I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Apple (Atlanta, GA) in Sep 2010
Interview
I had applied on the Apple website about a year and a half before I was contacted by an Apple recruiter. I don't know of any way to speed up the process--it's very mysterious to me.
Apple called this a seminar--it was held in a hotel meeting room in Sandy Springs, three groups of about 20 each in a day cut into three sessions. We were told to dress casually in black.
First they had the whole group watch a movie about working in an Apple store, then we introduced ourselves and said why we wanted to work for Apple. Then we were divided into smaller groups of four and one of the recruiters asked us questions, telling us that we didn't have to know the answers, but they were really looking for good "Apple" people.
Next we were broken down into groups of two and were asked questions about how we would handle problems in the store, what our greatest strength, how we would upsell Applecare, stuff like that. Next we were put back into our original group of four and were asked trick questions.
My group was uber competitive--with this economy, everyone there was visibly nervous about finding a job. People kept bragging about their technical prowess or dropping names of other people they knew who worked in a certain store. They didn't seem like friendly Apple people to me and more like IT folks, in actuality. I felt really intimidated and didn't present myself well, obviously. I've reapplied but doubt I'll get another chance.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
What would you do if your manager did something that was wrong?
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Apple (Chadstone)
Interview
Long interview process and very throurough. Make sure you try to STAND OUT from the crowd. Crack a joke and get involved, they love that! Smile and join in as much as you can.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Apple (New York, NY)
Interview
Group interview followed by smaller group interviews followed by individual interviews. It's a long process, but as long as you're honest and enthusiastic you should be good to go. The first round of interviews gauges your interest in Apple, It's more generalized and not as technical. Once you move past that, you get to meet with various leadership across the store who give you as much info as they ask of you. Being personable in the beginning is the key, you can save your technical expertise for the later rounds of interviews
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when you had to work with a team to accomplish a goal?
I applied in-person. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Apple (Roseville, MN)
Interview
Fairly Casual, Met in the food court of the mall it was at. just had a discussion about Computers, and Life. there we're multiple interviews, with one of the last ones being a "group interview" with the store's GM, who had a chill conversation and opened by telling us the offer was ours to accept since we made it this far.