Who else thinks a job in the Apple Store would be soooo cool?

[question fear]

no retail job is a dream job, apple or not imo

in fact, id go as far and say i would rather not work in retail period

+1 x 10 divided by 100

Retail sucks ... period.

Well said, both of you. I worked retail throughout college, was in management at Borders for a few years, and the thought of ever returning gives me the shakes. I STILL get nervous going near a mall around Black Friday. My last Borders I worked in, every time I left the store to grab food I'd be terrified someone would grab me in the mall and ask for a book. I had nightmares for weeks about customers asking me questions while I slept, and if I didn't answer them I would worry about our service scores and sales marks. Bad times.

From what I see, you have to answer questions when people ask you them, and obviously make the products sound good so people buy them... Is there more?

Yes. Imagine that you have to be polite all day. Now imagine that the rudest, most obnoxious person you've ever met is harassing you...let's say about the price of macbooks. All you can do is stand there and say "I'm sorry you feel that way sir. Unfortunately our prices are set and I don't have control over that. Again, I'm very sorry." No matter what this guy does, all you can do is stand there and smile. It sucks a lot when you get that constantly.

Also sucky: Imagine there's 50 people all in line, all who need help, and it is you and two other people. There are products in the back room up to the ceiling, you can't get to any stock or even leave the sales floor because there's so many people who need assistance, and when you try to leave for your mandatory lunch hour 5 people insist on asking you questions as you go. Imagine this happens every day from Thanksgiving to New Years.

And if you want to be in management, imagine doing all that while working upwards of 12 hours a day, plus hiring, payroll, inventory control, and disciplining employees. And you're the last line of defense if someone quits, since you are salaried and don't get overtime.

That, my friend, is retail.

 

[djellison]

no retail job is a dream job, apple or not imo

in fact, id go as far and say i would rather not work in retail period

Quoted for truth.

 

[kabunaru]

I would want to be a Manager of an Apple Store if anything.

 

[Neil321]

I've worked in retail a few yrs back and like many others have stated it aint all its cracked up to be, anyway who wants work in a Apple store & listen to some prat moaning on about a dead pixel or the lid of their MBP doesn't sit flush, i don't

 

[toolbox]

I think it would be awesome! Were i work we sell macs, i love getting called out to the show room to sell one gives me a break from dealing with the spyware and virus removals.

 

[0098386]

A job in retail? No. I don't think it would be cool.

 

[question fear]

I would want to be a Manager of an Apple Store if anything.

Retail management is tough, no matter the store. Low points of management:

-Your butt on the line for all sales, inventory and customer service failures.
-Having to fire people.
-Being salaried and thus working consistently 12-18 hours a day during the holidays.
-Paperwork like you wouldn't believe for absolutely every single thing you do.
-Trying to stretch a payroll that is just enough to hire 2.5 people for a store that needs, at minimum, 6 people to run efficiently on any given shift.
-Being told to "figure it out" when you point out the reason behind decline in sales and service and huge backup on inventory is due to said 2.5 people doing the work of 6. Badly.


Doesn't matter what sort of store it is, you're going to face problems like that. It's not all rainbows and sunshine. Now, is it terrible? No. There are upsides too, but it's not ideal because it is apple. If anything it's probably worse because most Apple stores are in malls, and there's almost nothing more soul crushing than working in a mall during christmas.

 

[Next Tuesday]

I would love to work for an Apple store. Unfortunately i've applied at all 3 locations near me with no luck.

 

[rijiMacDij]

Sorry Dude......

Sorry to see that your dreams of being an Apple selling person are slowly being crushed to smithereens but I fear most of the comments here are undeniably true!

Retail for the most part totally sucks, period. However..... It largely depends on the amount and type of pressure exerted from above, and the class of customers that the store attracts.

You can be lucky and have a very switched on management team, in which case they are realists and make sure there are enough staff employed to keep the customers satisfied. I ran a petrol (gas) station on the weekend night shift and we were forced to SELL copious amounts of chocolate and coke to each and every customer that walked in the door. We were on video and our efforts were scrutinised by management later. Even though we were threatened with many things by the angry customers, including violence, we were still forced by management to annoy the same local customers, over and over, week in, week out, to buy coke and chocolate. Many of the customers began buying their petrol from another station 20 kilometres away to spite the owners of the place where I worked.

I left, too!

Apple may be much better, the products sell themselves, the ambience of the store is cool and relaxed. The whole Apple ethos of less is more seems to be reflected in the attitude of staff. Staff glide up to see how you are doing, and glide back to their desk as if they couldn't give a rats **** if you spent money in the store or not. So people are un-pressured and happy to shop there, and much less likely to harass members of staff.

I would say, give it a go. Go to a few Apple stores and find out what sort of training you must do to be considered for employment. Tell them how you feel, maybe you are the exact type they are looking for, a true Apple evangelist. Talk to some Apple employees, find out if they think it is great to work there of if it sucks. I believe individual stores will vary due to the personalities and skills of management.

 

[Schtumple]

Once you work in retail, you'll realise that you don't want to work in retail, ever...

Sorry man.

 

[GoCubsGo]

A job at Apple retail is a job where you generally don't have to know all that much about anything. If you're peppy it somehow compensates for knowledge. I call this the cheerleader effect. You see, the cheerleader effect is when a persons enthusiasm compensates for their lack of knowledge of what they're selling. The enthusiasm/knowledge scale balances out. You can only be so smart before you surpass the amount of sheer enthusiasm you can have for whatever you're trying to peddle. Likewise, you can only be so enthusiastic before you surpass how smart you are. You cannot be 100% of either because you must be able to at least be coherent when you speak and if you're too enthusiastic then you're just the crazy fool working at Apple.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

You are not true Apple fans!!!

sorry but not true. It more I could not stand to put up with the general public. Be able to work regular hours and oh yeah make a hell of a lot more than some one at the apple store makes.

I am willing to bet good money I make more than one of the general mangers at an apple store right now.....

Sorry you could not pay me enough to put up with retail. I done it just not worth it. Big time since I make around 1k a week salary fresh out of school, doing something I enjoy and do not have to put up with the general public.

Before you flame me. Get back to me in 10 years after college.... you are 14 right now so something like that seems cool. In 10 years you will think very differently. most of the people here saying you are wrong are all out of college and are older and much much wiser.

 

[synth3tik]

Retail jobs stink. Some jobs can be selling cool stuff, but your still dealing with customers. Apple customers are not immune for being jerks. The amount of work required in quite a few retail jobs is not worth the pay.

One thing I learned that would make me not ever want to work at an Apple store. When I was selling music equipment I felt it was a good job because I honestly like what I had to sell to people, but soon I started to loath my own equipment. After explaining to people how to use compression all day long the last thing I would want to do is add some compression to a drum track. I know If I ever were to work at an Apple store I would get kind of sick and tired of Apple and would want a break. Apple 24/7 can make a man crazy.

 

[Aea]

Absolutely not, retail work (as the previous posts pointed out) is hard and unrewarding. Add to that the low pay and it's an instant turn off. If you're young and can't get into another industry then it might be the best option, but you're only choosing the lesser evil here.

 

[bobfitz14]

I doubt I would be able to afford my $2500 MBP if I worked in an Apple retail store.

And, I resent that remark. I am a true Apple fan and, I am also a smart one.

i don't know if he means like he wants to work in an Apple Store until the day he retires, he's 14 and i'm assuming when he's eligible he would want a temporary job at an Apple Store.

 

[tsice19]

It would be a cool job while you are in high school or as a temporary summer job, but not forever.

And also, at least for me, the pay would probably only be enough to pay for the gas it takes to get to my nearest Apple Store!

 

[Hugh]

no retail job is a dream job, apple or not imo

in fact, id go as far and say i would rather not work in retail period

I wouldn't say that, I worked in retail for 15 years and loved it. It's what you make out of it. Can it be stressing,hard work (depending where you work), underpaid (again where you work) and high turnover? Yes,BUT! You get to meet all kinds of people. Some of them dumb as a nail to mean spirited people. Another good thing about retail is there are management and/or opens doors to opportunities.

It's up to you what working in retail is like. I have seen some people work in retail that just didn't want to and you can see it their work. You want to try to work where you think you will like (if you can).

So, working at an Apple store might be fun for you. Man I would love to work at an Apple store my self.

Hugh

 

[Queso]

No way. If I were to sell IT kit it'd be something far more interesting than end devices and application software