Being an Apple retail store employee is a pretty unique experience for many reasons. But it’s not an easy to get a peek inside the life of a store employee and know what the process involves. Now an ex-employee has posted his/her recollections of the job, from the application process to quitting the job–and why. [Note--Material now removed at the writer's request.]
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jason
April 23, 2007 at 5:12 pm
ifo-ufo
April 23, 2007 at 6:02 pm
frank
April 23, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Hugmup
April 23, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Mac Guy
April 23, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Chef Stuber
April 23, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Joe B
April 24, 2007 at 1:30 am
Hugmup
April 24, 2007 at 4:27 am
ter
April 24, 2007 at 5:28 am
JK
April 24, 2007 at 7:51 am
Mark
April 24, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Macinjosh
April 24, 2007 at 5:52 pm
~bc
April 24, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Bill Gates
April 24, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Bill Gates
April 24, 2007 at 7:39 pm
chotty
April 25, 2007 at 1:52 pm
apple head
April 26, 2007 at 2:28 am
Mika Cooper
April 26, 2007 at 11:36 pm
JoeB
April 27, 2007 at 12:05 pm
test
April 27, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Billabong Mike
April 28, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Rob
April 29, 2007 at 6:08 am
winges
May 4, 2007 at 5:37 pm
Your comments...
Looks like he didn´t have a nice time working for Apple. I think recruiters are to blame, this guy was obviusly over-qualified for the job. The story doesn’t sound strange to me, I’ve heard of hundreds of mac specialists quitting their job in bad terms. Indeed I wonder why anyone would take that job. One answer comes to my mind: curiosity. So, if you already are familiar with Apple products don’t accept a Mac specialist position. You will end up hating it.
What did this guy expect when he got the job? he was hired to work in a retail store…did he expect to be enlightening the world with his great mastery of the english language?
Clearly the management of the store made a mistake when they hired too many people and couldn’t live up to the hours they promised this guy — if they promised him any in the first place.
e-mail from Apple legal department in 3, 2, 1….
During college and other hard times in my life, I worked for one drug store, two department stores, and Radio Shack. Two of those employers required lie-detector tests. My father owned a retail chain, and my mother owned a retail store.
This article sounds a lot like my experience with Radio Shack 21 years ago, except Apple is MUCH classier. Our training was in another city–they paid for the hotel. They gave us a list of a dozen things that would result in instant termination, an orientation into how rich we could become, information about company policies, role playing, and a concluding dinner at which the instructor got drunk.
Working for Apple is apparently a typical retail job, but the merchandise would be more fun to work with and 25% off a computer is a fantastic benefit.
Wow, if this guy is getting his PhD in English?!?! I pray for his future students. This is the longest bluthering on about something that should not taken nearly as long to discuss. There are numerous statements that are just not cohesive English, let alone have any point to the initial story. I worked at Apple Retail for 3 years. It had its ups and downs, but I took it in stride.
What a little whiney brat.
1. Unloading boxes from a truck for 4 hours isn’t “very hard work.”
2. If he would have had a degree in Business and not English, maybe he would understand how a retail operation works. You can’t give everyone the hours they want and make a profit.
3. If this guy knows apple so well, he should realize that at his time of employment, apple was selling at least 10x ipods then macs. Why is he surprised he is selling ipod accessories?
4. So he knows a lot about music and music apps. That doesn’t make him a good teacher. Why is he crying because his manager says he needs mentoring?
I hope he has to sell his iMac to cover his mom’s bills.
There are many similarities and frustrations expressed in this journal that I can align with as an Apple Store employee.
It seems that Apple presents the Apple Store as a picture-perfect idea and an opportunity that attracts many with dreams, passions and desires for not only incredible technology, but changing and making the world just a little bit better. The Apple Store, upon it’s conception, was an extraordinary idea. It, of course, means many different things to many people and everyone has their own idea of what the Apple Store is and what it should be. I personally, have always envisioned the Apple Store as a unique sanctuary, utopia or gathering place where the genius, sharp, creative, wise, knowledgeable and extraordinary human beings meet and in various ways, utilize incredible Apple technology to share, inspire and enlighten one another and make the world just a little better. Unfortunately, this extraordinary vision of my own and the dreams/interpretations of others have not and will never be fulfilled by Apple and it’s stores. Why? Because like many things in this world, at the end of it all, it’s only driven by profit. The Apple Store is only a polished floor with the nicest tables and four fancy walls where despite it’s great technology and products, it’s existence and presence is only for the sole purpose of being a sales outlet for the generation of a premium profit by salespeople. Also known as modern retail.
Despite it’s successes in design and creating a unique shopping experience, the Apple Store still, like the many great ideas of our time, only lives up to it’s potential in theory and in our imaginations - especially for it’s employees. I can most surely attest to that.
On a more positive and inspiring conclusion, as a dreamer and a can-do human being, I, much like Apple has already done to several industries, am almost inspired to take what has been done, re-design it, create it, revolutionize and realize my own dreams, only perfect them. If not I, than I can only hope someone else can.
Free the Apple Store.
Hey guys, it doesn’t matter whether you work for J C Penney, Bloomingdales, Radio Shack, Safeway, CVS, or the Apple Store, this is what all retail employment is like. You go through meaningless training. You are hired as a salesman, but you unload trucks. Your work schedule is unpredictable. You don’t have the same day off each week. Some people thrive on this environment, others do not.
I can empathize. If you spent a long time qualifying yourself for one profession, only to find yourself building a resume in another, it can be an unsettling experience, no matter who your employer is. An English major looking for a teaching career is not going to be happy working in any retail business, let alone the Apple Store.
This article is not really about the Apple Store, it is about what it’s like to be derailed from your intended career path–and the story would have been substantially the same if he had been detoured into the landscaping business.
Like one previoue poster said, the Apple store, is after all a retail store and will and must function what it is supposed to do, ie sell stuff! Its not going to be a great workplace for someone with a degree in the wrong area!
But not promoting hard sell is unique to Apple stores and having that freedom for people to roam round is genius! the amount of thoughts/dreams/ideas going on inside the heads of those “free-rangers” is definately not measurable. and that’s what make Apple ticks! Because these people, some, not all, will come back in the future and make a purchase one day, be it online or at another retail store. Now this aren’t going to happen in a Best Buy/Gateway store.
It might be Apple, but It’s still retail, get over it. Attach rates are important to Apple, if you don’t like it then don’t work there. Hours are tied to sales, if you don’t like it, don’t work there. Looks like this guy was always thinking that he could manage the store much better and got on everybodies nerves for second guessing everything. Good thing he left.
Obviously this guy is angry at the world in general, never worked hard in his life, and expects that everything should come to him on a spoon.
If some lazy loser had a winge about some two bit clothing store who would care, they would say glad he left. Just because it is Apple, it gets a mention. What a waste of time.
Looks like he was looking for 15 mins of fame at the expense of a world brand. One of the drawbacks of the Internet.
Retail in Apple Store would be a lot more exciting than many other chains, but at the end of the day, retail (like the Food&Bev industry) is a hard slog with few rewards.
I obviously don’t know that guys personally, but it sounds like his attitude may have been to blame. Apple is very focused on their employees personality rather than actual skill level.
Skill can be taught, but you cant teach personality. Sounds like that’s why they stuck him in the back.
Wow, that article was possibly the least coherent piece of drivel ever published here. He’s “a Bachelor of English” yet he couldn’t even consider editing his writing? And he’s going for a PhD? With this guy’s level of commitment: good luck.
I’ll say that he does touch upon the Apple Store universals: it’s is retail, bleh, and it has it’s inherent issues, managers.
But wow, this piece doesn’t reach the normal quality I expect from this site, which every Apple employee I know reads often (I, too, am a former Appler).
Okay, so let’s set this story straight. When you open a store and go through the process of unloading the boxes, it’s not manual labor. It’s your first opportunity to work with your team, and there is a real sense of satisfaction that comes from the end of the week when you look back and realize, “Wow, we built this store up from nothing.” Sorry that you had to go through the pain of unloading two FedEx trucks, but hey, when you sold your $10,000 PowerMac with monitor (hey dude, they’re called displays) and Adobe software, did you moan and groan about having to put it on a handtruck?
Second thing, as being someone who did work their way up from a part time position, it’s all about how much you give and put into the job. Kinda hard to believe that I started as a Specialist and now, while I’m not going to tell you my job title, I will tell you that I do work 40 hrs / week… it is simply a matter of what you see your own goals are and how you’re going to make them happen. It is possible.
Third thing… and really this one is just a personal rant. You’d think that for somebody with the education standards that you have, that you’d find a more appropriate way to quit your job instead of just not showing up for your shifts. Really that’s kind of running away, isn’t it? Too bad you really can’t put Apple on your resume now.
Alas, I guess you did find a way to solve the situation…. moaning and groaning yet again in your post. Well take it from somebody who does work for an Apple store because they want to…. it’s not all you complain it to be. Hope you can learn how teamwork works…. or just graduate and hang your diplomas on your cubicle wall…. nobody else is going to come see them.
And with a personality like his, can you blame Apple for putting him in the back?
Slightly interesting insight into Apple retail BUT… what an ANNOYING journey.
More Starbuck’s and varied minutia, pleeez!…. Oy.
Working for a flagship, we actually do not encounter any of that. I’m happy your gone, I wouldn’t wanna be the coworker of a shmuck like you anyway….powerbook? Too long ago.
A professor of English for more than fifteen years, I feel qualified to observe that this ex-employee, though no David Foster Wallace, writes much less embarrassing prose than those who presume to criticize him. Stumblebum censoriousness such as the following — which refutes itself deliciously — never loses its [notice the lack of apostrophe, joe b and bc] value as entertainment:
This is the longest bluthering on about something that should not taken nearly as long to discuss. There are numerous statements that are just not cohesive English, let alone have any point to the initial story.
. . . .
I’ll say that he does touch upon the Apple Store universals: it’s [sic] is retail, bleh, and it has it’s [sic] inherent issues
I’m tempted to make a remark about the domiciliary choices of stone-throwers, but it occurs to me that maybe those guys were writing like non-native speakers of English as a joke. Clever!
Personally, I sympathize with the original author’s disillusionment and sense of unfulfilled promise, though I certainly wouldn’t have abandoned a job, as he did, without giving reasonable notice. Apple owes much of its success to seeming not to be a mammoth money-grubbing bureaucracy. Even employees can be taken in by its [no apostrophe] pose and bitter when the scales fall from their eyes. Of course, the setting for this story could equally well have been any gigantic bureaucracy — Apple, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, or the Department of Homeland Security. But Apple’s continual and very public antibureaucratic posturing makes it an irresistible target.
It’s [apostrophe] true, though, that some of those above do have a literary leg up on the original author: those who write comments like “what a moron,” “I wouldn’t wanna be the coworker of a shmuck like you anyway,” and “I hope he has to sell his iMac to cover his mom’s bills [for cancer treatment]” do manage to reveal more — with far greater concision and evocative power — than the ex-employee does about human moral insufficiency and viciousness. [IFO-Whoa!]
Wow, this has garnered quite a bit of attention. Pretty mixed reaction. However, I don’t think anyone came here for an English lesson or a grammar course - especially from an English snob and a couple of Apple Store jerks.
Keep it simple. Keep it related.
some people shouldn’t be posting to this site, especially when their name is blatantly obvious
This dribble sounds like something that would come out of a poor white trash town like Reno, NV.
However, this guy’s rant does have some important life lessons that should be pointed out. First of all, any type of degree in English is completely and utterly useless unless you’re planning on being a teacher from the outset and even at that, it’s still not very helpful. Secondly, this guy is a great example of what happens to people to lack real ambition and focus in life. You become a Liberal activist, middle-aged bookworm who shoots for degree after degree that might bring meaning to their life, but probably still lives at home and occasionally frequents the local brothel. Thirdly, attitude is everything and if you think you’re too good for something, it’s probably that something that is too good for you. Oh, last but not least, get the hell out of Reno, NV if you ever want to do anything with your life!!! It’s a two bit town with nothing to offer but low class gambling, cheap buffets, and crime.
Anything else you’d like to complain about? Was the coffee at Starbucks too hot and you want to sue them because you lacked the common sense to let it cool before you sipped it? Did you get cut by a book’s sharp pages and want to sue the publisher for making a defective book?
Geez, welcome to the world of retail at ANY store. What did this guy actually expect? I had to work 3 different retail jobs during my college years (2 were at national electronics chains) and they were all essentially the same. Not sure why anyone would think Apple would be any different. They are there to make money and run a business after all, not to be some lazy know-it-all’s platform.
I don’t believe it.
