Company: Apple
Date: 2015-12-12
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Good if you drink the cool aid.
Pros: When management is good they are excellent. They moved mountains to allow me to take parental leave when it was important for me to do so. There is a great deal of pride in the company from Apple employees, which is justified. Having the brand on ones resume is surprisingly influential. The employee discount is very generous. Some of the customer interactions are very fulfilling on a human level. It is relatively easy to transfer stores, even internationally.
Cons: There is a great deal of competition between staff members and it is usually the ones who evangelise the brand most who come out on top, regardless of performance. More than once I was passed over for promotions or other rewards such as trips to Cupertino and additional training opportunities, despite consistently being one of the stores top performers (contrary to popular belief, Apple Store employees do have targets). This is one of the reasons I left; management did not want to take me out of my sales position (known internally as 'the Red Zone') where I was a solid performer and allow me to stretch my wings. I was only the second person in the stores history to receive the maximum possible ranking in my annual review. Subsequently I saw many junior staff members whom I tried move ahead given opportunities I missed out on which eventually made me feel disillusioned.