Steve Jobs, as you know, placed high demands on both himself and others. The same demands are placed on potential Apple employees who apply not just for technical or managerial positions but also for work at the Apple stores. Situations when a candidate goes through five rounds of interviews before he can get a part-time job at an Apple store are not uncommon.
The aim is to hire people who will appeal more by their personalities than just skills. Managers who are hiring new members to their teams fill in questionnaires to evaluate individual skills of job applicants to provide outstanding customer experience through three questions:
Do they show sufficient grit?
Grit is meant to be the ability to act under pressure, have courage and confidence. Applicants, however, must not be arrogant. If they claim to know everything about the company's products, they do not pass. The ones who recognize that they do not know everything and show enthusiasm to lear will win.
Can they offer customer service at the Ritz-Carlton level?
This evaluation criterion focuses on the applicants' superior skills in customer care. Applicants must clearly specify examples of how to deal with customers, gain their interest and enthusiasm. They are expected to act in the spirit of the Apple's Five Steps of Service.
Would they manage a discussion with Steve Jobs?
Applicants must be aware of the Apple products and technologies. In addition, they must have their own opinion, be able to express it and fight for it. "We're brutally honest with each other," Steve Jobs himself once said to describe the corporate ulture.
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