What's It Like to Work at Apple Store
Many of us can agree that Apple's way of doing business is a little different from others, especially when it comes to retail. I had the opportunity to work as a specialist at one of the Apple Stores here in Southern California. Now that I have left my Apple Store for a few months, reflecting upon the experiences, here are some takeaways from my first ever "retail" job.
And a quick disclaimer: I am not paid by anyone to write this and my relative positive experience might be totally different from many others all over the world. This article is solely about my perspective as an entry-level employee at my local store.
Training is Not What You Think
You might be surprised to know that Apple's onboarding process is not as technical. In fact, I think the purpose of the initial training is mainly about building better people who can connect with others and solve problems rather than how the iPhone Upgrade Program works. By the end of the first week, you can clearly tell that Apple wants you to know that you are here to build their mission on improving "Accessibility, Education, Environment, Inclusion, Diversity, Privacy and Supplier Responsibility" for everyone. As for the actual technical training, it happened in-store with small-sized discussions and shadowing with other employees. Overall, many would argue if such extensive training on soft skills is necessary for us, but investing heavily in your employee so that they are always learning to become better is probably the right move.
Access to Information is Restricted yet Open
As you may know, Apple takes such a strong stand on privacy. It is the same for its employees at a retail store. The whole company is based on a need-to-know structure, meaning that many of us have no idea what's going on before the lunch day (basically when they release new products) even though the rumors are all over the internet. However, Apple is also extremely open about knowledge. For example, I can look up the internal trainings about building a useful schedule or resolving conflicts that are made for higher-level employees easily. You can basically see the whole structure of the company in their app and look up every single employee's contact and location (including Tim Cook's). I think this is extremely useful for a lot of people who want to connect and advance in the company. Also, if you want to initiate conversations with anyone at Apple, basically just try theirname@apple.com.
Expect to Do Different Things Every Day
Our tasks are really rarely about repetitions (besides the week when they lunch the new iPhone). It is extremely unlikely for us to just sell iPhone 11s or help customers to set up their Apple Watch for a whole day. For any specialist, their roles are generally a mix of Greeting and Check-in Customers at the door, Being in the Express Checkout Zone like a normal cashier in a store, Meeting people and talking to them in the product zone where you feel like a salesperson, Working with customers phones macs where you become more as a technical advisor, Teaching a group of customers around the table on how to set up and use devices like a professor, Troubleshooting devices and make appointments as a scheduler, Having duties for store opening and closing, and even Checking backstage inventories. Most people do have a preferred spot, but you never see one doing the same thing again and again. I personally think these unique position rotations really differentiates the job from my other office job in a good way.
Diverse Team of People in Every Aspect
This is another interesting part of working at the store: there is simply not a stereotype of specialists. My co-workers come from everywhere, ranging from our hardcore USC student who is super chill to our friendly grandma figure who actually sewed me a hat. It is quite unique because everyone seems to be in different walks of life when it comes it comes to age, interest, work experiences, and education... If there is something similar, it is that it seemed like everyone has a lot of energy and their own passion outside of work. (Also, I should point out that not everyone uses Apple products, including myself) This is totally different from my internship where everyone is relatively the same when it some to age, interest, work experiences, and education. Regardless, there is a sense of unity and belonging in the store. I think this is probably one of the best places to meet and learn to work with all the different people.
Our Goals Are Not to Make High Sales (at least for my level)
I must admit it is relatively easy to sell Apple products. However, we do not make commissions at all (it is funny because customers always assume that we can get such high commission by selling them a bundle of Apples). Instead, our main focus is promoting Apple services (business at apple, applecare, apple tv, apple music, icloud…) and retain a high NPS (net promoter scores). As most of us are familiar with the services from Apple, let's briefly discuss the NPS since it is a key indicator for customer growth and retention. For specialists, those scores generally come from the customer's reviews after a transition. Recall the email you get such as "How did xxx help you today" whenever you leave your email for receipts, that is how Apple gets them. The managers normally do not care too much about high sales for customers, but they will try their best to encourage you to aim for better service transitions and NPS. Ironically, specialists like me do not get more or less salary based on the scores or sales. It is just an incentive to help us to do better so we can take pride in being recognized by the managers. But if your score does go extremely high or low, expect a meeting with a manager soon. Generally, I do not think there are too many benefits for not associating monetary rewards with performances. However, it seems that this method worked pretty well so far for Apple to focus more on the long run and grow with loyal customers. To this day, I still remember the heartwarming essays my customers wrote me in the feedback sections that made everyone tear up. Having the incentive to truly help a customer and go the extra mile for their needs is probably one of the best feelings of working at the Apple Store.
Managements Are More Like Friends
Ever since training, managers (or we call them leaders) are always there with us in almost every situation. They tend to position themselves more as colleagues than supervisors. I must admit that most of them have different styles but the fact that they always stand in the salesfloor with the specialists is always encouraging. When it gets busy, they normally do not hesitate to put a pause to their work to step in and help. Even the main leader (the big boss for the store) knows how to make a sales transaction and setup phone services on their device. I think this structure of leadership is beneficial to most specialists because the leaders will never disconnect with the lower-level employees. I'd say most of us see managers as friends or mentors who will encourage us than supervisors who are there to control and discipline employees. With the additional to professional development meeting and daily briefing, it is probably good to assume that Apple developed a team of transformational leaders.
Skills I Expected To Remember vs. Skills I Actually Retained
By the time I left, I felt that I learned so much about Apple Products. I can tell you the monthly dues for Verizon EPP without thinking, and I can walk you through the process of applying for a loan with my eyes closed. However, I also realized that I became way better at talking to visitors and solving problems for students when it comes to my other job on campus. It seemed that I became better at my ability to connect with others and making the deal happen. Looking back, the technical knowledge is long gone, but the skills such as "Apple Steps of Services( https://www.inc.com/carmine-gallo/5-steps-apple-retail-employees-use-to-sell-iphones-create-loyal-customers.html)" are still applicable to every other situation I have. Despite the focus on tech, I believe the skills and experiences are extremely valuable for the workforce.
Fun stories / facts
Since we all signed contracts not to discuss about our customers, I just want to point out those TikTok iPhone alarm pranks are getting more annoyed (if you know, you know).
And, 99.9999% of the customers are extremely friendly and understanding. The job feels so meaningful when you finally help them to better use or understand technology.
All Apple Store employees get discounts on all devices, so please become friends with them since they only have like 10 discounts they can give out (different story if you know someone who works at the corporate).
The screen protectors from the store have really good qualities, but you can probably get similar ones for less than $10 online.
As average customers, your iPhone probably does not need 512GB of storage. So please trust the Apple specialist when they try to sell you a lower-priced phone, there are no tricks.
I am a college student/someone looking to start their career, should I work at Apple Store?
(Well, the discount for itself will probably be worth it.) There are many opportunities for part-time or at-home work, and you can get access to their training to become better in many skills. Remember, they are not really looking for the most technical person at the Apple Store level because they can just teach you all those in a few weeks. It would be a good career starter for many (including me). So, you should definitely give it a try.
A few resources:
Apple Undergrads and Grad Student Programs: https://www.apple.com/jobs/us/students.html
Glassdoor Reviews for Specialist: https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Apple-Specialist-Reviews-EI_IE1138.0,5_KO6,16.htm
What's It Like to Work at Apple Store
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/review-working-apple-store-2020-douglas-liu?trk=public_profile_article_view