Company: Apple
Date: 2016-07-07
Overall rating: 5/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Great place to work, but difficult to advance
Pros: Pay is good, benefits are great, and I've never worked with a better group of people in my life. Apple really does attract the best people, and affords many opportunities to develop skills. Coworkers are skilled, friendly, and always ready to help. You are never looked down upon for asking for assistance or second opinion. Apple lets you develop your own style, and explore becoming the best version of your self.
Cons: Retail hours and scheduling errors can be tiring, and things are always up in the air. Apple embraces change, which is good, but there are a lot of things that slip through the cracks. Reviews, off the floor training/development time, and manager face time were sparse, meaning you had to nag a manager to stand out. 
Merit increases were measured against very high standards, which means sub-par raises unless you advance, which is difficult to do beyond Expert or Genius (upper tier retail sales/support respectively). You were expected to put in extra time or out of role experiences to stand out, but then discouraged from working overtime or off the clock. 
Advancement into management was typically very political, and personality was often chosen over skill for leadership.