Working for Apple

The Garage
#1

I was wondering if there were any people here who actually work for Apple or have worked with them in some sort of capacity?

I am applying for a position with Apple (At Home Advisor) and I just had my phone interview. I feel there were some areas I could have done better regarding a couple of the tech support scenarios. I’ve genuinely never had a problem with my Mac for the past three years so I wasn’t certain of the procedure to fix it. I felt as though I might have done better had my laptop hadn’t worked so well all this time.

Excuses aside. Is there anyone here who has gone through the Apple application process? Were you as nervous as I am right now?

Apple At Home Advisor
#2

Never had and experience like this, but your reactions are perfectly normal.

A remote interview has a lot of pitfalls, and being emotionally involved can take us to talk way too much or too little.
I really do hope the interviewer and his staff will consider analytically your interview and work.

All the best!

#3

We’ve covered this before, for exactly the same role. Funny, you’d think that Apple retail or At Home Advisors (or alternatively, AppleCare support) are the only Apple jobs available to regular folks or something…

No one who is currently working for Apple will admit that they’re doing so, due to the Apple’s rules for its employees. Pretty sure that goes for At Home Advisors, AppleCare support staff, and Apple retail workers.

1 Like
#4

I did it and got the job, I only lasted 4/5 months as it just didn’t suit me.
I hated working from home, my background is pubs and clubs, I like being around people, so it wasn’t as I thought it may have been. ( Easy in hindsight)
The training is sensational, the support and back up from team leaders ( Springboard) and managers is awesome.
HR and various departments are non stop emailing and following up on training, they make you feel you’re important and appreciated.
Staff benifets, like health insurance, gym membership, dog minding and product discounts are all very generous.
If it suits you, it’s a good job.
They look over your shoulder though non stop, when you’re training they monitor you to the second, your break finished at 12.00.00(ffor example)they want a keyboard response at 12.00.01.
Good luck, there are plenty of worse companies to work for, so you know you’re with a good one.

3 Likes
#5

I am a bit of an autonomous worker by nature so I’m hoping the role will be suitable. I think it will.

A friend of mine also does it and it suits him very well.

I’m enthusiastic for the role since I’ve done a lot of at-home work before and I didn’t mind it. I did miss the face-to-face atmosphere of working in a store from time to time though, but I’m all about making the position work best for me. On paper it gives me complete agency over my work/study/social life for the foreseeable future so it’ll be interesting to see if it works in practice.

#6

I got through the first round and was invited to a large public building in a major city that I’m not legally allowed to disclose. I’ll just say they don’t hold any bars, and its the usual clap and cheerathon. Then they sit you down and run you through a couple of videos on what it is to be at Apple and you finish with a group exercise this is the major challenge. I feel I let myself down with a casual joke that could be taken two ways, while I meant it as an endearment to who I was working with I don’t think I passed the test of corporate standards and I didn’t get a follow up invite.

“I think I’m just going to be kneeling”

“Hi kneeling”

Nobody likes a smart alack and it wasn’t my best representation of my self in hindsight.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other if someone doesn’t want to work with me then its never going to work out anyway. They want to see how you interact and then they want to see how you react to a usual mock business scenario “sell me this pen” or whatever it is. It wont always be that but that’s one scenario. The answer is always the same with any pitch:

“This pen will make my customers life easier and they will use this pen to be more productive than they can be with any other pen, and it will lead them to riches and glory.”

Like everyone else I wanted to work there because of the conditions not because of the pay. What you get on the floor there is little more than the same entitlements as someone who works for Coles/Woolworths. Its worth pursuing even if its for the rather interesting and long-winded interview process. Even if you make it to stage three there is no guarantee you’ll be selected. Enjoy the process.

I’ve interviewed with other high profile companies and the Apple interview process has to be one of the more interesting ones. However, a lot of the tech companies are getting into this meet and greet excercise based scenario so you might as well get used to it if you intend to do interviews for other like interested companies.

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#7

Wow, I only had phone/ FaceTime interviews, nothing major at all really to be honest, I thought it was fairly easy and straight forward.

Glad I didn’t do scenario based interviews in groups, my smart assed sense of humour would have me removed no doubt, haha.

#8

Off topic but my job interview for my current job (I’m a sys admin).

“Pop round for a beer and a chat” two hours and a few beers later “want a job?”

1 Like
#9

I interviewed for a genius position though most of the retail floor starts out about the same and they like to internally recruit people who they think will give customers great support. That’s one of the interesting things about Apple you don’t necessarily have to have the previous experience in working in IT as a tech to become a genius, or experience as a graphic designer to become a creative, or whatever else they do a lot in house training and they’ll put you through the course work to become an apple specialist once you’re actually employed there.

Its a lot like the business model for Coles/Woolworths, McDonalds, and etc. They do a lot of internal recruiting and you will most likely end up on the floor at some point doing sales if you apply to a retail position. Your limitation is not where you start out at, you could end up starting on the floor doing sales and end up as a store manager eventually.

Apple is the definition of a culture company and they like everything “just so,” which has its pluses and minuses. They hire from just about any background/degree qualification so you can get your foot in the door but it’s super competitive with all of the usual clap happy type individuals that will line up around the blocks to buy a new product on zero day, and they all want to work for Apple even if retail isn’t exactly “Apple” itself, but a nice big range of franchise stores.

You would have the most fun working at Apple Retail if you were one of these people who likes buying new Apple tech every time they release something new and shiny and if you like a fast paced environment where things change every second. You would also like it if you gain reward from seeing other people achieve their goals. I enjoyed the process of learning about Apple and applying for a position Unfortunately I didn’t get in. Sometimes it takes two or three applications before you get selected. You can get their if your persistant enough.