How To Get Hired At The Apple Retail Store

It’s not secret that a popular company like Apple has hundreds of people applying daily for work. If you’re one of those people, and happen to have that extra drive to be one of the few selected to join the team, this guide will serve you greatly. I was hired in September of 2009 as a ‘Specialist’ (essentially a glorified salesman) in one of their retail stores, and want to share the experience that it was, to go from nothing to hired.

First thing you need to do is create an Apple ID. You can go to myinfo.apple.com to do so. Once you’ve entered all relevant information (the more complete your profile, the better) you can login and search the job listings that are currently posted. Login with your Apple ID to cooljobs.apple.com. From here, you’ll be able to search through corporate, as well as retail positions that have been put up. Since I haven’t gone through the corporate process, I won’t touch on that, and will just stick to retail.

Once you’ve clicked the “Search Retail Jobs”, you’ll get a return of a long list, with all the job titles prefixed by a country code; CAN for Canada, US for the United States, GER for Germany, etc. Choose each position you think you’d be suited for, one by one, and go through the process. You’ll choose a state/province where you’d like to apply, and either apply for current or future openings. Once this is all done, you’ll be formally submitted as a candidate, and if by some miracle you get chosen out of the bunch, good for you, you lucked out.

Once you’ve finished all the applications, I would encourage you to drop into the store, and meet some of the managers; it’s usually very occupied in the Apple Store, so it’s a good idea to go early in the morning (I would call 11am the deadline to go in). Let them know that you’ve applied formally online, and are very interested in a job with Apple. Tell them why you want to work for Apple, why you’d be good at the positions you’ve applied for, and why they might want you on the team. You want to make sure you’re being cordial at all times, and not coming off too strongly. Let them know that you’re aware that they’re hiring (if they are) and if they’re not, let them know that you’ll be checking back, and that you’re serious about applying. Ask if there’s anything you can do (every store is different, every manager is different) that will sweeten your chances at an interview.

note: If you’re applying for numerous positions, you will want to know that once you’re hired, you have to wait until your three month probationary period is over before applying for what I can only assume would be a promotion. I was hired as a Specialist, and was eager to apply to the Genius position (the position I wanted initially, but wasn’t available at the time… or so I was told). Since I wanted to work immediately, and thought it would be a good idea to get my foot in the door, I took the job as a Specialist, before finding out it wasn’t ever going to happen; more on that later.

The Interview

There are a couple parts to the interview; typically it won’t be the store manager who does the interviewing, but he/she will join you later to talk to you a little bit; usually the assistant managers will be sitting down with you. During the interview they’ll ask the standard questions, which you should be prepared for. I’ll accompany my answers to these questions (as best as I can remember, paraphrased a little, of course).

Why do you want to work for Apple?

I’ve never pictured myself working retail, but I knew that if I ever did, I’d want to work for Apple. Things are done differently, and standards (products, customer service, work environment) are set much higher than any other company I know of. The end goal is just to make peoples lives better; I’m also just really pationate about Apple as a consumer, I have many of your products at home and genuinely enjoy them, and would love to share that excitement with others. I want people to see Apple as I see it. Apple’s products have enriched my life and I’d want to be part of a place that gets to showcase those products, and send people home with them.

What would make you a good (for me, Specialist)?

Like I said, I have many of your products at home. iPod, iPhone, Macbook, Airport Extreme – all products I’m extremely familiar with. I feel that I have a good base of knowledge that can only be furthered by working at Apple, that would in turn allow me to share that with customers, and show them why Apple really is better than the competition. One common misconception about Apple is that they’re overpriced or more expensive for no reason. I want to show people the true value of the equipment or service, and show them how much more they get out of purchasing an Apple, opposed to anyone else. I don’t want this to come out the wrong way, but I think that I’m a real people person too; I like talking to people, and I find that people get really engaged when I’m passionate about something. As a Specialist, I could go on for hours about all the different Apple products and services, and communicate that pseudo ‘love’ I have for Apple, and share it with customers effectively.

What would make you an asset to Apple?

Everything I’ve already said I think makes me an excellent candidate for this position; but as an employee generally, I’m punctual, energetic, have a good work ethic, and tremendous attention to detail. I’m always conscious about my customers needs and the needs of my co-workers, so I’m quick to pickup on queues that would be important in a setting such as a retail store. I’m a great independant, and a good leader, which I think makes me a good team player at the same time. I’m great with taking direction, and very receptive to feedback from peers.

What previous experience do you have that you’ll be able to apply to your job, should you be accepted?

Essentially every job I’ve had I’ve interacted with customers, in one way or another. The clients I service from my own firm, customers when I’m serving or bartending, teachers and parents at the schools where I’ve done I.T. support, and even kids at summer camps where I’ve been a science & technology specialist. Everywhere I’ve worked, performance has been the equivalent to how happy I keep my clientele, I have known no other way to ‘perform’. That’s to say that even when someone is sometimes (and not that I’d ever say it, but we both know it happens) being unreasonable, you have to adapt and maintain a professional attitude, and do whatever it takes to keep that person happy. Even if someone were to treat me poorly, I wouldn’t break or dip below that standard of excellence I’ve set for myself. I treat others the only way I would expect to be treated myself.

After this interview was done, I was left with a written test (one that exists for every position in the store) that asked me numerous remedial questions regarding computers. What’s a CPU? What’s the difference between ram and a hard-drive? Which of the following is not part of the iLife suite? Many static, simple questions that hardly test anything past basic understanding of components. It was maybe 15 simple questions along those lines, which you were given maybe 30 minutes to complete (probably took no more than 20 minutes). When I was done the test, I was greeted by the store manager, who went on a little schpeel about how much she loved Apple and how special they thought they were. This is where you’re listening a lot more than talking. You’re hearing about what a big deal Apple is and why it’s different and all this other stuff. At this point, you should be agreeing unconditionally and finding appropriate times to relate to what’s being said. It’s also at this point that you’re asked what you expect as compensation. You can throw a number out, but the reality is that a part-time Mac Specialist is going to be making anywhere from $12 to $15 an hour. You’re evaluated on your previous experience, your formal education, the impression you make on your manager, and made an offer based on how little he or she thinks you’ll accept. You leave the interview being told that you will be contacted further to see whether you’ll proceed or not.

When I received my initial offer, it was via a phone call a couple days after my interview. I accepted the compensation I was being offered right away (hourly wage of something between $13.40 and $13.60 an hour *wink* *wink*) not knowing what the norm was, or what caliber of people I was going to be working with. I also needed something quickly, and wasn’t in any position to be negotiating. I quickly realised that I was being underpaid for my capacity, and for the service that I provided in the store. I needed little to no training, and after a couple weeks, I was more informed on what I call the ‘importants’ than my colleagues who had been in the store for more than a year. I was already capable to do certain tasks that would require certain expertise, that few if not any other specialists had. I digress.

Apple Employees

After receiving the phone call with my offer and wage, I was also contacted by email to see when would be a good time to do the ‘core training’. The base knowledge all Apple employees are expected to have; history of the company, the major dates, and the revolution that Apple products led, so on and so forth. During the training, you receive little to no product training what-so-ever. I found that many of the people I was training with, weren’t familiar with anything Apple. One girl at Core claims she had never even stepped foot in an Apple store prior to being hired; this was a little shocking. They had been hired because of the kind of person they were. This isn’t to say that mistakes were made, there were a couple in the group who were so dense, and showed everyone it was clear they didn’t belong. It’s at this point that I realized it had nothing to do with where you had been, with what you could do; it was more of the person you are and the potential that you hold. Your attitude, your demeanor, your composure, all traits that are heavily favoured when applying for a non-technical position at Apple. They want individuals who are passionate, driven, and born to interact and make people happy. They want friendly, personable, and professional; traits I believe you’re more or less born with; the rest can be trained, but your instinct and personality is pretty programmed, difficult to change.

notes:

1) Genius’ (technicians), Family Room Specialists (iPod/iPhone repairs), Creatives (trainers) are the three positions where your previous technical experience may come in handy, otherwise, it’s not of much use. Apple believes they can teach the blank slate anything, as long as they’ve got the right attitude and correct personality.

2) You should know that I was hired individually. I revisited the store a couple times and made myself known as a person as opposed to one of the masses applying online. Sometimes, seminars are held which do hiring/interviewing in bulk; I’m not familiar at this point in time so I won’t speculate until I have more facts.

I’ll update the post if I think of more, but as usual you may contact me if you have any additional questions.