Tips on getting an Apple job and what to expect

Applepeels is moving to a slightly different focus, I am putting together elements of what I hope will become a book on what Apple taught me about being successful.  I want to share some of the writing that will make up the book.

There are lots of people who dream of working at Apple. While a role in the retail store gives folks a serious taste of Apple.  Getting inside the mothership is an amazing challenge. The time at Apple might not turn out to be the same as the dream, but it is more than just a worthwhile experience.  A spot at Apple is a crash course in some of the best and worst things in corporate America.  It can be the experience that tells you what you want or don't want in your life.

I have heard it said that if you can work, survive, and thrive at Apple, you can be successful anywhere. I believe that to be true.  I also hold true the recurring internal Apple joke that a year at Apple is like a dog year equivalent to seven years.  Apple can be the most frustrating place on earth, and it can be the most exciting.  It can also be like a pressure cooker.

Assuming all of this sounds interesting and not frightening, what are the steps to getting a job in one of America's most intensely watched companies?  The first one, which is important above all others, is figure out how to meet someone who is working for Apple.  The retail stores are pretty well their own world so I'm not certain if or how they can serve the same function that I'm about to describe. 

In relative terms, outside of Cupertino and a few other spots, non-store Apple people are very rare.  So meeting one of these elusive Apple employees can be a challenge.  It is one of the reasons I writing about it now since MacWorld is one of the best opportunities to start getting to know someone at Apple.

Given the right opportunity, most at Apple like to talk about their job.  Just don't be a deranged American idol kind of person who wildly over estimates their own abilities.  You aren't going to get in Apple unless you're really good at something.  The love of Apple technology can only carry you so far, so plan to have something else on your resume beside having used Apple products all your life.  A passion to succeed and being very good at what you do should be very evident

So assuming you can meet an Apple person, establish some kind of contact without being a pest, what can knowing someone from Apple do for you?  Most importantly it gives you someone who can try to put your resume someplace besides the black hole that sucks up Internet submissions of resumes at Apple.

Secondly your inside contact at Apple can watch for open spots or opportunities.  Apple managers have a tremendous amount of discretion.  They're also often under pressure to hire someone before the spot disappears.  Apple operates under Steve's personal vision that being understaffed is a way of life so there's a very healthy competition for headcount. Apple HR folks are so overwhelmed with resumes that they rarely have time to do much for managers outside of Cupertino.  The good resume that is thrown on the hiring manager's desk will often be an easier choice than an HR resume especially if the one on the desk has a personal note from someone at Apple.

This isn't a short process. It isn't one where you're taking advantage of an Apple person either.  Apple often pays a cash bonus to employees who refer someone for a job and stay a significant time. Apple employees tend to have their antennae out for potential employees.  Usually a team at Apple has far more work than people so a team that is short someone usually means a job isn't getting done.  There are no spare employees wandering around Apple.

There are some variations.  One of the best routes to Apple is the Apple intern program if you can get into it.  A variation on that is the Apple student rep program run by Apple high education account executives.  I know a number of Apple employees who were once Apple student reps.  You can get a tremendous amount of visibility as a student rep.  You learn enough to hit the ground running as an Apple sales person or system engineer so you can become an easy hire.

Being an easy hire is important at Apple since most managers have almost no time to train people. Which means that going to work at Apple could result in you having to figure out part of your Apple job on your own, but that is another story.

In my case, I saw Steve Jobs demonstrate the original Mac in Toronto in spring of 1984.  It was then I decided that I wanted to work for Apple.  By October of 1984 I had been hired for a start at Apple on November 24, 1984.  I had to leave a job at an Apple reseller, and spend a month waiting for the Apple job to even be posted.  Next I had to move my family on the day after Christmas that year in a blizzard.

Still I've never regretted it.

Comments

[running idiot]

you still want your job, don't you :)

[ocracokewaves]

Of course I would love to sell Apple products, I did if for twenty-two years.

Still I would not want to do it for the folks who are in charge at the field sales level right now.

There are probably some current field sales people at Apple who would agree with me on that, but often the loyalty to the product and to the customer keeps them at Apple even when it isn't a lot of fun.

There were some really great years at Apple, and two really nasty ones that I would not care to repeat.

I'm off to a new career as are many of the great people I knew there.

I'll keep the memories, the friends, and the wall of awards, now packed away in a box.

http://coastalnc.org/AppleAwardsWall.htm

I don't know that I would want the stress again of selling to the enterprise for a company whose heart is firmly in the consumer world.

Who knows, using Macs might make me a better real estate broker.

[Mike Kingsley]

Good posting. Of course at one point of my life - like when I was 18 I would have loved to work for Apple. But in a way I am glad I never had the opportunity. I am instead an Apple Consultant which I feels has a perfect mix for the person who loves Apple technologies and knows a lot about the details, but it keeps an immunity from Apple ;) It's definitely something to keep in mind for those 'youngins looking at possibilities. You can always work with Apple instead of for Apple.

[Mack]

Hi there, I would love to know little bit more about your personal experience with apple sir. I know you have given alot of details already but maybe alittle more about what kind of jobs you had to do and how did you start off...I am, my self thinking to apply for apple, there is a new branch opening in my tow and I would love to work in it...so just before i send my CV(resume) to apple. If they were to open a new store then would they take someone who applies online or there will be another position. what chance do I have to get in...I do have 6+ years of sales and customer service experience and I will be great as a "Genius" as I always take apart macs and do put them together.

[wade]

That was a great post. I have been trying for over a year to get a job at apple. Just earlier today i put another application in through apple.ca site. I live in Toronto as well. Do you have any other pointers. There are seriously only two things i love in life - Apple products and Fitness & Health. Im studying the latter and would like to get experience in the previous.

Any other tips. Please feel free to email.