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    Apple Mac Genius Interview Questions

    Interviews at Apple

    56 Interview Reviews

    Experience

    Experience
    58%
    23%
    19%

    Getting an Interview

    Getting an Interview
    50%
    17%
    13%
    11
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    Difficulty

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    Helpful (1)  

    Mac Genius Interview

    Anonymous Employee
    Accepted Offer
    Neutral Experience
    Average Interview

    Application

    I applied online. The process took a week. I interviewed at Apple in August 2007.

    Interview

    The first call back was to set up another time to talk for an over the phone quiz to determine my technical troubleshooting skills. After that, I was told I was a a great candidate and that they'd need to do my background check as the next steps. After a week of background checks, we scheduled an interview with the regional manager to check me out.

    Interview Questions

    Negotiation

    Little negotiation took place. I was offered an amount and I took it.

    Other Interview Reviews for Apple

    1. Helpful (2)  

      Mac Genius Interview

      Anonymous Employee in Knoxville, TN
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Easy Interview

      Application

      I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Apple (Knoxville, TN) in January 2007.

      Interview

      The recruiter called me after seeing my resume on Monster.com. He was very affable and friendly. He asked me if I would be interested in interviewing for the Genius position for the first Apple Store in this city, and immediately said yes. I have worked on Macs for ten years, and have great people skills so I was pretty confident about doing fine. He asked when I'd like to do a phone interview/mini-skills quiz, I said, "right now." which sounded like it caught him off guard, and he sort of stammered that he'd have to call me back in an hour. The phone quiz was about 5 questions long, which I passed quickly and easily having been a Mac technician. He said there were some other interviewees, but he said he was pretty sure I'd do well in comparison. He emailed me a few days later and scheduled a personal interview for a few weeks later.

      The personal interview was in a local hotel lobby, consisting of the Manager and Lead Genius from a store that had already been built. They were friendly, questioned me on my people skills, a few in-depth random technical troubleshooting questions, and basically role-played scenarios with me as the would-be genius. Easy and pleasant. After a weeks or so, the recruiter called and offered me the job, conditional to the store being built.

      Next, however came an excruciating wait of a MONTH before he finally gave the go-ahead to send me the actual offer letter, and gave a start date for Genius Training, which was about 3 weeks later.

      Interview Questions

      • What items in this list should not be present at an ESD safe Workstation:
        Humidifier
        Packing styrofoam
        Ion generator
        Grounded Mat   3 Answers

      Negotiation

      I didn't negotiate, I wanted to work for Apple pretty badly, and really wanted out of my prior job. I would negotiate pay - start high if you have the people skills AND the technical skills already.

    2.  

      Mac Genius Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in Seattle, WA
      Declined Offer
      Neutral Experience
      Easy Interview

      Application

      I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Apple (Seattle, WA) in March 2011.

      Interview

      First of all, they use Behavioral Interviewing questions, so brush up on them and know how to answer them.

      But what they are really doing is SELLING you on Apple and how great it is to work there. Nothing really concrete comes out. They want you to really want to work for Apple Retail.

      Interviews are held offsite in various hotels. in the last one, they just crashed the bar area of a Hilton and were interviewing people off in a corner.

      Interview Questions

      Reasons for Declining

      I knew I had the job - if I wanted it. But Apple failed to offer me anything MORE than I currently make. I'd have to take a cut in pay, work in retail again while my wife works a M-F, 9-5 job; that means we'd never see each other.

      Also, the Apple Manager failed to answer my questions in such a catastrophic way that we were both embarrassed, which was not my intent at all. I was hoping I could start a career at Apple but it became quickly apparent that's not what they want to here from potential new hires --- even ones who have great backgrounds and strong experiences.

      3. Join the Apple team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3.  

      Mac Genius Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in Boulder, CO
      No Offer
      Negative Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Apple (Boulder, CO) in September 2011.

      Interview

      They are looking for a "type." Since I was 30 years older than most everyone else I felt a bit out of place. They began by showing a film about the greatness of Apple. One too many location shots in China.

      Then they asked the stupidest question... "What pet would you be and what is your name?" They just wanted to see who was rude enough to interrupt others.

      Then they took us down into six groups of four and asked us to explain our last act of giving. I wasn't prepared for such a personal question.

      Interview Questions

    4.  

      Mac Genius Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in Naperville, IL
      No Offer
      Neutral Experience
      Average Interview

      Application

      The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Apple (Naperville, IL) in August 2011.

      Interview

      Took us in for a group presentation. Then split into groups for questions and topics. Got called back for interviews with 3 managers. Spoke about ambitions and work history. No call back after that.

      Interview Questions

      • How do you feel about Apple?   1 Answer

    5.  

      Mac Genius Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in Oakbrook Terrace, IL
      No Offer
      Negative Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied in-person. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Apple (Oakbrook Terrace, IL) in May 2011.

      Interview

      As much as I'd like to think that I was declined the job for a lack of competency, I truly know that Apple retail does not have a clear strategy for promoting from within. I have not seen a logical pattern when it comes to either hiring or promoting employees. I love the company more than anything and that is why I am a part of Apple, but will not say that I haven't been applying for other jobs...

      Interview Questions

    6.  

      Mac Genius Interview

      Anonymous Employee in New York, NY
      Accepted Offer
      Neutral Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied in-person. The process took 6+ weeks. I interviewed at Apple (New York, NY) in October 2011.

      Interview

      Connected with a manager in-store where I submitted my resume. I went through 6 interviews and a technical skills test pertaining to software and hardware troubleshooting and technology concepts.

      Interview Questions

    7. Helpful (1)  

      Mac Genius Interview

      Anonymous Employee in Washington, DC
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Apple (Washington, DC).

      Interview

      Very stringient, when through 3 interviews to be a specialist that was whittled down from over 1000 people.

      Interview Questions

      • The most important question is on customer focus. All the correct answers are what is best for the customer not what your opinion is.   Answer Question

      Negotiation

      No Negotiation

    8. Helpful (3)  

      Mac Genius Interview

      Anonymous Employee in Madison, WI
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Average Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at Apple (Madison, WI).

      Interview

      First, there was a hiring event, with generic "what-if" and "how did you..." questions. The next day was a panel interview with the market leader and other store leaders from the rest of the market, followed by a direct interview with the store leader for the store I'd be working with.

      Following that, I had three additional interviews with the remaining members of the leadership team, which included a tech screen, to make certain that I had at least a modicum of understanding of basic computer concepts. I did "ok."

      After hiring, I was informed that I was the first person in 4 or 5 years to be directly hired into this position at this store, so while it would be hypocritical of me to say, "Don't bother attempting to be hired directly into the Genius position," I will say that it doesn't happen often and had not occurred in the two years that I was with the company.

      Interview Questions

      • It's been quite some time, so I can't recall specific questions, but I'll say that it is incredibly important to have experience with situations where you've needed to manage your time, work in difficult scenarios, overcome adversity with team members, and prepare answers for ways in which you handled those scenarios.   Answer Question

      Negotiation

      There are no negotiations with Apple. Well, let me rephrase that: based on what I had read of the negotiation process, I did not bother negotiating, as it was pretty clear that this was the offer and that is that. I did give a range of wages that I was willing to accept and the offer was above the minimum, although just barely.

    9.  

      Mac Genius Interview

      Anonymous Employee in Pensacola, FL
      Accepted Offer
      Neutral Experience
      Average Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at Apple (Pensacola, FL) in August 2011.

      Interview

      Multiple phone interviews, with several what if scenarios. Only in person contact was during the job offer seminar where there were at least 50 other potential hires.

      Negotiation

      No negotiation.

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