
The hiring process to become an Apple Store "Genius" - jseliger
http://www.macblogz.com/2008/09/26/leaked-apple-genius-position-hiring-documents
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jm4
There is not anything particularly remarkable about this interview process or
offer letter. I am not sure why the author would even write about this. If
anything, I think it only makes him seem like a jerk. This guy applied and
interviewed for a position he had no intention of accepting just so he could
blog about it. This not only wastes an employer's time and money, but also
robs another potential candidate of the opportunity for consideration.

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unalone
Yeah. It's a pretty trashy blog, judging by this article. And here I expected
something really interesting.

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hugh
I can't escape the feeling that while seventeen bucks an hour is pretty good
for a retail position, it's pretty lousy for anyone with the word "Genius" in
their job title.

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cperciva
The word "genius" falls into the "if it's in your job title, you're not it"
category.

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eru
That's the same with 'science' in the name of fields and 'democratic' for
countries.

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cperciva
Yes, I was thinking of the comment that "if the name of your field includes
the word 'science', it's not a science" when I wrote that.

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cookiecaper
Sounds just like the hiring process to become anything else. Send in a resume,
go to an interview, get job offer. Cool?

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mattmaroon
I'm astounded it pays that well. That's $34k a year plus benefits to tell
people which iPod they should pick. I wish they had Apple stores when I was in
college.

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sant0sk1
I've struggled with deciding which job I would abhor more.

    
    
      A) Apple store genius
      B) Geek Squad member
    

Sounds like a fun poll opportunity.

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mattmaroon
I'd bet the Geek Squad doesn't pay $17/hr. Also, Apple doesn't make you drive
around in a VW Bug painted in such a way as to somehow be even more
emasculating than that car is normally. I always wonder what those cars burn
faster, gasoline, or the self-esteem of the man behind the wheel.

Plus, I know the number 1 question people ask me when they find out I "work in
computers", as they say, is "how do I make this Dell I got 7 years ago run
faster?" At least with Apple, nobody owns one that's over 2 years old.

Even though I loathe the fanboys, I think I'd take the Apple store hands down.

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josefresco
Customer question: How do I make my 7 year old computer run faster?

Apple 'Genius': Buy a new Mac. Geek Squad: Uninstall bloated apps, remove
startup programs, buy (cheap) memory upgrade, run optimization utilities etc.

Which answer takes more 'genius'?

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nihilocrat
Ok, I'm calling foul here. I had a friend who was trying to buy some new RAM
for his older system. He is not super-nerdy so he took the RAM stick to Best
Buy to see if they sold a similar module, or could at least tell him what sort
of RAM it is. The Geek Squad guy took a look at the module, noticed that it
was old, and immediately gave him a pitch about buying a new computer. The the
PC platform has arguably a better set of tools and third party components out
there to make more use out of old equipment, but Best Buy is still a company
that sells computers, and thus make the most money by convincing people to
throw out their old systems.

It ended up being an RDRAM module and thus could only realistically be found
online, but people who are trying to upgrade an old system don't appreciate
being given a sales pitch, especially if, god forbid, they are poor.

