Page 34 - The Apple Experience

The Soul of the Apple Store

If you’re looking for a “job,” Apple doesn’t want you. Apple prefers to hire

people who hear a “calling” to apply. Apple hires people who want to play a
role in creating the best-loved technology on the planet. Apple hires people

who take joy in helping others discover tools they can use to change the way

they live, work, and play. Apple hires enthusiastic people who want to help

others achieve their dreams. It’s a philosophy Steve Jobs instilled in the

culture. Andy Hertzfeld, an original member of the Apple team and now an

engineer at Google, once said that what Jobs taught him was to “follow your

heart” and only great work comes out of doing what you adore. Hertzfeld was

walking with Jobs near his home in Palo Alto, California. It was around the

time the Internet bubble was minting millionaires all around them and those
who weren’t rich yet were talking about “exit strategies”—selling quickly for a

profit. “It’s such a small ambition and sad, really,” Jobs said. “They should
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want to build something, something that lasts.”

Apple creates a customer service culture that lasts because it hires for

personality. The company cannot train for personality. No company can. The

filtering process begins at the Apple website, which specifically states the

company is only looking for people who want to change the world and who
want to positively impact the lives of others: “Like when someone creates

their first video with iMovie. Surfs the Internet—the real Internet—on an

iPhone. Or uses the built-in iSight camera to video chat with their

grandchildren. Making it all happen can be hard work. And you could

probably find an easier job someplace else. But that’s not the point, is it?”
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On the tenth anniversary of the Apple Store, the company created a

poster that was circulated among its employees. It was meant to inspire

employees and capture the spirit of the company. But if you read the poster