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566 genius interview questions shared by candidates

Standard interview questions. They are just looking for someone who loves Apple, and who is friendly, excited, and outgoing. Even for technical positions like Genius, they don't seem as concerned as they should be about your technical knowledge. They think customers would prefer someone who knows less, but is bubbly, than someone who knows Mac computers inside and out, but is more reserved.
avatar

Genius

Interviewed at Apple

4.1★
Aug 18, 2013

Standard interview questions. They are just looking for someone who loves Apple, and who is friendly, excited, and outgoing. Even for technical positions like Genius, they don't seem as concerned as they should be about your technical knowledge. They think customers would prefer someone who knows less, but is bubbly, than someone who knows Mac computers inside and out, but is more reserved.

-------------- First: group interview (30 applicants, 2 hrs long) As with what everyone else says, take initiative, talk confidently, show up, shine brightly, and make sure you make an impression on your recruiting team. However, it's more important to show you are a leader who leads from behind---promote teamwork within your team is crucial. Secret tip: I always make sure for a group interview, I stay afterwards and ask questions, get some feedback, or even just chitchat for a bit, just to get that extra few minutes to connect with the recruiter or manager. If they ask you further questions or show keen interest in you, you're probably in their good book! You will be broken up into groups at times and watch some videos about Apple at other times. It's good to know a bit about Apple's history in advance. 1. Intro: introduce your partner (2 min) You will be partnered up with another applicant to find out a bit about each other. You will then introduce your partner. Questions: Current position. Hobby. Who inspired you and why. This is a crucial time to make a first impression. Raise your hand and be ready to jump up. I promoted my partner a great deal to make THEM look like an ideal Apple employee. 2. Group of four. Present in one sentence why Apple is the highest retailer on planet. There is no right approach, really. It's what your team collaboratively comes up with. Show up as a leader, make sure everyone is involved in discussion, or at least contribute. We went for a very short and simple sentence as our group feels that Apple is about simplicity. 3. Two big groups. Each group is led by an Apple recruiter. This is where things can get intimidating if you are not prepared or if you are not good at improvising at the drop of a hat. My suggestion is to look up lists of typical behavioral questions that interviews often ask, and formulate answers for them in advance. Make sure you practice, practice, practice. They want to see STAR in your answer (Situation-Task-Action-Result). But to be honest, it's not as much about your answer (although interesting cases will be more impressionable) as much as your logic, confidence, and body language. I used to be a recruiter for many years, and typically it really comes down to your overall presence. Ex: 1. Give me a time where you initiated a process that got recognized and taken into effect. 2. Give me a time where you did something that beat the competitors. 3. Tell me a time where your efforts did not come to fruition. 4. Q/A: It's good to raise questions, and Apple recruiters are very good about pre-empting as well.
avatar

Genius

Interviewed at Apple

4.1★
Feb 5, 2014

-------------- First: group interview (30 applicants, 2 hrs long) As with what everyone else says, take initiative, talk confidently, show up, shine brightly, and make sure you make an impression on your recruiting team. However, it's more important to show you are a leader who leads from behind---promote teamwork within your team is crucial. Secret tip: I always make sure for a group interview, I stay afterwards and ask questions, get some feedback, or even just chitchat for a bit, just to get that extra few minutes to connect with the recruiter or manager. If they ask you further questions or show keen interest in you, you're probably in their good book! You will be broken up into groups at times and watch some videos about Apple at other times. It's good to know a bit about Apple's history in advance. 1. Intro: introduce your partner (2 min) You will be partnered up with another applicant to find out a bit about each other. You will then introduce your partner. Questions: Current position. Hobby. Who inspired you and why. This is a crucial time to make a first impression. Raise your hand and be ready to jump up. I promoted my partner a great deal to make THEM look like an ideal Apple employee. 2. Group of four. Present in one sentence why Apple is the highest retailer on planet. There is no right approach, really. It's what your team collaboratively comes up with. Show up as a leader, make sure everyone is involved in discussion, or at least contribute. We went for a very short and simple sentence as our group feels that Apple is about simplicity. 3. Two big groups. Each group is led by an Apple recruiter. This is where things can get intimidating if you are not prepared or if you are not good at improvising at the drop of a hat. My suggestion is to look up lists of typical behavioral questions that interviews often ask, and formulate answers for them in advance. Make sure you practice, practice, practice. They want to see STAR in your answer (Situation-Task-Action-Result). But to be honest, it's not as much about your answer (although interesting cases will be more impressionable) as much as your logic, confidence, and body language. I used to be a recruiter for many years, and typically it really comes down to your overall presence. Ex: 1. Give me a time where you initiated a process that got recognized and taken into effect. 2. Give me a time where you did something that beat the competitors. 3. Tell me a time where your efforts did not come to fruition. 4. Q/A: It's good to raise questions, and Apple recruiters are very good about pre-empting as well.

------------------ Third interview: A day after the second interview, I received another call for third manager with the store manager for the following week. Also about 30 min long. I was told to not worry, relax and just be myself. It ended up being another casual 30 min chat, very organic, not structured. The manager is nice and chatty, although I was still a bit intimidated by him! 1. He introduced himself, his position, how he got there, Apple retail operation, philosophy, etc. 2. He asked me the usual: Tell me about yourself, what do you want to get out of working here, why work at Apple, which positions are you interested and why. 3. As I told him about myself (probably talked a little too much on my part), the manager started digging in to make sure I would be a good fit for his team. He also was quick to ask and notice everything about me. For instance, he noticed I had several months off, so he asked me immediately "what have you been doing those past few months?" probably just to see how I would occupy my time. 4. He was pretty insistent on the heavy workload, lots of hours, fast-paced, needing people who will be totally flexible and dedicated, and total Saturday and Sunday availability because they are so busy on weekend. (All true, by the way, this job is no cake walk!) 5. Finally, as usual, your interview will end with "do you have questions for me?" Prepare lots because this is where they will give great insight, like what is challenging to them, how Apple's training is more about psychology (on you and customers') ------------------ Afterwards, I was told by the store manager to wait patiently (he waited six months without ever hearing from Apple). It did take about 4 weeks for my offer to come, but every week, I would get either a phone call or an email to tell me that they are still working on my application. So, if you don't hear back from them, don't panic, but feel free to follow up with them. Getting the names and emails of interviews is a good idea in general so you can send them a thank you letter, which no one does anymore!
avatar

Genius

Interviewed at Apple

4.1★
Feb 5, 2014

------------------ Third interview: A day after the second interview, I received another call for third manager with the store manager for the following week. Also about 30 min long. I was told to not worry, relax and just be myself. It ended up being another casual 30 min chat, very organic, not structured. The manager is nice and chatty, although I was still a bit intimidated by him! 1. He introduced himself, his position, how he got there, Apple retail operation, philosophy, etc. 2. He asked me the usual: Tell me about yourself, what do you want to get out of working here, why work at Apple, which positions are you interested and why. 3. As I told him about myself (probably talked a little too much on my part), the manager started digging in to make sure I would be a good fit for his team. He also was quick to ask and notice everything about me. For instance, he noticed I had several months off, so he asked me immediately "what have you been doing those past few months?" probably just to see how I would occupy my time. 4. He was pretty insistent on the heavy workload, lots of hours, fast-paced, needing people who will be totally flexible and dedicated, and total Saturday and Sunday availability because they are so busy on weekend. (All true, by the way, this job is no cake walk!) 5. Finally, as usual, your interview will end with "do you have questions for me?" Prepare lots because this is where they will give great insight, like what is challenging to them, how Apple's training is more about psychology (on you and customers') ------------------ Afterwards, I was told by the store manager to wait patiently (he waited six months without ever hearing from Apple). It did take about 4 weeks for my offer to come, but every week, I would get either a phone call or an email to tell me that they are still working on my application. So, if you don't hear back from them, don't panic, but feel free to follow up with them. Getting the names and emails of interviews is a good idea in general so you can send them a thank you letter, which no one does anymore!

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