Company: Apple
Date: 2014-04-14
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

Fun, but somewhat frustrating.
Pros: Good salary. Good benefits.  The opportunity to work with decent people.  Management, that (so far) is uniformly bright, and pretty easy to work for.  Easy going, (in some respects) corporate culture. It is like any job, though, follow the rules, and you will have no problems.  The problems start when you don't reach your assigned goals, and metrics.  The metrics for At Home Advisors are not overly strict, nor impossible to meet.  All you have to do is show up, do the job according to established practices ( and trust me, once you start doing that, it gets a whole lot easier, and your metrics are met......).  The company is fun to work for, you get gifts every quarter (nice Apple-branded clothing, high quality commuter cups, and water bottles.  Sometimes you get silly things as well, but that's just part of the fun of working there.)   The training for At Home Advisors is about 5 or 6 weeks long, and it is kind of tough. It's not impossible, but it's not easy either.  The overall atmosphere is fun, and it's fairly easy going as well.  Working from home also has the benefit of being away from office gossip, and office politics. In addition there is the employee purchase plan for Apple devices, and, all kinds of discounts on other stuff as well.   Apple builds their support around "empathy", and building a relationship with the customer, so they feel as if they are getting personal service from  you.  It's a good thing, too.  I have done tech support in the past, both face-to-face and over the phone.  Apples formula for doing things, while  hard to get used to for the cynical, is really an effective way of dealing with customers. There is also plenty of opportunity to advance, and move into a full time gig.  Also, your manager is their to support you.  All of the managers I have had, have been involved, encouraging, and supportive, but there is no "hand holding".  You are expected to take what you have learned, and help customers.  Now, don't mistake that as meaning you are on your own with no support.  Quite the opposite.  There is tons of support, but once something is given to you to do, you are expected to complete it, or accomplish it in the agreed upon way.  There are no excuses.  Your manager is there to support you, help you sharpen your skills, and give you some best practices.  All of my managers came up through Tech Support, going from Tier 1 to  Tier 2, and then moving in to Team Managers.  They have been there, they know how it works, and their knowledge is what will help you get to the next level.
Cons: Constant Team Leader changes.  I am now on my 4th team manager in 18 months, all of them have been good so far, but, it does get a bit old  Hours and scheduling can be a bit crazy, you have to bid your shifts properly, so you get what you want.  One day per weekend is required, and that is your 8 hour day. You are generally kept at 20 hours a week.  If you take the benefits, (in my case it's for my entire family) anywhere from 25%-50% of your paycheck is gone.  Benefits, however, are good.   Customers... oh, the customers.... They can be draining..  Some of them are literally emotionally involved with their device.  I kid you not.  I have had customers crying because their Apple product is broken, and not working.  Many of the customer, in fact, the majority of them, are intelligent, and given to following instructions. But, as with any other call center job, there will always  be the difficult ones.