Difficult Interview – Overall Positive Experience – No – Wed, 8 Jul 2015
Interviewed Jun 2015 in Honolulu, HI(took 14 days)
I went through two stages of "interviews" at the Apple Store.
The first was a "Hiring Event" that was attended by around 30 applicants, in the store before opening.
The first thing activity involved talking to the person next to you and then introducing them to the room. They're getting a feel for your communication skills, and how easily you develop relationships with strangers.
We then sat through some videos showing different employees in different positions describing how great it is to work at Apple. After each video, we were asked to share our reactions. The workers standing around the store were definitely paying attention to which applicants shared comments, and what was said (definitely think of something to share!).
Finally, we were broken into small groups where we passed around an iPad (of course) which displayed a random interview question about past experiences and how you handled different situations with customers or team members. This was both fun and stressful, and many applicants (including myself) had to scramble for words once or twice.
I was invited back for the second stage, which was basically small group interviews in the hidden back rooms of the store. It lasted about an hour, and consisted of three applicants conversing with a pair of hiring managers for half the time, then another pair of hiring managers for the second half.
It was a very informal-feeling process, where they asked questions about what you like about the Apple Store and products, as well as what products you use and what you use them for; and questions aiming to get a sense of how you'd fit into their team, such as what skills you've gained from you school/work background. This was a much more comfortable experience, for me at least, as it felt like a casual conversation with friendly people.
A couple days after that, I received a generic "moving forward with other applicants at this time" email.
Interview Questions
Describe a time you went above and beyond for a customer.
Answer Question
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Group/Panel Interview