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 [...]]]> Update: There is a follow-up to this article, with comments and questions via e-mail answered! It may interest you to read it after you finish this piece.

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.

Apple Retail

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, but before you do make sure you read this.

Update: There is a follow-up to this article, with comments and questions via e-mail answered! It may interest you to read it after you finish this piece.

If you really valued this guide or have 5 minutes to spend reading www.marccizravi.com/donate/, much appreciated.

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First, you’ll need to make sure you have one of Apple’s laptops that [...]]]> One of the new refinements released with Snow Leopard, was Chinese character input. This does come standard with any install of Snow Leopard, but isn’t enabled – you need to take a couple further steps to have it functioning and ready.

First, you’ll need to make sure you have one of Apple’s laptops that is equipped with the glass trackpad (the one without any buttons), and running 10.6 or later.

Second, open your system preferences, and choose Language & Text option under ‘Personal’.

Under Language & Text, choose the ‘Input Sources’ tab, then on the list on the left hand side, scroll down and choose either Chinese – Simplified or Chinese – Traditional. You’ll notice that when you do this, the right hand side of the preferences window will show “Show/Hide Trackpad Handwriting Control + Shift + Space” no longer greyed out. This is the key combination you’ll use to toggle the handwriting input dialog.

After doing this, you can toggle the control window/handwriting input dialog by holding Control + Shift and then tapping the space bar. Once it comes up, you will write with your fingers on the trackpad. On the right hand corner of the dialog, you’ll see the computers best 4 approximations of what it is you’re trying to input, and you’ll choose accordingly. Since the trackpad is now dedicated to your handwritten input, you’ll have to imagine that the far right of the area is divided into 4 squares, and tapping either on the top, slightly high, slightly low, or on the bottom, will choose one of those four character approximations.

This same process is available on desktop Macs as well, but you need a third part input device.

As usual, I’ll explain Apple’s Mac OS X platform first. The two functions (searching system files and [...]]]> Recently I was looking to delete some files off my Mac, that were albeit being difficult to find. It was a little challenging, so I thought I’d put together the solution for you all to take advantage of.

As usual, I’ll explain Apple’s Mac OS X platform first. The two functions (searching system files and showing hidden ones) are independent.

Terminal Application within the Utilities folder (Mac OS X)

You can see the effect the two commands I describe has had it's effect, as files from my hard drive have been revealed.

1. defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
2. defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
3. Killall Finder

Once you have terminal open, you can copy paste (command + c, command + v) any of the commands above into the prompt. The command #1 (ending in TRUE) will write to a preference file on your computer, telling it to reveal ALL files, including hidden ones. Once you’ve typed that and hit enter, you’ll notice nothing will have actually changed. You’ll have to run the command #3, (Killall Finder) which will re-launch the Finder, and doing so with the new preference in place. You’ll see the immediate result, as some hidden desktop files become visible right away. You’ll be able to tell which files are otherwise hidden files because they’ll be a little translucent.

I should warn you that altering hidden/system files can lead to disastrous results, so be sure to proceed only with instructions from a professional, or if you absolutely know what you’re doing.

At any point, if you need to reverse the changes you’ve made, you can type command #2 (ending in FALSE), then #3 again to re-launch finder, and you’ll see all those hidden files disappear.

A Finder search in which system files are not included.

To search system files, you can first use spotlight (command + Spacebar), then click the ‘Show All’ function that offers itself immediately before any of your results. Once you do this, you’ll have a new Finder window open showing all the results of your search. You can also just open a new Finder window, and use your spotlight dialog in the top right to start a search, hit enter, and view the results.

Adding system files to your search comes next. Whenever you open a Finder window with search results, you’ll receive an option near the top right of the window which will act as a filter, or give you additional options for your searches. By default, you should see (Kind) is (Any) – you can change that to (System Files) (are included)

The same search, except with System Files INCLUDED

Windows XP

It’s out of character, but it’s actually a lot easier to reveal hidden files on the Windows platform (I swear, that’s all that’s easier when you’re using a PC). Open up a fresh window, and at the top on the menu bar you’ll see File, Edit and then eventually Tools. From the Tools menu, choose Folder Options.

Windows XP Folder Options

Windows Show Hidden Files & Folders

You’ll be happy to know that this process is identical on Windows Vista, and Windows 7, but from me to you – if you’re using either operating system, I’m sure you’ve been handed more problems than solutions, with a bloated operating system that eats at your computers resources, and demands more and more from your hardware.

Search System Files & Hidden Folders

1. Open a search dialog. You can do this by hitting F3 while having any Windows Explorer window open, or click Start > Search.
2. On the bottom left corner of the window you’ll see ‘Change Preferences’. (underlined in image)
3. Choose ‘Change files and folders search behaviour’. (image)
4. Choose ‘Advanced – includes options to manually…’ (image)
5. Finally, back to the ‘Main Menu’ of the search dialog. Check mark the ‘Search hidden files and folders’, and anything you search will now include your elusive files. (image)

Until next time… if you need more help, you know who to go to!

iPhone 3GS' Voice Control Screen

Old White MacBook Cracked Case (bottom)

This is the western digital smartware logo you may see on your computer when connecting your external drive.

note: If you don’t want a funny story, then check your AppleCare Status: https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do. Otherwise, read on.

During my time at Apple, I would often run into customers who would come into the store with malfunctioning equipment (either because they’ve caused a problem, or [...]]]>

AppleCare Protection Plan - Extended Coverage for your Apple Products

note: If you don’t want a funny story, then check your AppleCare Status: https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do. Otherwise, read on.

During my time at Apple, I would often run into customers who would come into the store with malfunctioning equipment (either because they’ve caused a problem, or hardware was defective). Ultimately, to get any sort of results, they would need an appointment at the Genius Bar. This would in turn have a Genius (aka technician) look at the product, make an assessment, and then present the solution. For someone who hasn’t voided their warranty with physical or water damage, it’s usually good news.

When someone would come in, I would ask what the problem was, to determine whether it was software or hardware related. Then, I would lookup their serial number on Apple’s website to see if the product was still covered under either limited warranty, or AppleCare. What’s funny here is, the fastest way I found to do so, was to google “check applecare serial number” to which I would always find a result to some random guy’s blog: www.macitguy.com. I’d be directly linked to Check your Applecare status by Serial Number, which would in turn give me the direct link to check, well, AppleCare status by serial number.

After a while, I stopped searching Google, and using the ever so helpful macitguy, I just started typing https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do, it was just easier (believe it or not).

Quicktips:
-Be really nice to the Genius’, they hold your fate in the palm of their hands. If for some reason you’re not happy or aren’t being treated the way you want, ask for a manager. If you’re not happy with the result of your appointment, ask for a manager. Even if you’re out of warranty, even if you’ve damaged the computer a little bit, there’s always a chance. Be professional, curteous, and show them you’re a loyal Apple customer, and you might get pleasantly surprised.
-Always arrive to your appointment with your data/personal information backed up. The Genius may need to wipe/restore your device; you would lose all your data without a backup. Or you would need to make a second trip after being told to go home and back your stuff up.
-Innocence, ignorance, and a gentle attitude. The three keys to success at the Genius Bar.

Fun fact:
The reason they call AppleCare “an extended coverage” for your product, as opposed to an extended warranty, is to avoid liability in the event that Apple goes under. If Apple declares bankcruptcy tomorrow and closes their doors, and you have 2 years left on your AppleCare coverage, and something goes wrong, you’re on your own :]

I’m always hearing friends, family, randoms, saying they wish they knew how to download movies or television shows off the internet (for free). While there are some pretty good sites for streaming – and many television [...]]]> note: Since this post has been put up, mininova has been shut down. www.thepiratebay.org, and www.torrentreactor.net are good alternatives.

I’m always hearing friends, family, randoms, saying they wish they knew how to download movies or television shows off the internet (for free). While there are some pretty good sites for streaming – and many television networks actually upload new episodes to their website after airing the night of, or soon after – it’s not the same as having a large library of all your favorite shows and movies available at your finger tips. The added disadvantage to all of these streaming sites (legal and illegal alike) is that they usually sacrifice quality; that, and the added loading period makes this quite the arduous process. As such, the following guide should set you in the right direction to start downloading to your hearts content.

Try to follow these steps as best you can; at the end of this article you will find video tutorials which will guide you through this process, from beginning to end.

Step 1: Downloading your Bit-Torrent client.

To download torrents, you’ll need a client (you) program that is used in conjunction with these files to download your content. www.utorrent.com (UTorrent) is the most popular Windows XP/Vista (PC) application, but if you’re a Mac OS X user, you’ll want to download www.transmissionbt.com (Transmission). For utorrent, click download and run the installation file, once everything is finished, you’ll find the shortcut on your desktop. For Transmission, download the *.dmg file, once it’s open, copy Transmission to your applications folder, and run it from that location.

Step 2: Downloading *.torrent files

mininova - The ultimate Bittorent source!

When you ‘bit-torrent’, all you’re doing is downloading & uploading from a network of users who have interests similar to your own. The way you tell your client program (uTorrent or Transmission) what it is you want to download, is by finding the proper ‘index’ or torrent file. So, if you want to join that network and start downloading, you’ll need the torrent file linking you to the network of that specific file(s). The best way of doing this, is going to ‘torrent websites’ which have search-able libraries ready for you to browse.

www.eztv.it

Two of the best full-content, public websites are www.mininova.org and www.thepiratebay.org. I don’t personally use the pirate bay, but it comes with strong acclaim, and if I can’t find what I’m looking for (rare) I’ll take a look there as well.

I personally download more T.V. shows than anything else, and to keep track of what’s new, I use www.eztv.it. EZTV is handy because they always list what new shows are airing on that specific day, and usually are quick to upload their torrents. They’re what you call a 0-day site (uploads are made a few hours after the episode airs), so if you miss an episode of House or Lost, you can log-on to EZTV a couple hours later, and find the torrent to download it.

A quick side-note: different torrent sites have different specialities. Some focus only on television shows, some just movies, and some do movies, software, books, and the whole lot. Some require registration, some require invitations, and some are just public to anyone and everyone. If you keep to Mininova and EZTV, then just ignore this note; once you become more of torrent guru, you can start exploring elsewhere, not that you’ll need to.

Step 3: Finding the best torrent.

Sometimes search returns won’t always bring you what request. Sometimes they’ll even bring you returns that you won’t want. Variations in files such as type, quality, size and language will become an issue if you’re not careful. You won’t want to download something with poor quality, or quality that exceeds your needs, or file types that are problematic.

• File type: Make sure you’re downloading files that are *.avi; don’t download *.mp4 or *.mov files – they’re usually pre-iPod formatted files with smaller resolutions which will look bad on a full-screened computer.
• File quality: You’ll find that some files will have jibberish in the file name. Things like 720p, HDTV XviD-LOL, AC3 5 1 are descriptions that are usually placed in the file name, referring to video or audio quality. 720p implies a higher resolution, XviD a codec being used to compress file size while maintaining quality, and AC3 5 1 referring to 5.1 surround sound capabilities.
• File size: There is an easy guideline for new television shows that are being uploaded daily: You should have about 175MB for a show that airs in a 30 minute time-slot, and 350MB for a show that airs in a 1 hour time-slot. For movies, it varies since some movies run for an hour and a half, and some run close to two or two and a half. Sometimes you won’t have much of a selection, and you’ll have to download a 700MB movie hoping it’s good quality – if it’s a shorter movie then chances are good, but if you’re downloading something like The Dark Knight – a movie that runs for more than 150 minutes, you’ll be sure to exceed 1GB for a good quality download.
• Language: Be careful not to download hastily, you might find that your file names are including suffix’ such as ITA, GER, RUS referring to the dubbing of audio – there’s no option to change language once your download has been made.

The last, but arguably most important criteria to consider when searching through torrents, is the amount of seeds (uploaders) and leechers (downloaders) to consider. The more seeds the more people you have uploading the file(s) for you to download. More means faster speed. The more users, the more ‘healthy’ the torrent is; you’re more likely to finish the transfer quickly thanks to higher speeds.

Adding to uTorrent

Download this torrent!‘ – on EZTV, just make a direct choice on the front page and it will start your download). The torrent files are tiny, (usually within 100kb) so they should download quickly, once that’s done, you execute (double click) the file and if you’ve installed and run your client properly once before, you should notice that your torrent client opens up automatically and runs the pop-up I’ve displayed, prompting you to add your new torrent to the queue.

Adding to Transmission

Once added, you’ll notice that after a couple minutes your download speed will start to climb; usually it’ll be slow to begin with, but as you connect to more and more peers (seeds and leechers), it will steadily increase.

One of the greatest limiting factors on your download speed, will actually be how much you’re currently uploading. It’ll seem a little contradictory to the process to be stingy, but you want to limit your upload speed while you’re downloading to get the best performance out of your internet. The simplest way to think about it, is to imagine your download and upload bandwidth as a large pipe, and if your upload is reaching it’s potential, there’s no room left for your download speed to do the same (upload takes priority in this scenario). To avoid limiting your download speed while you’re torrenting, you will want to limit your global upload speed. If you set your client to a global limit (usually to 20kb/s), no matter how many torrents you’re running simultaneously, your overall maximum upload will not surpass 20kb/s; your client will determine which torrent gets how much upload, and you won’t have to worry about it. It’s good practice to upload at least 20kb/s, I’ve noticed that when I’m more generous with my upload, my download will be rewarded by the tracker (the server that governs the connections between all seeds and leechers). To get a good idea of how much you can afford to upload without limiting your download, visit www.speakeasy.net/speedtest, choose a location close to yours, and observe the results.

Setting your limits in Transmission

To be safe, set your upload limit at least 10-20kb/s below your maximum if you’re only torrenting; if you’re using your computer and surfing the internet and doing other tasks at the same time, you’ll notice considerable lack of speed. Set your torrent download maximum 100kb/s below your potential, and upload 30-40kb/s below your potential, and you should be able to surf with minimal disturbance.

Setting your limits in uTorrent

I feel an imperative to encourage you to keep your torrents running after they have completed downloading. Once you reach 100%, you will become a seed, and peers that connect to you will only be those who have yet to complete the download themselves. Keeping your torrent running after completion, sustains this process and allows it to thrive – makes the content available to more people; after all, you would not have this content to share had someone not made it available to you in the first place. It’s good practice to seed until you’ve reached a 1.00 ratio (uploading and downloading equal). However, you should be aware of your monthly bandwidth allocation before you start mass-uploading or mass-downloading.

A couple years after the internet became a big deal, internet providers quickly realized that people were abusing file sharing, and they started limiting how much you can download and upload in a month (your bandwidth limit). For a novice user, this limit is hard to surpass; but for an avid torrent user – a whole different story. Make a good balance of give and take, make sure that you’re not surpassing your limits, but don’t be stingy and close your torrents as soon as they’re complete, a selfish world can’t sustain itself – remember the 1:1 ratio!

Step 5: Enjoying your content!

The last little part is just running your media. Sometimes there are special codecs, or you’re forced to download strange file formats for obscure movies that were encoded years ago. The most popular application to run various kinds of audio/video files, is called VLC media player. It’s supported on all Windows and OS X platforms, and is available on their website, www.videolan.org, in the downloads section.

Associating *.avi files with VLC in OS X

Once you’ve downloaded and installed the application (on Windows, just run the installer, and click next until you’re finished. On OS X, open the *.dmg file, and copy ALL of the contents into a folder named VLC in the applications folder), you’ll need to make sure that files are being associated properly. This means that when you’re double clicking a newly downloaded *.avi file, VLC launches automatically instead of whatever native software that would run these files. Lucky for you Windows users, VLC will automatically change the association, your job is done, feel free to enjoy whatever it is that you’ve downloaded; for OS X users, you’ll have to follow one last step:

Find the downloaded file, and open the file’s properties. You can do this by either right clicking, and choosing ‘Get Info’, or holding the Apple Key and then pushing I. Once this is done, under ‘Open with’ click the drop down, choose ‘Other…’ and find the VLC application, choose, then make sure before you close the dialog, hit “Change All” so you won’t have to do this for each individual file.

In addition to this guide, I’ve posted video tutorials which show me (from start to finish) setting up and downloading using the clients described above. If you’re on OS X click here, if you’re using Windows click here.

Hopefully this guide has been more than just useful for you; if you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact me.

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