Working at Apple Inc — Reviews by Employees

I loved working at Apple. Unfortunately, the corporate office on the mainland decides who managers will be and where they will work. I had a horrible manager, who has since been demoted. She was a horribly egotistical, assbackwards bitch who couldn't manager her way out of a piece of dog shit. Ever since I left the company, I found out that most of the people I started with have since quit. Many great managers and assistant managers have since quit as well, thanks in large part to horrible corporate decisions to enforce involuntary store relocation. What a shitbag company. I loved Apple and I miss my co-workers, but Steve Jobs is a fucking asswipe who could give a shit about standing by his employees.

my name is yevgeniy zhukov and i started working for apple in thru a company named volt. so i started working there bak in 08 thru 09 i had a contracts for a years but ended in 11 months. any ways this company was goood i really liked working here and i would of probably still kept workin here if i was a regular. the pay was $10.50 since i worked thru volt they took out 5 bucks each hours so i regualry got payed like $15.50 but volt took out 5 bucks. so yea people were great here. security was pretty good. so yea if they would of gave me same position i would continue working here and move up. since i shipped i phones and i pods it was important job for me and for them. so yea :)

I worked for the Macintosh Division in the CPU Software group. I saw lots of changes over the 14 years I was there.

Pay - Always near the top. Talent and performance are recognized with salary, bonus and stock options.

Respect - Most managers treat people well -- there are always a couple of people that are less respectful, but generally you can could on being respected by management and your peers.

Benefits - Only rated this a 3 since they took the sabbatical away -- and generally there has been a decline in benefits over the last 10 years. I think it's pretty good compared to others in the industry however.

Job Security - While Apple does change direction and eliminate certain groups occasionally, there is opportunity to move to projects that are more inline with company goals. You just need to be aware if the future outlook is shifting.

Work/Life Balance - This can be pretty good, but so many of your co-workers are really driven/work centric you have some peer pressure to lean toward more work. I rated it a neutral, because I found myself with the work/life balance a bit too much to the work side.

Career Potentional/Growth - All job openings are posted for internal applications.

Location -- Cupertino Campus is very nice -- but crowded Silicon Valley (with high housing cost) wasn't ideal for me. I rated this a -3

Co-worker Competence -- Can't find a better team anywhere.

Work Environment -- Never lacking for whatever you needed. Great cafeteria!

I used to work for Apple in Hawaii. My co-workers were smart, fun and great people. Now the management staff was a whole different story. One of the Senior Managers at one location was HORRIBLE!! She had so much emotional baggage. She was running the store when it first open because the company at that time had no SM. She would never be on the sales floor, she would always be in the office sending out emails or just hanging out. She would sometimes leave early in fact she left early a lot and left the other managers to hold down the fort while she got paid to hang out at home. She would act as tho she was high and mighty and thought she was gods gift to men. She was just a basket case. Then when they finally decided to put in a SM. She to was horrible. To your face she acted like she liked you but behind your back she would talk S*** about you. She thought she was the S***. She always spoke about how good she was and how the Marketing Manager just so depended on her. She lived and breath Apple so much that her home life was like she was still the SM and her poor bf was just one of her workers. She would try to trick employees into quitting or try to find ways to get rid of her staff. She would even do things againts company policy to keep the ones that she liked. To get promoted it's all about kissing her A**. If you did and prise and worship her you could get somewhere in the company but if not your on her s*** list. Once they decided they don't need you they will find ways to get rid of you. Let's face it the stores are run by managers that started with the company so if you were not there for day 1 your pretty much not liked. They have new SM running one of the stores. The only reason she is running it is because she was one of the ASM that was with the company when it frist open. Is she a good SM? HELL NO! She does not know anything but because she is loved by the Marketing manager she got hired back. The person who should have took the job was a male manager who was more the awesome but because he is a guy and didn't start with the Hawaii stores he got shot down. Keep in mind this guy was a DM for Jamba Juice and was excellent all away around while this new SM was on a beauty pagent girl and work for the company like 6 yrs ago as an ASM for a bit. The Market manager is all about being the puppet master. That's why 2 SM's and the Business Manager were with her from day 1. She can control them and make them do what she wants. They don't care about their employees all they care about is making money. Yes, it's about making money but careing about your staff would bring in more $$$'s. I feel sorry for the other managers that work hard and try their best only to be told they suck at what they do and they need to put more efford into it. You know your SM's are bad when they sit in the office and watch you on the security cameras, text you and email when your all in the same buildling because they are to lazy to walk out of the office. They will watch you at home to see if your doing your job and text you to find out why this is going on or what is going on and why your not making sales etc.. It stinks because Apple as a company is GREAT but the Hawaii Managers Denae, Darcy and Donnovan are HORRIBLE! I really think if anyone from corp. ever reads this they should really check up on their Hawaii market. The new SM Jenn is HORRIBLE as well according to her staff. To bad they don't live up to the Credo of Apple the really think it's a joke. They only act to respect their staff but behind close doors they don't. They have some staff memebers that they use to spy on the staff when they want to find out something or anything that's going on. I left the company because I knew how unfair, and how they didn't respect anyone. It's to bad beacuse the Assistant Managers are all wonderful and well as the Senior Assistant Managers and of couse my fellow co-workers. All I have to say is watch your back because they belive in fearless feedback which means you can give feedback to anyone including your managers but if they don't like what you say your on their black list and they will do anything and everything in their power to get rid of you. They will pick on you and find ways to make sure your unhappy til you leave, quit or end up getting fired.

This review is for the experience of working as "middle management" in a retail location.

Pay (0) - The pay was comparable for a typical retail environment, but when one is expected to do the work of 3 people because it's "too costly" to hire a decent number of workers, it's very much not worth it.

Respect (-4) - When I started, we were all highly respected, but then we were called out, often in front of other co-workers, for everything we did. We had a policy of "fearless feedback," which was to be done in private, but then I saw many, MANY other co-workers get SCREAMED at by managers in the open break area.

Benefits (4) - Absolutely some of the best you will find, anywhere. Retail employees get the same benefits as the corporate employees.

Security (-3) - If you are late more than 3 times in 90 days, you're fired; no outside consideration. If you're sick, and have a doctor's excuse, and you miss more than 3 days in 90 days, you're fired. To hell with you if you have a chronic health problem. You have to jump through a bunch of hoops, and are made to feel like dirt for having been ill.

Work/Life Balance (-5) - You work different shifts and different days every week. The schedule is often only given out days before that next week starts, and there is no chance to change it, or to switch shifts if you have a doctors appointment. My mom had surgery, and I requested the day off, and it somehow got "lost." This happens constantly, causing people to miss weddings, funerals, and in one case a student almost missed his own graduation. Your vacation (if you're full-time) time will be blacked-out from October-February, since that's prime holiday season. You will never have holidays off, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas day.

Career Potential/Growth (-2) - Some people get promoted, but it's usually people who are the best in sales, versus those who are best in customer service, or best in a particular area of expertise (repair, teaching, management, etc).

Location (-2) - My particular location was in a very yuppie/high end retail street. I hated having to be around these sorts of people all day, which was my main reason for leaving.

Co-Worker Competence (3) - All of my co-workers were very intelligent people with minds full of knowledge, and this is what I miss most about the job.

Work Environment (0) - I gave this a "neutral" because the store is a very pretty place to be, but if it weren't for that, I would give it a negative score. You will be on your feet all day, and all of the back-of-houses I have seen are small and cramped, with the break area often being in the middle of work areas.

I have many more negatives about the retail sector of this company, but you sign papers when you're hired, saying that you will keep confidentiality, and I don't want to break that. The bottom line: If you're healthy, have great patience, a positive outlook, painstaking attention to detail, and a completely free schedule, Apple Retail will be perfect for you. If you don't meet one of those requirements, you will be miserable, or will be fired.

This review is for the experience of working as "middle management" in a retail location.

Pay (0) - The pay was comparable for a typical retail environment, but when one is expected to do the work of 3 people because it's "too costly" to hire a decent number of workers, it's very much not worth it.

Respect (-4) - When I started, we were all highly respected, but then we were called out, often in front of other co-workers, for everything we did. We had a policy of "fearless feedback," which was to be done in private, but then I saw many, MANY other co-workers get SCREAMED at by managers in the open break area.

Benefits (4) - Absolutely some of the best you will find, anywhere. Retail employees get the same benefits as the corporate employees.

Security (-3) - If you are late more than 3 times in 90 days, you're fired; no outside consideration. If you're sick, and have a doctor's excuse, and you miss more than 3 days in 90 days, you're fired. To hell with you if you have a chronic health problem. You have to jump through a bunch of hoops, and are made to feel like dirt for having been ill.

Work/Life Balance (-5) - You work different shifts and different days every week. The schedule is often only given out days before that next week starts, and there is no chance to change it, or to switch shifts if you have a doctors appointment. My mom had surgery, and I requested the day off, and it somehow got "lost." This happens constantly, causing people to miss weddings, funerals, and in one case a student almost missed his own graduation. Your vacation (if you're full-time) time will be blacked-out from October-February, since that's prime holiday season. You will never have holidays off, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas day.

Career Potential/Growth (-2) - Some people get promoted, but it's usually people who are the best in sales, versus those who are best in customer service, or best in a particular area of expertise (repair, teaching, management, etc).

Location (-2) - My particular location was in a very yuppie/high end retail street. I hated having to be around these sorts of people all day, which was my main reason for leaving.

Co-Worker Competence (3) - All of my co-workers were very intelligent people with minds full of knowledge, and this is what I miss most about the job.

Work Environment (0) - I gave this a "neutral" because the store is a very pretty place to be, but if it weren't for that, I would give it a negative score. You will be on your feet all day, and all of the back-of-houses I have seen are small and cramped, with the break area often being in the middle of work areas.

I have many more negatives about the retail sector of this company, but you sign papers when you're hired, saying that you will keep confidentiality, and I don't want to break that. The bottom line: If you're healthy, have great patience, a positive outlook, painstaking attention to detail, and a completely free schedule, Apple Retail will be perfect for you. If you don't meet one of those requirements, you will be miserable, or will be fired.

I enjoyed my time working for Apple. The management team in our area was exceptional, as were my peers.
Really knowledgeable, courteous and passionate about helping everyone who came into our store. Regret having to leave for health reasons, otherwise I would still be there.

I'm a specialist with an Apple Retail Store that I'll leave nameless and locationless, but they all seem to be alike, so here's my take on them:

Part-timers are second class citizens. Less time to learn how to do your job, but same requirements for sales numbers. Emphasis on "add-on" service/warranty products extremely high. Emphasis on knowing what you need to know technically very low. The few that do know what they are doing get buried with questions, and their numbers go low, and their session times go high, so they are always in trouble with management.

Becoming a full-timer once you are a part-timer is virtually impossible at this store. Frequently promotions are based on how well you "perform" at the frequent and useless pep rallys. It's a form of butt kissing when you say what they want to hear and don't mean a word of it. I don't play that game and so I get passed over a lot.

Hours suck. One week 35 hours, the next week 8. It's all over the place. I've had shifts as short as two hours, and as long as 12.

Flexible Scheduling means flexible for Apple, not for you. I've requested days off (yes they all have to be approved in advance) as much as a month in advance, and been scheduled on that day. It's always my fault when this happens according to them, and I then have to negotiate a shift swap with someone else. It happens all the time.

Schedules are always late. We sometimes get them on the same day as the week starting. Apple rules do not let the schedule leave the building, so it's a trip in on your day off to see and copy the new schedule.

Shifts are always in different times on different days, and always in the middle of the day or evening, making that day useless for doing anything else. There are no regular reliable days you can count on. It's impossible to plan your life.

Drastic reductions in hours happen when things are slow. They actually have the cahones to tell you that the reduced hours are due to not enough sales of both products and "loyalties" (add-ons). Hours are never distributed evenly or fairly. Adults living in the real world get no more hours and sometimes fewer than certain "pet" students and mooches living at home. Full timers get 35 to 40 hours, but God help you if you go over 40. They DO NOT like to pay overtime.

The level of BS and bright sunshiny attitudes is unbelievable. The culture is based on taking lies and turning a phrase to make it sound better. "Loyalties" instead of add-ons. No manager ever says what they really think, they only speak "Appleease". Phrases and jargon are tossed about eternally without giving anyone a clue what they mean.

The training system is incomprehensable. No one helps you to find resources you need. They are there usually (with a few exceptions), but you are on your own to find them. That is, when you get some time to find them, as you are not allowed to do anything when not "on the clock", and you almost never get time given while "on the clock". Do anything at home to help yourself or the store and they find out about it and you get "feerless feedback" (talked to).

Meetings constantly, and always on your time off. You get paid, but it blows your day. Drive in for an hour for a 2 hour pep rally that contains info that could have been sent in an e-mail. Some have to drive extremely long distances to get to them. I have seen as many as four such meetings in one month.

Promotions from within are VERY rare, and always subject to being revoked. All promotions seem to be "provisional". More common tactic is to see someone from outside the company come in and take the only full time jobs or management positions open.

The job can be a lot of fun, so people tend to stay for that factor alone. There is also a certain "cool" factor with working at Apple. But if you have a degree, it's brain dead and boring work most of the time. My advice, stay out of Retail in general if you can, and stay out of Apple Retail in particular.

The managers treat you like children, it's a dead end job, and your surrounded by idiots most of the time because they are cheap to hire.

Started at close to double minimum wage. The managers are down to earth and fun to work with and expect good work. I had positive personal interactions with most of them. Benefits available even to part-time employees. There is the opportunity for promising employees to take on new responsibilities as they demonstrate there excellence. Some fellow employee don't know that much about the products, but there is a strong team environment in which everyone relies on each other for backup when in a tough spot. The stores is beautiful and atmosphere is great.