Company: Apple
Date: 2012-03-07
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former

Great company, great employees, particularly poor management at some stores
Pros: -Friends you work with
-Recognition from peers
-Fast paced environment
-Consistant training and development
-Opportunity to 'wow' customers
-Rotating hours, gives you a chance to enjoy morning shifts and night shifts
Cons: -Specific stores have poor management:
Some 'leaders' were brought in from various retail chains like AE and GAP, which have little or nothing to do with how Apple is as a company. Clothing retail chains do not reflect the type of environment that managers need to succeed with Apple. Speaking literally for multiple employees, there are/were managers that work(ed) at this particular store and held down the talent of some employees that were really special. Maybe the management felt threatened? Maybe they can't understand the true potential of these workers? Either way, I have kept in contact with these people that were held back from getting a chance to succeed in Apple, and they have gone on to be extremely successful! A.k.a, from the 3 I know who left from being held down by these team 'leaders', 2 are managers in their own career field (IT and Engineering), and the other owns his own business! Given the opportunity, I believe Apple would have been better off recycling its own employee potential, and should have given these folks an opportunity with other stores, or within their own store.

Honestly, I can point back to where Apple 'harvests' its management from, and its not usually from its own employees, but from other retail chains that can't touch the high bar to how amazing Apple retail really is. That is truly the darkside of some of these stores.