Anyone on Era have experience working at Apple retail?

Dogo Mojo · Feb 10, 2019

So I'm currently in the process of interviewing for a job at my local Apple store, I'm really excited about the potential opportunity but it is taking forever. It's easily been the most lengthy interview processes I've ever been through for a part time job, first was the group interview, second was a one on one interview, and now I'm just waiting to find out what's next as I'm not sure if they will send me confirmation if they decide to reject me.

It's funny because I had never even considered working for Apple before, but then a friend referred me and now I thinks it's something I'd really enjoy, not to mention it could open some new doors for me.

I was curious if anyone here on Era has ever worked for Apple retail, how was your interview process, and did/do you generally enjoy your job?

FaceHugger · Feb 10, 2019

Not me but good luck. It does seem like a cool retail job.

Cation · Feb 10, 2019

Used to work as a technical specialist. Loved the job, best job I could have gotten while in undergrad. Lots of potential to go up the tree in terms of responsibilities, money, and incredibly encouraging bosses. The pay was fantastic as well for a newcomer. I hear they are paying people even more than when I was there.

Oh and the benefits/deals for some of the main devices was just super. I combined some of my discounts at some point and got a $2.4k fully customized MacBook Pro with touchbar for $800. A stainless steel iWatch for $300 when the new was 700. And they have deals for random things, like all Bose products have some 25% off deal but you gotta go into the special websites for that

Edit: sorry I keep adding things. I really enjoyed the job lol.
Another thing was that they gave you like $100 monthly refilled card for transportation. So some people bought monthly bus passes with it. I personally used it to pay for garage parking (all over when I needed to lol, and by all over - I used it on a vacation while I was renting a car on the other side of the country lol)

TL DR
All in all, highly recommend. It's a legit career opportunity that just grows and grows. I would have stayed, but I went on to med school lol

Bluebot · Feb 10, 2019

Cation said:
Used to work as a technical specialist. Loved the job, best job I could have gotten while in undergrad. Lots of potential to go up the tree in terms of responsibilities, money, and incredibly encouraging bosses. The pay was fantastic as well for a newcomer. I hear they are paying people even more than when I was there.

Oh and the benefits/deals for some of the main devices was just super. I combined some of my discounts at some point and got a $2.4k fully customized MacBook Pro with touchbar for $800. A stainless steel iWatch for $300 when the new was 700. And they have deals for random things, like all Bose products have some 25% off deal but you gotta go into the special websites for that

Edit: sorry I keep adding things. I really enjoyed the job lol.
Another thing was that they gave you like $100 monthly refilled card for transportation. So some people bought monthly bus passes with it. I personally used it to pay for garage parking (all over when I needed to lol, and by all over - I used it on a vacation while I was renting a car on the other side of the country lol)

TL DR
All in all, highly recommend. It's a legit career opportunity that just grows and grows. I would have stayed, but I went on to med school lol

How did you go about finding a technical specialist job?

TheBeardedOne · Feb 10, 2019

Congratulations on being a potential genius

Dogo Mojo · Feb 10, 2019

THANKS for the response Cation , it sounds like a legit great place to work, especially in the retail space. Like I said, at this point I'm just playing the waiting game. I think the one on one went well but until they get back to me there is no way for me to know.

TheBeardedOne said:
Congratulations on being a potential genius

lol thanks for the vote of confidence, at the moment I'm just applying for a part time sales specialist job. Might be awhile before I'm ready to pursue the genius stuff.

One of the things I am really interested in is that there is a position called a creative who seems to be primarily about teaching. That's always been a passion of mine so I could see it being something I'd want to pursue if I get the opportunity.

Railgun · Feb 10, 2019

Not sure about where you are, but here in Australia technicians at an Apple store get paid less than the staff at checkouts in large supermarkets it's pretty bad. Always thought the Apple store would be paying on the higher end for retail but it's on the lower end.

Dogo Mojo · Feb 10, 2019

Railgun said:
Not sure about where you are, but here in Australia technicians at an Apple store get paid less than the staff at checkouts in large supermarkets it's pretty bad. Always thought the Apple store would be paying on the higher end for retail but it's on the lower end.

Im in the US. As I understand it from the friend who referred me the Apple stores here pay very well. Cashiers in the states don't get paid very well here generally speaking, most of the time it's minimum wage. If what she told me is accurate I'll make significantly more per hour than I currently make as a supervisor at my current job.

Dan · Feb 10, 2019

Louis Rossmann's best friends.

Cation · Feb 10, 2019

Railgun said:
Not sure about where you are, but here in Australia technicians at an Apple store get paid less than the staff at checkouts in large supermarkets it's pretty bad. Always thought the Apple store would be paying on the higher end for retail but it's on the lower end.

Damn that's horrible. Ill be honest, in the states - when I worked there I got $16/hr I think. And when I was leaving, they were paying new hires about $18-19/hr. They definitely pay well in the US.

ReaperXL7 said:
THANKS for the response Cation , it sounds like a legit great place to work, especially in the retail space. Like I said, at this point I'm just playing the waiting game. I think the one on one went well but until they get back to me there is no way for me to know.

Glad to help lol, but if it doesn't work out - keep applying! They definitely will notice if you keep asking about it/keep applying. They love enthusiasm. While I was on a shift, some customer was talking with my boss and my boss was like "is there anything else you want today" and the customer was like "a job" and she legit helped him apply lol. Im not sure how it worked out cause he came out of his way to our apple store when there was a closer one to his home.

Bluebot said:
How did you go about finding a technical specialist job?

When I applied, they had a website form to apply. Also at the time they had 15 opened spots for technical specialists positions across the city I was in (like 4/5 of the Apple stores had openings) - but they are flexible enough to give you a job where you want.

XDevil666 · Feb 10, 2019

3 stages?

Hell is not just knowing how to backup/restore from iTunes and navigating iOS?

shazrobot · Feb 10, 2019

Once while I was looking for a kind of "in-between" job I applied for genius/technical specialist. Did three 1 hour interviews then got rejected. All three I made explicitly clear that I did not want a on the floor sales position though. It was aight. The one question that threw all the interviewers off was "If you could change one thing about Apple, what would it be?". None of them could answer like they were not allowed any sort of critique of the company. I found it funny. Good luck!

Vic Damone Jr. · Feb 18, 2019

Any tips for interview process?

SynthFetish · Feb 18, 2019

Pay & benefits are awesome. Other employers, especially in tech look very fondly on past apple experence.
I know people who've worked apple retial for over 7 years. You can make a decent living just doing that.

Best of luck!

Dogo Mojo · Feb 18, 2019

The Last Wizard said:
Any tips for interview process?

I'm still in the middle of it so my information is incomplete so far. That being said my first piece of advice would be to try and get someone to give you a referral as that will help you get into the hiring event faster.

The first interview I did was a group interview, it wasn't hard they just sat a group of us at a table in the mall and asked some basic personality type questions. My second interview was a one on one with a manager and he asked more situational questions based on my past work experience "tell me of a time when" style. That was two weeks ago and now I'm waiting to see what happens next.

The only real questions they have asked me directly about Apple have been what my favorite device and or app was, so it seems like they are more interested in how you deal and interact with people than about how much technical background you have. I'm sure that would change if you were applying for a tech support related position.

I'm not sure if they send rejection letters, but I have heard that the interview process can take a month or longer depending on what the stores actual need is.

Vic Damone Jr. · Feb 18, 2019

ReaperXL7 said:
I'm still in the middle of it so my information is incomplete so far. That being said my first piece of advice would be to try and get someone to give you a referral as that will help you get into the hiring event faster.

The first interview I did was a group interview, it wasn't hard they just sat a group of us at a table in the mall and asked some basic personality type questions. My second interview was a one on one with a manager and he asked more situational questions based on my past work experience "tell me of a time when" style. That was two weeks ago and now I'm waiting to see what happens next.

The only real questions they have asked me directly about Apple have been what my favorite device and or app was, so it seems like they are more interested in how you deal and interact with people than about how much technical background you have. I'm sure that would change if you were applying for a tech support related position.

I'm not sure if they send rejection letters, but I have heard that the interview process can take a month or longer depending on what the stores actual need is.

They do send rejection letters, I got one via email the one time I did the interview process. The process varies from what I've been told, some people do 3 interviews others do 5. They're pretty weird.

Any more tips about the first and second parts of the interview process? That's where I got knocked out. I suck at group interviews.