Company: Apple
Date: 2010-03-22
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: current

Reinventing retail?  Not for the employees.
Pros: Many of your co-workers will be intelligent, funny people who are a real pleasure to work with and to get to know.  You'll be able to tell everyone you know that you work for Apple, which carries a certain respect with it.  Your healthcare benefits package will be excellent.  You'll never have to use a PC at work.
Cons: First of all, despite what you're told at hiring events and new employee training, you don't really work for Apple, Inc.  Instead, you work for Apple Retail, which is for all intents and purposes an entirely different company.  There is little to no career connection between the two, and retail employees are looked upon as second class citizens by corporate employees.  Your chances of getting promoted from Apple Retail to Apple Corporate are no better than they would be if you worked for anywhere else.  In fact, they might be worse.

The day to day routine of working for Apple Retail has some significant problems.  You can expect that your needs will always come second to "the needs of the business."  In fact, anytime you hear that phrase, be prepared for the next sentence to describe how you're going to be screwed.  For example, "I'm sorry, Joe, but the needs of the business dictate that you can't take a vacation between October and February, or June through September" or "Well, the needs of the business mean we can't give you a fixed schedule."  Your schedule will be erratic.  You may work from 2 PM to 12 AM on Tuesday and be expected to come in at 8 AM the following day.  If there's a product being launched (iPhone, iPad, etc), you may be asked to work overnight to set up the store, then come back in the next day and work another shift.  Sometimes you're asked to work straight through.  During normal weeks your shifts will often be right in the middle of the day, leaving you little time to accomplish anything before or after.  No scheduling preference is given based on seniority, family considerations, or any other factor.  Any and all time off must be requested in writing, often several months in advance, but your schedule won't arrive until a few days before it goes into effect.  Long stretches of the year are blacked out for vacation time, due to the needs of the business.  Favored employees will often be given a pass to take vacations during this time, especially senior managers.

Your coworkers will be neatly divided into two groups: those who are able to rationalize any decision made by Apple Inc, and those who understand the company for what it really is.  There will be many more of the former than the latter.  If you're a member of the relentlessly optimistic tribe, you can probably do very well in Apple Retail.  If you're not, be prepared to hear impromptu speeches about how Apple products "change" and "enrich" people's lives, and how amazing it is to work at Apple.  Many of these people will be older, and some will have either failed at or quit other careers to sell computers for a few dollars above minimum wage, which adds an undertone of desperation to their happy message.  If you find yourself in the less optimistic camp, be prepared to be part of a very small minority, and get ready to hear about it when you decide to speak your mind.  In fact, don't speak your mind.

Overall, Apple Retail is a place that spends a lot of time and money to promote the idea that they Really Care about their employees.  One of the first things you're given when you're hired is the Credo Card, which lays out all that Apple Retail stands for and believes in.  The very first line of the card is, "At Apple our heart and soul is our people."  But what you'll come to realize over time is that Apple Retail doesn't care about you at all.  They care about making money, and above all pleasing the customers.  And that's it.

If you hope to have a long, successful and rewarding career at Apple Retail, you'd better really love retail for it's own sake.  Loving the products isn't enough, in time you'll grow to resent them.  You need to love all the complicated, illogical, arcane intricacies that make up the American retail model.  If you do, you'll probably do very well at Apple.  If not, it won't be long before you'll be looking for a way out.