If you know a lot about the products then i would say to get a job at AppleCare. That is where I work and if you know anything about the products then you are golden! Most of us had no clue about anything Apple when we first started there.
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Apple Retail Store Employee on Product Launches, Store Culture, and Customers
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If you know a lot about the products then i would say to get a job at AppleCare. That is where I work and if you know anything about the products then you are golden! Most of us had no clue about anything Apple when we first started there.
A couple thoughts I've had....
It's become clear for awhile that Apple retail is more interested in smiling faces that are happy to tell people how great MobileMe is and too stupid to know when a refresh will be.
As much as they're riding the cult-like atmosphere they perpetuate, people are realizing from people like you and me that they're being up-sold and not being helped by the people that really know the products and want to help rather than cheerlead.
It's become clear for awhile that Apple retail is more interested in smiling faces that are happy to tell people how great MobileMe is and too stupid to know when a refresh will be.
As much as they're riding the cult-like atmosphere they perpetuate, people are realizing from people like you and me that they're being up-sold and not being helped by the people that really know the products and want to help rather than cheerlead.
There's nothing more cringeworthy or embarrassing than being high-fived, whooped at or applauded for buying a piece of consumer electronics... luckily they don't do that in Holland. Yet.
I don't think that's fair, for a couple of reasons.
1) It's not that easy to 'just find another job', particularly if you're severely overworked, and in the case of some stories on that site, working until close one day, and back in again at opening the next day.
2) With all respect, you work in a creative environment, presumably for yourself? Either way, that's a hugely different work environment to an Apple retail store, and so it's not really fair for you to judge. 'Walk a mile in their shoes', as the saying goes. If you already have, then fair enough, but it doesn't really show in that post.
More generally, I've worked at a very similar store before - 'Game', a UK based retail videogame store. The focus on metrics - selling associated products, to a predetermined minimum percentage of the total hardware sale - is just.. soul destroying. It honestly is horrible. It generally involves lying to the customer, knowing you're costing the company repeat business. That the company doesn't take your concerns seriously is hugely irritating - common sense would suggest that if you treat your customers nicely, they'll continue to return for years.
Selling £500 of console and games in one sale is great - you'd expect to be rewarded. To then go to the stockroom and have your manager confront you about only selling 4% accessories rather than 13%, and complain that you didn't sell an extended warranty after having the customer become confrontational due to your attempts, sucks the life out of you.
I was very lucky, in that I have a lot of self belief, confidence in my ability, and a good network of former colleagues and bosses that could offer me places until my placement year in university came around. So I left without another job to go, and picked up work within a week. That was pre recession, of course. There are people who HATED that job still there, working a half hour before their shift and a half hour after, all unpaid.
So yeah, I see where they're coming from.
You kids really need a cold turkey. "Knowing" Macs makes you special? Really? I've lost count on how many hard- and software platforms and operating systems I know, from machines with only 1 KB RAM up to IBM mainframes, and Mac OS and OS X being just two of all those systems - and rather unimportant platforms, too. Macs still have close to zero significance where I make my money, they're just nice home computers, that's all.
So what's again so special about being a "Mac Genius"? Is it this old "being the one-eyed among the blind" thing?
I think the point is, Apple likes to pretend like they're different and customer oriented. For people who know their stuff, it's been clear that they're just like every other piss poor retail outlet. How many times I've seen them selling old models for full price when new machines have already been released and talking up MobileMe etc when even corporate acknowledges its uselessness...
They've spent awhile with the "good guy" image. That they're not isn't news to most of us, but it's making its way out by people in the know that want true good service.
They've spent awhile with the "good guy" image. That they're not isn't news to most of us, but it's making its way out by people in the know that want true good service.
I have a hard time seeing Lion get released this summer. No beta six months before release? Don't think so. Maybe in the fall or early next year.
Exactly. Working in a store is a crap job, whether it's Apple or anywhere else. This "interview" just makes the job sound even more mind crushingly dull.
I've just left Apple yesterday after 2 and a half years of soul destroying. So relieved to be out of there & I wouldn't recommend working for the company in the slightest. Its all wrapped up to be amazing during interview process. It's worse than a normal retail job. It feels soo wrong to post this haha but sooo good they don't own my ass anymore.
Ditto - some of the geni-i were expected to stay after their shifts even when they are salaried and get no extra pay for the time after their shift. It's not cool.
A lot of self esteem gets knocked in that place and unfortunately not everyone is as confident as us and they don't have the self belief to get out of that place.
I had been applying for jobs since last year & only got a job offer just after christmas. I'm off abroad though now so its not much use. Its really hard in the UK to get any job at the moment.
Theres so much talent in that place and its wasted, I know most of my managers hate their job.managers actually love the fact that your leaving and they respect you for it. Even they know it's ********.
Too many people forget that it IS just another shop surrounded by other shops. Apple were a good company to work for pre-iphone. Now it is just a phone shop. The turn over in staff makes it impossible for everyone to know all the processes which makes it hard for experienced staff members as they get offloaded with the crap.
Too many false promises in the stores too.
I'm glad to be out personally & hope fellow members of staff get out too as their talent is wasted.
You obviously did not read the story about the girl who had a miscarriage and her treatment.
Ex-employee
I used to work at one of the stores in Pittsburgh PA a few years ago when I was in college and I have to admit that it was easily the most rewarding and fun retail experience that I ever have had.
Firstly, I was only working the sales floor for a few months as many new hires do. New hires usually are placed in a seasonal or interim employment period to evaluate their effectiveness on the sales floor. Then if you make it, you are hired onto a higher level. Being my first computer sales job, I admit I didn't do the best in the world, but I did learn a lot from other employees and management. I then moved on to inventory which was still just as rewarding and helpful for learning the products and building friendships there.
Their motivation on sales was something to be admired really. Their focus on the what the customer actually needs rather than what you want them to need was really refreshing since there are no commissions to worry about. The driving factor was building that rapport with the customer that brings them back. Even if you don't make a sale that day or suggest an alternative to Apple products to better suit the customer's needs (which is a common suggestion too and not frowned upon).
The only cult-like experience is just that they expect that you know EVERYTHING about the products you are selling and to be excited about them, which any company expects from their sales team. Nobody was one of those annoying Apple fanboys/fangirls that say their product are far superior to the competition either.
Then I went on to work at CompUSA since it was closer to school, which was basically the polar opposite to that experience at Apple. Don't get me wrong, CompUSA was a great store (and I really miss having them around here), but their philosophy to sales was drastically different. Instead of getting the customer what they need, you HAD to keep the sale going and give them what you want them to need, even if they don't need it. Which is a more common retail practice since they work on commissions. So to go from one end of the spectrum to the other like that was almost sickening, but that's just how it works. Not to mention that once you started getting those little perks in your pay, it wasn't so bad...lol.
Overall, working for Apple was totally worth it. I learned a ton about the products that I still use daily, built friendships that have lasted since my time there, and continue to be able to use that experience whenever people ask me what kind of computer they should get. Oddly, I've sold more Macs and iOS devices to people now that I don't work there than I did when I was working there.
I used to work at one of the stores in Pittsburgh PA a few years ago when I was in college and I have to admit that it was easily the most rewarding and fun retail experience that I ever have had.
Firstly, I was only working the sales floor for a few months as many new hires do. New hires usually are placed in a seasonal or interim employment period to evaluate their effectiveness on the sales floor. Then if you make it, you are hired onto a higher level. Being my first computer sales job, I admit I didn't do the best in the world, but I did learn a lot from other employees and management. I then moved on to inventory which was still just as rewarding and helpful for learning the products and building friendships there.
Their motivation on sales was something to be admired really. Their focus on the what the customer actually needs rather than what you want them to need was really refreshing since there are no commissions to worry about. The driving factor was building that rapport with the customer that brings them back. Even if you don't make a sale that day or suggest an alternative to Apple products to better suit the customer's needs (which is a common suggestion too and not frowned upon).
The only cult-like experience is just that they expect that you know EVERYTHING about the products you are selling and to be excited about them, which any company expects from their sales team. Nobody was one of those annoying Apple fanboys/fangirls that say their product are far superior to the competition either.
Then I went on to work at CompUSA since it was closer to school, which was basically the polar opposite to that experience at Apple. Don't get me wrong, CompUSA was a great store (and I really miss having them around here), but their philosophy to sales was drastically different. Instead of getting the customer what they need, you HAD to keep the sale going and give them what you want them to need, even if they don't need it. Which is a more common retail practice since they work on commissions. So to go from one end of the spectrum to the other like that was almost sickening, but that's just how it works. Not to mention that once you started getting those little perks in your pay, it wasn't so bad...lol.
Overall, working for Apple was totally worth it. I learned a ton about the products that I still use daily, built friendships that have lasted since my time there, and continue to be able to use that experience whenever people ask me what kind of computer they should get. Oddly, I've sold more Macs and iOS devices to people now that I don't work there than I did when I was working there.
Not very thoughtful, I'd say. Every single store in the world wants employees who sell stuff, and one way to sell stuff is a smiling face and telling people how great the products are. Telling customers when new products will arrive doesn't help selling at all, because the new products are not in the store yet. Therefore knowing when new products will arrive can't help an employee doing his or her job, it can only distract them.
And you know _nothing_ about new product releases. You read rumours. Most of them are nonsense and / or wishful thinking. Reasonable people don't actually _care_ about new product releases. Either the goods in the store are worth the money to them, so they buy, or they are not worth the money, so they don't buy. Most people don't have this irrational fear that there might be a new product out soon and then they will feel bad or cheated.
And lastly, where do you get this "cult-like atmosphere" thing from? If you are seeing "cult-like" behaviour when it doesn't exist, then maybe something is wrong with your perception? Or you are just repeating the same tired old nonsense from people who cannot understand why Apple is successful?
You do realize that when you are salaried, that is normally expected? You are paid for your skills and to get the job done.
For the same reason they aren't astronauts or ballerinas. It's this terrible thing called reality, where you work in a job you can get and have the qualifications for, and where you have certain expectations. You don't see people with law degrees lining up to work at Apple Retail for the same reason they don't apply at Target. As for the whole thing about customers on one side and managers on the other, that's every single sales-related retail job in existence. Even serving tables in a restaurant works the same. Why do people do it? Because then they have a way to get money despite it not owning the magic free money tree that every spoiled moron thinks they deserve.
1. As a salaried employee who works overtime EVERY WEEK, cry me a river.
2. If you are so "talented" and it's being "wasted" then why haven't you had better luck finding anything or even getting considered for another job? Why are you abroad at all when you focused on only a new job? The answer? Because you want it both ways.
You sound like someone who needs to seriously speak to some grandparents and great-grandparents, and then learn a few things about REAL struggles. As for your belief that you deserve better than you have? Get over it, as there are people who need the job enough to be glad to have it.
I think Matti was just mentioning how certain employees feel about their jobs. You are so right in your assessment though. There where plenty of times I referred customers to PCs, spec'd out some HP and Dell systems right in the Apple store and urged them to consider other alternatives. I did that usually for gamers that planned on getting a Mac only to run Windows on it, and certain customers that were just interested in using Firefox and Office for Mac . . . and NOTHING else Mac specific.
The managers and other employees didn't take that too kindly.
We should, but the only thing we got was accolades and a pat on the back from management. We usually never got even that unless we were consistent with out numbers, and all of them to boot.
If we didn't hit the goal on Apple Care, Mobile Me, and One to One, then you got nothing, or a face full of ****** managers telling you how YOU personally were bringing down the numbers for the entire store.
The real messed up part comes when a sleaze ball employee pushes Mobile Me on a customer, lies to them about the magic fairies that are in the box that magically fix your computer, and sends them home with misinformation only to have the customer come back to return MM and find out that once it's opened you can't return it. (for the most part)
Then, it gets even worse when you're the Specialist that has to endure the wrath of the customer on one end demanding their money back (usually in a prick fashion) on one end, and the wrath of the managers pushing to to convince the customer that MM is the next best thing to God, when all you want to do is return the POS service and get back to your life.
Sorry for the rant.
I don't know if anyone mentioned it, but the sole incentive for selling Mobile Me went to the managers. They got the pay increase, not the Specialists. The only incentive for Specialists was to keep the managers and other douche employees out of your face.
i worked at retail on a full commission. Any large box retailer is going to have a culture like this and yes it is sales, so it is always about add ons and meeting your numbers and selling protection plans. Always about the protection plans.
that being said i always like seeing sites like the one above. People can call them whiny, but the truth is it gives an outlet. I don't care what retail you work in, the bonding employees have develops over complaining/gossiping about the job. And yes, we do make fun of customers...you have to to get through the day.
glad i'm done with retail though...hopefully.
that being said i always like seeing sites like the one above. People can call them whiny, but the truth is it gives an outlet. I don't care what retail you work in, the bonding employees have develops over complaining/gossiping about the job. And yes, we do make fun of customers...you have to to get through the day.
glad i'm done with retail though...hopefully.
Typical. We could make such a website for every retail company on the planet. IF any of those stories are actually 100% true, sucks for them. But this is what happens. The USA, for example, started with labor unions to prevent crap like this, eventually the govt simply dictated what "minimum" conditions and pay should be. Most of those stories are either 100% fake or exaggerated.
That sounds like cruel and unusual punishment. But probably true. I did my time at a grocery store, that was all I needed to get out of retail.I think that every single person should spend some time working in retail (whether it's at Apple or McDonald's, it really doesn't matter). You learn a lot about dealing with annoying and demanding customers and hopefully the experience helps you not to be one
No ****. Whiny 20 year olds don't seem to understand life. I've worked 4 days so far this week, one of them was 8 hours, the others were longer. Salaried people have a JOB to do, not HOURS to work. Do your job, however long it takes.
Those that can't increase productivity are recycled. Those touch screens can feel you too.