in a changing environment

 

[Digital Skunk]

ALL INFORMATION FROM THE MANY FRIENDS AND FREELANCERS THAT WORK FOR APPLE!

I just read an article about a guy that's just starting getting paid $17 an hour to work as a Genius. I wonder how much new specialists get paid.

New Specialists don't get pain ****. It's about 9-10 like was said before. Pretty good for retail, but I hear the hoops you have to jump through on a day to day basis make it a pain in the butt.

It's good to start out in HS or right out of high school if you want to stay in Apple retail fora while, since in two years you will be in a higher position than someone starting out that knows way more than you.

By the way, anything I should read about Macs? I'm still adjusting to the platform and I don't know some of the more advanced commands that they sometimes ask about during the interview. Otherwise, I do have excellent knowledge of the hardware, construction, and software (other than some of the more advanced functions of the Mac OS) of all of Apple's current products.

You don't need to know ****.... and I mean NOTHING. They give you half-@$$ training material while you work. And even after that many of the workers there still know NOTHING.....

During my many hours and many days waiting in the Genius bar I get a lot of conversation going on. And there's never a day where I meet a specialist on any of the stores on the east coast that doesn't hate their job, or wish they were somewhere else.

My advice to you is to start there if you really want a career in retail and move up to Genius or Trainer position as fast as possible.

 

[wwm]

Hi! Did you ever get the job?

 

[sim667]

The interview process is a pile of balls.

After being dragged halfway across london, I got put into a group with a couple of overbearing tosser's who didnt have a clue about what ram, hard drives etc etc etc was. As a group we were then asked to 'sell' a bowl of fruit. As one of the overbearing tossers insisted that we stole another catchphrase of a fruit selling company in order to sell our fruit, i decided that an apple retail career probably wasnt for me and didnt join in too much. Needless to say i didnt get the job. I'd apply again as a genius, but tbh I think id rather be an apple tech in enterprise, which is what im trying to get into atm.

 

[rovex]

When i was at the Apple store Opera paris people there didn't really know what they were talking about and not to mention nobody spoke fluent English which is pretty unprofessional if you ask me. Thankfully i speak French but i find it still perplexing the closest country to the UK nobody really knows how to speak the international language well enough.

 

[gkarris]

....but i find it still perplexing the closest country to the UK nobody really knows how to speak the international language well enough.

Here we go....

 

[GoCubsGo]

The interview process is a pile of balls.

After being dragged halfway across london, I got put into a group with a couple of overbearing tosser's who didnt have a clue about what ram, hard drives etc etc etc was. As a group we were then asked to 'sell' a bowl of fruit. As one of the overbearing tossers insisted that we stole another catchphrase of a fruit selling company in order to sell our fruit, i decided that an apple retail career probably wasnt for me and didnt join in too much. Needless to say i didnt get the job. I'd apply again as a genius, but tbh I think id rather be an apple tech in enterprise, which is what im trying to get into atm.

Well, with that attitude I am unsure why you weren't hired.

 

[sim667]

Well, with that attitude I am unsure why you weren't hired.

Im much happier doing what im doing now, so it worked out. working in retail annoys the hell out of me,

 

[NutsNGum]

I got through to the second round of interviews for a new store recently, I found the first interview to be little more than a brand reinforcement exercise for Apple. Somewhat of an indoctrination rather than an induction.

The second interview was more generic interview fare with competency based questions, although with 5 people around a table. I already knew I was up against it when I went in and everyone had a combination of hipstery clothing, big black glasses, tattoos, ear plugs and hair dos, although one guy was genuinely very good with his answers.

In the first interview, it was heavily implied that Apple was more interested in having cool staff than staff who knew anything, in the second interview that was painfully obvious.

I wasn't particularly willing to change my personality to work in a retail job that I would no doubt have started to hate after 6 months.

 

[sim667]

Thankfully i speak French but i find it still perplexing the closest country to the UK nobody really knows how to speak the international language well enough.

Are you being serious? There's no way I'd expect a french shop assistant to speak english..... shop assistans are like the lowest paid jobs ever..... if they can speak english, they might aswell just go an be a translator.

 

[sim667]

I got through to the second round of interviews for a new store recently, I found the first interview to be little more than a brand reinforcement exercise for Apple. Somewhat of an indoctrination rather than an induction.

The second interview was more generic interview fare with competency based questions, although with 5 people around a table. I already knew I was up against it when I went in and everyone had a combination of hipstery clothing, big black glasses, tattoos, ear plugs and hair dos, although one guy was genuinely very good with his answers.

In the first interview, it was heavily implied that Apple was more interested in having cool staff than staff who knew anything, in the second interview that was painfully obvious.

I wasn't particularly willing to change my personality to work in a retail job that I would no doubt have started to hate after 6 months.

That was my main issue with apple interviews too...... ask them anything about firmware or the integrals of mac os x and they have to look it all up on google, then give you a wrong answer?

 

[MICHAELSD]

For those asking, might as well update the thread now (better late than never): I never did get a follow-up response from Apple. I would assume that's because I did not have retail experience. It's no exaggeration when it's said that Apple Stores are very selective; they get a lot of applicants! I also picked a very popular store to apply to. Frankly, I was too young to work there at the time of this thread anyway. It's for the best that I wasn't hired since I have had multiple superior jobs since applying to the Apple Store.

 

[PowerPCMacMan]

Some food for thought.. Although, Apple is a great company to work for, retail is still retail and it pays horribly low, so low that most stuff in this economy requires a lot of money to purchase.

10-12 dollars an hour these days does not cut it, sad to say.. Hell, in my job I pitch light bulbs to maintenance guys and already I see myself making over 50K this year.. and I just started last month. I have seen and been in retail long to know that it does not pay much.

Now, if you stay in it long enough to be a manager then the pay is much better, but still not that great. I am not downing Apple's retail stores. Its the low wages that bother me as you can't live off of low wage retail service industry based jobs.

For those asking, might as well update the thread now (better late than never): I never did get a follow-up response from Apple. I would assume that's because I did not have retail experience. It's no exaggeration when it's said that Apple Stores are very selective; they get a lot of applicants! I also picked a very popular store to apply to. Frankly, I was too young to work there at the time of this thread anyway. It's for the best that I wasn't hired since I have had multiple superior jobs since applying to the Apple Store.