Apple Reviews in Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL Area

Pros

Great benefits and discounts and life experiences are that are unparalleled.

Cons

I can't think of any...

Pros

Relaxed atmosphere where you are you own boss basically, we make decisions on our own. Flexible hours and great benefits.

Cons

Management is really bad at deciding whats good for your personal growth and what direction you should take. They try to steer you away form your dreams and what YOU want to be within the company!

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to people what they want to be, what position they want to pursue and help them reach that goal. Do not try to impose what you think they should be because you need to fill the quota.

Pros

Meeting people with a passion for your brand. Coming up with solutions to problems as people come in and internally.

Cons

Store management is lacking. Communication down the chain is almost non-existent. Some customers don't have any technological ability and request personal training sessions to last hours upon hours.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay your people what they're worth. Yes ts retail but the knowledge required to assist customers is beyond finding a shirt or making a tea.

Pros

Benefits
Great people to work with
learn great skills

Cons

crazy customers
always crowded
competition for advancement
hard to transfer between stores

Pros

Exciting and innovative products. Customer appreciation for exceptional service in most instances. Excellent benefits.

Cons

Virtually no opportunity for advancement in career within retail unless you have come in as senior-level management. Easily typecast into level hired. With rare exceptions, retail management is typical of other retail companies - too much politics and crap. Retail customers are aware of company's desire for market share and growth by exceeding customer experience of competitors, and some will use that to smear an employee that does not give that customer what they want. Even then, they may complain and become a "detractor".

Advice to Senior Management

Read the reviews

Pros

Many of our customers are die hard Apple fans, like myself, and it's rewarding to interact with and assist them when their device gives them difficulty. I have the freedom to come up with out of the box solutions for each customer and the corporate culture supports the idea of free, but properly given, feedback. There is never any shortage of opportunities to hone my critical thinking skills, and management supports solutions I come up with for customer problems. My team are the reason I come to work everyday, and from the management to the newest Specialist, I feel we all pull together to get the job done. It is very satisfying to feel a part of that. Our products are exciting and innovative, and I never feel anything but proud to say I work for Apple. There are many positions in this global company and theoretically unlimited potential for growth.

Cons

The salary is just ridiculous. I have been there 2.5 years and I still make only 10.30 and new Specialists right off the street make more than that. There is no system to compensate for time worked in other more demanding areas - a dollar more an hour, *something* - and the pervasive philosophy seems to be an elitist 'people would do more than you for even less', that makes employees feel devalued. The fact is, customers routinely say that the service is the reason they choose Apple. There would *be* no brand without the people, and yet we are overworked, underpaid, and treated as chattel much of the time as evidenced by policies from upper management. Our store management never has good communication, this is a symptom of the draconian ways of dealing with things from the top down - you get one chance to violate Apple confidentiality, this is it. Of course Retail had evening and weekend and Holiday hours, but we aren't compensated for it like the corporate employees would. Yet we are in the trenches everyday. This affects morale. Sometimes more than others. Turnover is high. I don't even bother to learn the names of the new specialists for several weeks after they are hired when it's obvious they are going to make it. Working for Apple is like dog years of employment, yet corporate makes no distinction. Routinely, we are given a congratulations or a pat on the back, but really what we all need is money!

Advice to Senior Management

See my words in the cons section.

If you really want Apple to continue to be on top. Pay your people - well. Don't understaff us - overstaff us so we have time to develop our skills in the face of constantly changing policies and products. Give us benefits similar to those at corporate. Give us the ability to have a clearly defined career path to corporate, many of us older people working at retail want this, but have no path for development, and no free time to do so due to being staffed from the moment we get in to the moment we leave in some customer intensive task. Be more transparent. Have a process to re-evaluate the salaries of those of us who have been here, receiving only 3% raises to those new hires and bump our salaries so that those of us training the newbies aren't getting paid less than they are.

Pros

Relaxed environment, relaxed attire. Freedom (to an extent) of how you can present the products. People are generally good to work with (case by case).

Cons

Management stresses various opportunities for advancement and "everyone starts as specialists", but contradict themselves by bringing in less qualified individuals from competing retail outlets for higher positions. Management has poor communication with each other. For the amount you make for the company, your salary will be significantly lower than 10%. This is demeaning.

Advice to Senior Management

As much as management is required to preach individuality and making lives better, the management fails to apply this when dealing with an employee's actual living situation. The management at this particular store seem too scared of losing their jobs than concerned with doing an actual "good job".

Pros

Fun, lots of stuff to do. Never bored.

Cons

Busy-ness. Always something to do, may be a downside.

Advice to Senior Management

Be friendlier to employees

Pros

There is a fantastic culture in the store. Everyone is so relaxed and friendly. It's like one happy family. Great place to socialize with customers and co-workers. Great products of course - If you're as passionate as most of the workers are, then it won't seem like work.

Another great side - Management doesn't breathe down your neck all the time. Although, they do have to meet a quota for Mobile me, applecare, onetoone sales so sometimes they can hassle you if your numbers are low.

Also, if you want time off, they're quite flexible. You just need to give three weeks notice.

Cons

There's no commission. The pay is average. Company is very secretive of information.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work.

Pros

Simply put it's a very relaxed company to work with, while there are also fantastic advancement opportunities. Due to the two divisions, corporate and retail it makes it so there is quite a bit of advancement opportunities, if you can make the networking connections.

Cons

If you don't work hard, you are unable to advance. The biggest issue is you have to wait for a new store to open in order to fully advance or for a stores popularity to pick up in order to allow the opening for a Creative or Genius position to open. The other issue is the transfer from Retail to corporate can be a bit more difficult since there isn't as close of a relationship between the retail and corporate divisions.

Advice to Senior Management

None