Page 49 - The Apple Experience

Step One

The first step is to put a group of candidates in a room with other

candidates, hiring managers, and Apple Store employees. According to

Allen, the interviews are very informal and there does not seem to be a

standard set of questions for the interview. Sometimes candidates are asked

simple questions such as, “What is your favorite ice cream?” These questions

are meant to see who speaks up, how well they project, and how confident

they are in front of others. Wallflowers are quickly weeded out. The larger
group is broken up into smaller groups of about four to five people and asked

questions about how they would respond to a potential situation: for

example, a customer comes in with an iPhone that doesn’t work. How would

the candidates handle it? The answer is less important than how the

candidate arrived at the answer. A “know-it-all” might not last to the next

round. The person who doesn’t know the answer but who interacted with the

group and even asked for help is the one who stands out. Apple is looking for

people who exhibit the traits of a team player. A very small percentage of the
larger group gets called back for step two in the hiring—or the weeding

out—process. One applicant who went through the process posted this

description on his blog:

The meeting was held at an Apple store after it had closed for
the day. There were about twenty applicants there. Once we

had all arrived, store management performed introductions and
told us they were going to be hiring some of us to fill various

positions. We were asked to go around the room, introduce
ourselves, tell why we wanted to work for Apple, and

something unique or interesting about ourselves. Next, they

surprised us by giving us five minutes to create an “About Me”