Know Your Macs? Apple Needs “Experts” for Retail Stores

Nicole Martinelli ()

Know Your Macs? Apple Needs “Experts” for Retail Stores

If the new blue "Expert" tee fits, wear it. Courtesy Apple.

If you know your way around Macs,  can untangle the gnarliest iPod problems and love sales, Apple wants you for its retail stores.

To handle the general surge in customers — Apple’s 5th Avenue store is outperforming Tiffany’s, to name just one — the stores are adding a new role called “Expert.”

Previously these were internal promotions, so it sounds like you’d have to be a cut above the average “Genius”  with an interest in sales and management.

Apple’s ideal Expert from the job description:

•    (Seeks) A career in sales where you can share your passion for Apple in a fast-paced and dynamic team environment.
•    You love working with people — it energizes you.
•    You embrace Apple’s standards of customer service and live them every day.
•    You like being the first person on the block to touch new technology. And you like to share that knowledge.
•    You love learning. And you’ll learn from people every day.

If you think you can cut it, it looks like every Apple retail store is on the lookout for in-house Experts to don the new sky-blue T-shirt.

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9 comments »

About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

If you're doing something new/cool that's Apple related, email her about it.

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Posted in News, Retail Stores |

  • Meghann

    *sigh*

    I’d love to work in an Apple store; two years to go until I finish school.

  • Alex

    From my experience with Apple stores it seems that most employees where folding t-shirts at the GAP before before they started work at Apple. If you really know something about computers why would you work in a retail store ?

  • Charli

    well Alex, lets look at it a different way.

    You are in the market for a new computer. You are a filmmaker and a musician so you want a machine that can work with software that is being used out there in the professional world (of which Final Cut and Logic are part of the game). You want the best value for your money since you are going to be spending a lot of it as you also need the software, backup drives, wireless router, perhaps an input keyboard, an analog to dig convertor for your old stuff and so on.

    would you rather go to a store where folks know the systems inside and out, know what configurations are truly needed for what you want to do, can teach you how to use the computer and that new and rather complex software etc.

    or some place where last week the guy in the computer department was working in refrigerators and just spent 20 minutes trying to look like the Z5 rating on that laptop you are checking out (yeah I like to prank the big boxes, sue me)

    Instead of asking why someone that knows computers would be working retail, be glad they do. and that they work for a company that isn’t about selling everyone the most expensive system.

    oh and I suspect that Apple employees get a pretty decent discount, which right there is a good reason to put in 12-15 hours a week

  • Alex

    So what store is that ? I know its not my local apple store …

    I play stump the apple employee every time I go there. But more annoyingly I have repeatedly seen apple staff give really bad advice to novice users and loading them all kinds of stuff they don’t need… I mainly to Apple stores to get a hands on look before I mail order form somewhere else for less money …

    And please remember not all Apple customers are filmmakers and a musicians or graphic artist some of us do productive work …

  • Former Employee

    Alex – they give bad advice because their promotions, raises, etc. depend on aggressively pushed sales metrics. Just selling the computer isn’t good enough, actually selling a “naked” computer without one to one, procare, apple care, mobile me, printers, etc. will hurt their percentages and they avoid it like the plague.

    Apple employees used to mostly be designers, artists, musicians, etc. who were using apple to make a living while doing their thing… But they went through a diversity kick followed by a quantity over quality phase.

  • shane

    Former employee – while it’s true that not everyone needs all those extras no doubt – a lot do and quite frankly the one to one service is awesome. I bought it for my dad when i bought his mac and he loves it. plus applecare if you need to use it will save your butt. When I’ve had to use it Apple was great to deal with and I’m glad I spent the money.

    And from my visits to my local Apple Store, I can tell you that most of the guys that I’ve spoken to there are artists – of course that could depend on where you are obviously but you are clearly generalizing.

  • Jeff

    I like how Alex makes fun of other people’s careers but then conspicuously declines to name his own line of work. What’s the matter, do you think we might not find it as ‘productive’ as you claim it is?

  • chano

    So many jealous folk who can’t afford a Mac playing the shrewish wife here. Sad, but that’s what Windoze does to ya. Get over it guys. Buy a Mac. You’ll feel better. You may even smile again. And you’ll be able to stop taking those pills.

  • Alex

    I was just asking a question Jeff but if you want to know …

    I’m a hydrographic surveyor .. in other words I map the oceans, rivers and lakes for various projects ranging from purely scientific research, searching for ship wrecks, making nautical charts ( some of my work can be found in google earth ), surveying routes for undersea cables and pipelines, to working on large construction projects all over the world. My work has taken me to every continent and over 30 countries…

    So what do you do Jeff ?