software engineer

specialist

senior software engineer

genius

engineer

Apple

I was a seasonal employee at Apple at the Saddle Creek location. Before I get started with my review I want to say that my ratings is based off my job being there as seasonal and not as a full time employee. If things weren’t handled poorly like they were my review would be completely different. I hope this store actually reads this so they can make better improvement in the future. I enjoyed working there and it was a very dynamic yet fun work environment however many of us seasonals don’t appreciate how they waited last minute to let us know who can stay on permanent or who can leave. Also, when we got hired they kept putting emphasis on us being seasonal and to me it felt as if they were kinda downplaying our role there. Some of the workers there are cocky but not all. The hiring process is VERY selective and if you get in don’t mess it up for yourself, but the pay is ABOVE average than most jobs. IT IS NOT A COMMISSION BASED JOB but you can get paid between $16-$18+ depending on experience. Many people came into the store and saw how fun it seemed to us and expressed them wanting to work there. We ALWAYS had a line at the door before we opened but the customers and enviroment was fun. They made us feel like we were doing too much by grilling them for answers like our livelihoods and bills weren’t at stake and I feel as if they handled the entire process poorly. They weren’t taking it serious to me and it seemed like they didn’t care because it didn’t personally affect them. Don’t hire all these seasonals and sell a dream that we can stay on permanent just to not even keep half of them. Crazy thing is, some of the “permanent” people they do have working there don’t even like working there and always want to give up their shifts. You keep the people who don’t even want to come to work and cut loose the people who do? Right, that makes sense. Ironic because we all couldn’t stay due to “not enough hours” yet they give up shifts everyday. Telling us last minute was trashy, some of my friends were crying. I also didn’t like how I felt like I was working everyday however my checks and the instability in hours were poor. I couldn’t pick up extra shifts if I wanted to because of how poor the schedule was done yet some times I was already working 6 days a week but again....checks weren’t reflecting that. We were initially guaranteed 32 hours a week, but some weeks I would be lucky if I were to get 20 hours. The benefits and discounts are amazing, but only if you’re not a seasonal because the most we could get is a 25% discount off each product and 10% accessories. You will be standing on your feet for long periods of time but after awhile you feet kinda gets numb to it. There’s not much room for growth at the retail store itself, you’ll learn plenty of skills that would look top tier on your resume, however moving up in that retail store is kinda impossible unless someone quits (and you would be a fool to do so full time unless you find a better paying job). They fed us and we have a lot of fun times, I just hate how poorly it ended which made the experience bittersweet to where many seasonals expressed they don’t even want to come back after how poorly this process was handled. If they would’ve told us ahead of time how many people they could truly keep we could have had time to have another job lined up while the hiring season was booming. I had to hold back my own tears from walking out the door and they didn’t really acknowledge those who didn’t get chosen on their last days there. Seems like they didn’t even care at all about us needing to search for another job. They went from telling us if we can’t stay on then they would call us to let us know when positions opened if we were still interested in working there to now telling us oh you just have to keep watch on the website and not even giving us a timeframe or guarantee that positions will even be open again in the Spring unless someone quits. The work environment is amazing, the inclusiveness and diversity is amazing, the benefits and job security IF YOU’RE PERMANENT seems top tier to me, and I also loved how we could do charity work as well and contribute to something. I never handled any angry customers because I had a positive attitude and got to know them on a personal level. I do like how you can receive recognition when we have our morning meetings. They made working around the holidays fun despite feeling drained. My favorite part about the job was helping the customer and them being so happy they want a hug or really express appreciation for being kind and patient with their concerns. That made the job feel more purposeful.

In my 11+ years with Apple, I had some incredible experiences. I have worked in 7 different stores (three long-term, and four short-term) and met some amazing and talented people, and also made some great friends. I learned so many valuable skills along the way (functional/technical, customer service, and interpersonal) that I truly feel have made me who I am today. I was so proud to have worked for the most valuable brand and company in the world, and it was great to stay caught up with all the latest technology. I have owned, used, and sold so many different Apple products throughout the years - computers, phones, tablets, and software - all of which have enriched my life - and the lives of those I have worked with. 

The workplace culture in my store was very positive overall. I felt as though we were a very close-knit family, a very well-oiled machine. There was virtually none of the typical "gossip" you'd find at other companies, and almost everyone got along with everyone else. Store meetings were very fun and very positive, not boring.

Throughout my tenure, I have built a very impressive set of customer service and interpersonal skills - just by the very nature of the company and my job, I have worked with a multitude of different cultures, ages, skill levels, abilities, and personalities. 

The most enjoyable part of my job was when I felt a true connection with someone, and I was able to provide a solution that they never imagined at first, and we both felt confident in that solution, and that it wasn't just something that I did because it was my job. And this applied to both internal and external customers - to onboard and mentor a new hire, then years later see that same person onboarding and mentoring someone new, really brought it all together for me - it really made me feel valued, and it was why I came to work each day.

The hardest part of my job was making it look easy. For example, to stand at the entrance of the store, holding an iPad, smiling, and greeting customers might appear to some to be a really easy job - a "greeter" so to speak. But I found that to be one of the most challenging roles. Within just a few seconds, you had to figure out what a customer needed, what was the best resource for that customer, and how to handle their situation, all while maintaining good body language, composure, and communication skills. Often times I've had to check my problems at the door, and maintain a positive attitude, no matter what was going on outside (or even at) work.

I also found it incredibly frustrating when trying to advance within the company. Management had a hard time looking at the "big picture" and looking at my overall performance and behaviors; instead they would focus on one number, or one isolated incident, and always use that as an excuse as to why I couldn't even get an interview for a position that was a very logical next step for me. I ended up being stuck in the same position for 7 years, with no hope for advancement, and this is what ultimately led to me having to separate myself from the company.

I have worked with close to 100 different managers in my time at Apple. I found it mostly inspiring, but at times frustrating and challenging, to work with so many different leadership styles and personalities. It was particularly tough when different managers were not all on the same page when it came to things like communication, policies, procedures, or situations. My last six months with the company were particularly challenging, as our store leader for 7+ years transferred to another store, and the store leader from another store took over for them. I was not the only one who felt that this new store leader made a lot of changes just for the sake of making change, and the overall morale in our store declined very quickly to the point where many people were leaving, and some of the most tenured employees were being pressured to leave as well.

This position for at home advisor is an apple care advisor. 

My normal day as chat advisor starts with me logging in to the computer apple sent me 5 minutes before the shift so i can check email and get prepared for work. 

As soon as your shift starts you will get busy. In chat we are expected to answer two chats at the same time. Each chat is expected to be resolved in 25 minutes or less. If the customer needs screen sharing we also do that. 

In these 25 minutes you have to defuse the customer, assure, and provide support by troubleshooting or providing the appropriate response.

You will have to log all the interaction, case notes, followups, send emails to customers, 

In this position you will not get holidays off, you will get them paid as holiday pay and overtime. So that's nice, however you can't be with your family cause it's super busy. 

Schedules are according to your performance, what defines your performance is customer's feedback or surveys. Picture a very angry customer who just lost all his contacts in iCloud and you can't recover them. Or someone that purchased a stolen iPhone and can't activate it. Those customers will give you a bad survey based on their feelings about the company. This will affect your metrics and schedules. 

If you're a super good advisor, you will get 1 weekend day off. They have 4days x10hrs or 5days x8hours schedules. 

I started as an at home phone advisor, answered between 18-25 calls per shift. Calls can take as little as 10 minutes other calls can take as much a 3 hours. Depending on what the issue is. 

After being in phones for 1 year i was sent to chat support, that was far more stressful. Chat advisors are expected to have dual chats at all times. Yes, troubleshooting two issues at the same time. 

Sometimes you need to help out using screen sharing for two customers at the same time. For a minute picture two very angry customers asking you if you are there. Or picture Apple releasing a bad iOS or OSX update, as it happens very often. No one knows whats going on, and Apple expects you to help as much without even having hands on that iOS yourself. 


FYI, they are recording all you do at all times, be careful about what you say about management or the company in private chats. They will confront you for private conversations and show you the conversation. 

I started at $18, raises only come once a year and is based on your performance. Yes, some advisors don't get a yearly raise. The top raise is 9%. But for this kind of raise you have to do a lot, like provide apple with a new app or something new. Most people get between 0 and 6% raise a year. So it will take you years to get to $20. 

You can also go to tier 2, however many departments are very full, so the opportunity only comes once a year for 1 advisor of 25 or 30. This is true in chat or iTunes department.  For phones it may be faster and more advisors.

The turn over rate for this position is very high, if you have nothing else lined up. Which was my situation, it's an ok position. Picture an Apple Store before christmas, yup that's how it is on phones and chat, talking to customers the whole day. 

The first two weeks are paid training, there's a test at the end of the two weeks, 4 of the 20 advisors that where hired when i was hired did not make it pass the two weeks. Failed the test. You will feel very bad for these people that left a steady job for this. 

Chat support is open 24 hours and phones from 7am to 10:30pm EST.

Hope you find this helpful.  
(Health Benefits start immediately)


Bottom line is this - Anyone with an education and years of experience centered around any of the technologies that Apple uses in their products will likely be happy and well compensated. Same goes for program and project managers, and nearly anything related to sales. 

If, however, you're thinking about applying for AppleCare thinking that you can easily move up from there, I would warn you to stay away. Here's why:

- You will work with people who don't care about their job. They pass off as many calls to senior advisors as they can, they don't retain knowledge, they don't notate their cases very well, they can be overly sensitive when you inquire about why they did near zero work before consulting, and you will be reprimanded for doing so. They will stay in their Tier 1 position until they retire or die, performing the bare minimum. They do not get fired unless they do something egregious.

- You're treated like a child because of the above information. You will have meetings where the same information will be provided over and over because these people keep making the same mistakes over and over.  You are tied to metrics and a schedule. If your metrics are off or you aren't on schedule, then you will be reprimanded. 

- You might move from Tier 1 to Tier 2 relatively easily, but outside of that the advancement opportunities are very scarce. You could be stuck in the same role for many, many years with only a minuscule annual percentage raise (which has gotten smaller over the years) and a couple grand in restricted stocks. Meanwhile, the employees that matter make tens of thousands in restricted stock options along with high five to six figure salaries dealing with waaaay less nonsense. 

- It's eight hours of unending customer service calls. A lot of repetitiveness. Some jerks. You will get burnt out.

- You'll be trained to support specific products and services, then upper management will decide to merge your organization with another. Now you have to learn their job, too. Do you get a pay raise since you're now doing your job plus another org's job? No. 

- They offer pandering programs to make you feel like there is growth and advancement opportunities where there are none. Things like "leadership academy" where you'll fill in for managers who went on vacation or maternity leave. You'll do all the work and get none of the pay, and this can last for years. Or, you can apply for a "rotation". You'll work with a team where you're treated like a grown adult and get to do meaningful work you actually care about while being paid less than half as much as those who actually have the job, only to be sent back to your lowly customer service role after three to six months because these teams are never provided a budget to get actual headcount even though they desperately need it. 

-  For every other corporate Apple org, AppleCare is the fecal matter on the bottom of Apple's shoe. They'll take your free labor (rotation), but don't want to actually hire you (assuming they have the budget). This obviously matters when it comes to applying for what little roles you may qualify for outside of AppleCare. 

Let me be clear that overall Apple is a great company to work for. There is a lot to be grateful and thankful for, but no company is without its issues, especially not a company as large as Apple. Seemingly, management just wants to impress the management above them and so on, so anything that looks bad gets swept under the rug, and saving money, even to the detriment of the team, always makes management look good to their management. They just don't mention that their team is struggling and really could use the headcount. 

My time at Apple (8.5 yrs) was a mix of being my best job ever to nearly killing me. When I started at Apple in AppleCare we handled one type of product. Some handled iOS products, some handled macOS products, some handled iTunes and on and on. 8 yrs later Apple has blended that support into one homogeneous mix. You are no longer an expert in one area, you are expected to be well versed in and support everything Apple releases. In addition to that , you’ll support every single country on the planet that Apple provides support to. This includes local and regional consumer law. 
Apple outsources what seems to 80-90% of Apple care to other companies. Those companies are supposed to be held to the same impossibly high standards that Corporate AppleCare is. Sadly, they don’t seem to be. The transfers I got were the poorest quality customer support I’ve ever seen. There is definitely a hot potato mentality when it comes to dealing with either difficult problems or difficult customers. Get those things to someone else ASAP and let them deal with the poor customer survey. 
AppleCare hierarchy seems to be so far from touching the customer that they have no concept as to what is actually going on with the customer base. What I mean by that is everyone who comes into AppleCare wants to get promoted to manager and above so that they’ll never have contact with an actual consumer. That contact ends with senior support advisors who are abused by customers, lower level advisors and team managers. I’ve never worked in a place where folks at the manager level never speak to a customer, it’s just weird. Be prepared to drink the koolaid and keep your head down and mouth shut if you disagree with anyone ( coworker or customer ). 
There is also an accommodation culture there too. Need to take a bathroom break either before or after your scheduled break due to medication you take, go get a doc to sign off saying you need it. Feeling stressed or fatigued because of the day to day work grind? Go find a psychiatrist to get you some time off to decompress. There were more folks on various forms of leave on any given team I was on than there were people who weren’t. It’s encouraged. 
All and all, unless one of the golden anointed few take an interest in you, you’ll become just another faceless, soulless employee number. You’ll absorb so much negative input from all directions ( customers, peers, those with positions above you ) that eventually you’ll become physically ill. I had to finally leave to save myself. I only had issues with asthma before coming to Apple. While there I developed diabetes, was diagnosed with sever obstructive sleep apnea, had to see a shrink after I started having panic attacks ( she told me to quit because the amount of multi tasking was inhumane ), ground my teeth to dust when I was able to sleep but my asthma got better. The list goes on. 
After having left the company, I’ve gotten some of the best sleep I can remember having over the past decade. I do miss the great pay, I have state employee benefits due to my spouse working for the state. The 401k was great, the vacation and sick time were fair. To be honest though, you’ll never see a vacation because you earn as you go and you’ll burn through both your paid time off and sick time weekly either as part of those accommodations you’ll likely be encouraged to get or just to have a break in the week. 
All and all, you’ll be working for a giant corporation that won’t know you when you’re there working or after you’ve left. 

Contractor with with Apple as the client. Completed a 1 year contract, was offered a 3 month extension but chose to not to take it. 

Standard day is just the usual cog in the wheel stuff. Badge in, sit in front of a Mac, check emails for today's project, start pulling assignments out and work on today's project until lunch, eat for 30 minutes, go back to work until 4:00 PM and then badge out and go home. 

Breaks can be taken twice, 15 minutes each but never directly together and you can't use them to leave early. If you come late, you have to stay later to make up for the lost time, but you come early, you still have to leave at the proper time. You have to arrive at 7:30AM and leave at 4:00PM no exceptions unless you approved with HR prior to starting. 

Management is a lax until they're not. If your team is pulled into a meeting, chances are something has gone wrong, or the team isn't working fast enough. Due to not wanting to target anyone dragging the team down in particular, everyone is reprimanded for working slow even if you're not. These meetings tend to happen 1-2 times a month regularly. Upper management wants work done faster and faster. HR is efficient at what they do, which is both good and bad. Issues are solved quickly in a timely fashion, but every now and then someone will seemingly be removed for their position without a trace and no one will tell you where that person(s) has disappeared to. If you're there as a contractor, you're extremely expendable.

Project hopping isn't a huge deal, but it does happen occasionally and you often have to pick up on a project quickly and be expected to be efficient at it in a short amount of time before another one is announced and you have to start from scratch on learning it all over again. A few projects last quite a lot longer, and those can take up to 2 months to become truly proficient at. If you feel like you're falling behind, ask a neighbor or ask a lead to try to improve or get better. If you find yourself struggling, the chance you're on the chopping block is high.

There have been 2 waves of lay offs, mostly due to restructuring but also due to the fact a lot of the hirees were of a different major compared to what HR wanted to hire later.

 Most of the stuff you learn is in-house software and cannot be applied outside of this position. No one really talks to one another unless it's your direct neighbor sitting next to you. At times, you feel treated as just another worker and it does feel impersonal at times and dreary. 

On the other hand, no one bothers you much so it's quiet and you can just listen to music or a podcast on your phone all day long while working. There's also very little downtime in between projects, so end of day, you'll be worn out from just sitting there staring at the screen for hours on end.

Would I recommend working here? Maybe. If you're fresh out of college and are looking for new work, its definitely an interesting opportunity. I've met quite a few people here and they're all extremely talented and brilliant people. A lot of the stuff you learn here can't really be applied outside of this location, so that is a major downside. Upside is that it looks really nice on your resume. The work can be very repetitive unless you're fine with it. Overall, 6/10 experience. Alright the first time, but unless you desperately can't find another job, I wouldn't recommend going back in a 2nd time.

Great company with amazing corporate culture. Coworkers are always fun, interesting, and generally creative in some way.

Typical day is like any retail sales, but it's very low key how you interact with customers. Genuinely answer customers questions, find their needs and wants, and offer a solution. Many times it's just talking to someone about your own personal user experiences. No hard selling or trying to make quotas. If you are stumped, just be honest and find a colleague who may be able to help. Generally conversation is not very "tech" based--it's good to know what is in the machine, but most solutions will revolve around more with how it helps a user. Practically any time you want training on a product, you can ask to leave the floor and watch online videos on the clock.

You don't need to be that techie to get hired--honestly, during the group interview, the folks that seemed to only ooze tech never got hired. You don't even have to be an Apple user! Being creative in some way probably is very helpful. Once on board, there is a two-day training to solidly get you up to speed. It's focused, but pretty fun as you interact with your future team members. (Out of all the retail jobs I've had, only two of them did very concise and thorough multi-day trainings before you even step onto the sales floor--Apple Store and Whole Foods.)

Management at our store was great, but your mileage may vary. But they do seem to attract and hire some of the best retail managers overall.

Co-workers are amazing. They attract some of the best, most interesting and creative people, and it's great to be in the same pool. As a lot of the day is just watching the floor when not with a customer, it's always full of interesting chatter when you're idle. They typically have great personalities too. Really does become a family.

The hardest part of the job is that typical stores can get VERY busy. It's not uncommon to go for hours just talking to customers non-stop. Customers are generally very interesting and polite. You will most likely encounter difficult customers tho, and they're usually more challenging than other retail--customers typically LOVE LOVE LOVE their products, so when it's not working for them, it is a much more intense affair than other retail. Also, some customers will be VERY new to not just using a Mac, but using tech in general, so a lot of patience is needed when tutoring customers. Also, some customers will challenge you when you try to sell them a drive for backup not realizing that hard drive failures are actually a pretty common occurrence, then if it occurs, they may return and be furious they were sold a "defective" product.

The most enjoyable part is being able to dazzle and delight a customer by showing them something cool, then selling a product to a customer that genuinely fills their needs. It's not uncommon for customers to return and seek you out just to thank you and share how they love their product. At times they'll just return to hang out and chat.

Working in one of Apple's retail venues used to be prestigious, fun, exciting, and the growth potential seemed limitless. Over the last 5 years working in a retail store has dramatically devolved (ironically senior leadership calls this evolution).

Turnover is incredibly high, they've stopped all outside professional training opting instead for non-professional training in the back storage rooms (yes, storage rooms) of the stores by 'trainers' who themselves were taught in the same environment by others trained in the same storage room and so on.

The technical training is abysmal yielding so called 'technicians' most would not trust to touch their Mac or iPhone in any repair capacity if they knew how unprepared these 'technicians' truly are. And these 'technicians' won't be around long enough to even get good at what they do by trial and error because three quarters of their time will be spent in customer queues dealing with customer emotional turmoil over the many Apple quality and appeasement programs fixing design and manufacturing issues so the poorly prepared staff will burn out and leave for another job in normally about a year or less.

Apple has accepted this sad reality by realizing they need to constantly be hiring and internally training just to keep fresh seeming people on staff.

Where early on a retail employee was seen as vital with real tangible training and authority today they have to get permission for everything and amount to not much more than a body processing customer after customer in a queue.  Apple has what they call a 'workforce management system' that automatically assigns your schedule and if you are in any one of the 20 or so customer or repair queues the system rates your performance from moment to moment with managers standing around with iPads watching your performance real-time and micro-managing you.

Lastly, some of the physical working environments are embarrassingly run down. You won't notice it from the sales floor where they work diligently to keep everything fresh and neat but go behind that door where the empolyees are the 1/4th of the time they are not with a customer and that's a whole different world. There is negative personal space, break rooms are storage rooms with a table and chairs you can not even move around in.

If you need a temporary decent paying job in RETAIL this will do or if you want a future in RETAIL that too. But really it is not a career and Apple does not want it to be.

If it were not for the better then average benefits (and they've suffered some over the years with noticeable less coverage for major medical), this would be a two star review. They make a big deal about granting stock that unless you suffer through years of working there you can't even cash in and until you cash it in its not money.

Truly and factually the shine is off Apple Retail.

Since that time I would say one of the greatest achievements I have reached is establishing strong trusting peer relationships. Taking the credo to heart and enriching lives, mine, my peers, who I share most of the time with, and finally our customers. Since I first started working at Apple I must have to say that my technology knowledge has exponentially grown at an incredible pace. Beyond the knowledge is the ability to communicate it to customers who at times are newcomers to Apple products. Finally and this has been a recent achievement I have been able to keep my timely assistance. I have always had trouble getting on time to places I blame it in part to my cultural heritage, but sometimes it was simply just overlooking the issue as irrelevant so long as I was within my 10 minutes. However all of that changed after sharing an experience with a friend at a trapeze lesson. I was made aware of the importance of timing. After that I have made a great effort to be on time or early. These three have also been my strongest developmental areas of growth this year.

The greatest disillusionment that I have had so far is the fact that I didnt get to carry through with the Spanish workshops for consumers. After constantly asking leaders to go through with them; getting the Spanish speaking staff on board; and even taking the initiative to make a presentation to make the case of how it is part of our credo part to enrich the lives of our costumes with our products and services I was simply just not listened too. However, what upsets me the most about this is the fact that at Apple one of our goals is to create a sense of community in this way this is a big failure of the company as a whole to exclude a growing segment of the population. A company that values its people as its most important asset and it's diversity is certainly not carrying thru with its message.

As far as the near future goes I am at a very exciting point of my life where new challenges are coming up and the skills and knowledge that I have gained at Apple will come in very handy. I plan to further grow my technical knowledge and troubleshooting of products. However, and I think this is the most important of all of the things I have to further develop standing alone. Making sure that I am following my thoughts, intutions and believes even if that means been wrong sometimes or being an outcast. After all it is "the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do..."

I worked in the Maps team as a data editor. It is a one year contractor position but they made it sound like an opportunity to get your foot in the door. It isn’t. Don’t fall for it.

The job is repetitive and requires no skill. Hours can be strange, you will need to work either Sat or Sunday. They train you pretty well so no need to worry. The contractors are generally all very nice and diverse, all eager to create a workplace bond that Apple does not encourage. Apple prefers to keep a strict divide between contractors and full time employees. You will feel it very acutely. You can eat at the cafeteria but you can’t use the gym. Don’t even think about attending regular happy hours. Full-timers generally are weary and aloof around contractors.

It’s a bit sad how people fell for the “foot in the door” tag line and found themselves in a job that often is way beneath their skillset. I’ve seen coworkers with phDs and master degrees who realized the trap they fell into after training ended. Team morale depends on your manager, some are very approachable while others are standoffish. 

Upsides are cool contractor coworkers, decent pay in a nice office environment, ability to work from home during covid, and...that’s about it. Occasionally they will have free food in the parking lot that you can attend in your allotted break period. Oh they clock bathroom visits and breaks meticulously just to make sure you are not wasting their time. Nothing makes you more aware of your contractor status.

This job is suitable as a jumping off point if you want an entry level job in the tech sector, just not at Apple mind you. You won’t learn anything of value skills wise here so adjust your expectations accordingly. It certainly beats working in retail or the service industry based on hourly pay. 

It is also non-discriminatory about education. You can work here with college experience or none at all. MBA, housewives, retired, doesn’t matter. Age of coworkers vary from new college graduates to 40+, median is around mid twenties. I would say about 25% make it to the one year mark. A lot do return after a mandatory 3 month break.

This job is good to make some quick cash or as a stint while you keep looking for Full-time jobs elsewhere. Keep expectations low and skin thick and you’ll do ok. 

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