The employment process at the Apple Store or How to hire for your cult

Last year, I found myself in a unique situation where I has a chance to peek behind the curtain at one of the most secretive companies in technology. I had been in sales for a few years and was told I would be needing a new job. I had been going to the Apple store for a long while and decided that if I spent my spare time there, I might as well try to work there. I went to my local store and applied using a computer there. I applied for a specialist position with the company and waited.

Before I go into too much detail about the process, I want to touch a bit on the history of the store. In early 2000, Steve Jobs recruited Ron Johnson from Target to create a new store that would feature Apple products. Steve had noticed that in most retail stores at the time, Apple products were displayed in the back of stores, and often sold by people who didn't understand them. Ron created the store experience from scratch using concierge desks as his inspiration. Ten years and over 300 store later, the Apple store has become a huge success and a major revenue stream for Apple. In my hometown of Las Vegas, there are 3 stores. Two on The Strip, and one 3 miles south on Las Vegas Boulevard. I applied for all 3.

Prior to the Apple store, I'd become accustomed to a certain process when it comes to hiring. Apply to a company, get a call back, go for interview, get job. Because of this, I assumed the process would take a few weeks at the most. I applied to the company with in June of 2010 and then I waited for a call/email. And waited. Two weeks later, I went to the store to follow up about the application. The manager of the store spoke to me and put me through my first interview. He said he was impressed and I would hear back from him later. And then nothing. Again.

Three month later, I checked my email and the account I used for my Apple ID had a message from Apple. I'd been invited to a "Group interview" where I would be interviewing with roughly 60 other people. The time came and I went to a local hotel not knowing what I was getting in to. They introduced all the employees by name and after that everyone in the group did the same. We then watched a video about the Apple store and after, we broke up into groups of 3-4 people. The idea was to play specialist in several hypothetical scenarios designed to see which people knew the products and which didn't. After that, there was a written test about Apple products with questions like "What's the difference between an iPhone 3GS and an iPhone 4" and "define RAM to someone who's buying their first computer ever." After this, we shook hands and went home. About two hours later, I received a call from Apple to come back the next day for a "panel interview". I went and interviewed with three Apple employees(interestingly, only one was in management) with 2 other people. We were given random questions like "describe a difficult customer and what you did to handle him/her." Once we answered all the questions they had, we were told that if we made it through this interview, we'd come back the next day for the "final" interview with the regional manager for Las Vegas.

In case you're keeping track, that's 4 interviews for an entry level retail position. I understand that the process to be an engineer or developer at a company is intense, but this isn't a position that requires a graduate level education. But because Apple has a unique user base, they can be that selective. And it's that selectivity that ensures the continued success of the store. Not anyone can work there. And the employees know it. Because of the fact that Apple retail is more selective than Harvard, the people who get in feel like they've won the lottery. Even though they'd likely be paid the same at Best Buy, the attrition rate at the Apple store is nonexistent. Next time you're in the Apple store look at the employees. Odds are you won't see anyone who isn't thrilled to be there. And that's the biggest secret I learned going through the process. The success of the Apple store comes from several factors, but the biggest one is the people in the store itself.

Epiloge: I didn't get the job. Oh well. It all worked out for the best.

The retail distribution strategy of Apple INC or No iPad for you

Economic theory states that in order for a sale to occur, there must be 3 factors: The seller must have product to sell and the buyer must be willing and able to purchase the product. I want an iPad 2. I have the money to purchase an iPad 2. But I do not have an iPad 2. And I'm unlikely to get one in the next week.

Why? Because Apple stores citywide(I'm in Las Vegas), are totally sold out. And the stores won't receive any more until Monday at the earliest. Now, I understand fully that demand for the iPad 2 would likely be at historically high levels for months on end, just like it did for the original. But this is different. When you know that based on prior history that the demand level at launch was be X, it's logical to imply that the demand for the next generation of the product will at least match X, market conditions being equal. So it's highly unlikely that the demand levels took Apple by surprise. From a manufacturing perspective, the factories in Shenzhen have been working 24/7 and Apple has locked up all the manufacturing capacity it needs. It also knows how to ship products in large volume.

Please let me make clear that I have no inside information about Apple, it's supply chain, or it's retail policies. Having said that, I think that the most plausible reason that Apple is delaying the roll out of the iPad is because they can. There exists a long and storied history of businesses that have flipped the script on the usual customer service dynamic. And have thrived in doing so. Basically, Apple has decided that they will sell these devices on their terms because they have a proven history that people will buy at whatever price Apple feels like selling. They have a product that people want and rather than sell them as fast as possible, they'd rather have a steady stream of profits. In other words, they'd rather have 3 or 4 very good quarters, than 1 fantastically amazing quarter, 2 very good quarters, and 1 ok quarter until the iPad 3 launches.(As an aside, Apple need not worry about the holday quarter. They'll do just fine without doing a new iPad until next year.) It's become akin to the Soup Nazi episode on Seinfeld.

While I can fully understand this logic in most places, this is Las Vegas. And they ran out a full 10 hours before the stores close. That means that for the next 10 hours people came in to the store, played with the demo iPad units, and fell in love with the product enough to buy it. How many scores of sales did they miss out on? This is a unique town. People come here from all over the planet to relax, have fun and do things they wouldn't dare at home. That's a major reason why I moved here. And yet, Apple, in their infinite wisdom decided to leave what could be tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table. There are few rules in sales, but one that is as old as time itself is you don't leave money on the table. Apple could've charged more for the iPad 2. Their policies would certainly indicate that was the goal. But Steve and friends instead decided to drastically limit the supply of their product, without the resultant increase in price. Why? Ultimately I don't know. But I do know it's very disheartening to go to the Apple store expecting to get a new iPad, only to have the young lady at the store say "No iPad for you!" And so there we leave this discussion. For now at least, no iPad for me. :(

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