Company: Apple
Date: 2008-05-17
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current

Apple's a cutting edge, innovative company - join this booming industry as opportunities abound!
Pros: Apple is an innovative company on the cutting edge of the market.  The company itself has grown immensely in a relatively short amount of time - and that reason alone could be enough to jump on the bandwagon.  But when you combine the huge growth over the last few years with excellent products and one of the best customer service philosophies I've seen, it's ends up being a great place to work.  Apple employees get to interact with real people on a daily basis, just talking about what works for them and solutions they've found in a laid back, informative, and fun environment.  And, because Apple is in the incredibly fast-moving technology market, there's never a dull moment, as new products, services, and upgrades are always just around the corner.  Oh, and the discount's not to shabby either.
Cons: The downside with working at a retail store for Apple are the same downsides in any retail environment: employees must inevitably deal with down time on the nice weather days, endure the unreasonable and selfish customer issues, and start low on the totem poll in terms of wages.  Aside from the normal retail items, one must be comfortable with being referred to as a member of the Apple "cult."  This is a common statement from many people who aren't involved in the company.  Additionally, one must be comfortable with secrecy and a lack of communication from Apple corporate - all new inventions, upgrades, shipment information, changes in staffing, etc. is kept incredibly secret (ie: very often don't have any information on a new product until it arrives at the door 10 minutes before the store opens.)