Apple Specialist Interview

Interview Details – Oddly enough, I applied for the job via craigslist, which sent me to their website's employment opportunities page. After filling out some information there, including my resume and contact info, I received an email several days later for an invitation to a hiring event at a hotel downtown.

There were three events that day and I chose the middle one. There were approximately 50 people at the event. I wasn't sure about how many people attended the other event, but after working for them for a few months, I can safely say it was probably about the same. During the event, around seven employees come out in their Apple shirts and talk about the company and mainly just talk it up; about how great it is, how much fun you'll have, etc. You have to fill out a 20-questionnaire about basic tech knowledge. (What is RAM?) the difference between an SSD and ATA hard drive). There are videos and then we all get up and describe ourselves. They made us get into groups for the last part. We each had to answer and describe questions prompted to us on an iPad in our groups. (What is your greatest strength?) (When have you ever had to turn someone down?)

I got a call that same afternoon from Apple wanting me to come down for an interview two days later. This interview was at the store and was a group (six of us). This interview was with a store leader (manager). The interview covered basic interview-like questions and took about 45 min. There were also some tech questions where they asked us to explain the difference between features and benefits of our phones.

I got an email the next day saying I had moved on to the next round of interviews. This time it was an interview with the head store leader in a week. This was another group interview with similar questions, but more personal development-type questions that focused on who you are and what you think it's like to work for Apple. This is the first interview to bring up what store goals are and personal numbers. It's a much harder interview. I didn't think I was going to get the job after this interview because of the questions I had to answer. The interview process is designed to be long and hard as to weed out those who can't think under pressure and those who cannot extemporize easily. Remember, it's a sales position after all.

I got an email a couple days later moving up to the next and final round. This was another group interview with the Market Leader for the Bay Area. The interview was more candid than the others, and focused more on our personal accomplishments in life and work. The questions were given to have us describe very situational experiences that showed our strengths. It was the shortest interview (25-30) minutes.

About three days later I received a call from the hiring manager offering me the job and a date for a week of Market Core training to be had three weeks later. I went through the interview process in late January, got the job in February and my first day in the store wasn't until early March.