Best Retail Job But It's Still Just a Retail Job - Family Room Specialist Apple Employee Review

4.0
6 Apr 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Plenty of career development opportunities and support. Dedicated time allocated each month for self-guided training. Benefits are good; many healthcare options, matched 401k contributions, discounted stock options, etc. Discounts available on Apple and 3rd party products. Great managers and co-workers (depends on store though). Usually a very positive atmosphere.

Cons

It's a retail job with retail hours and slightly above average retail pay. Discounts aren't particularly deep and Apple makes a tidy profit from its own employees' purchases. Compensation doesn't match the skillset and knowledge required. FRS role is a blend of Genius and Creative whilst getting paid the same as a part-time entry-level Specialist. Specialists who are routinely selling $100k+ of goods per quarter will never earn even $40k annually. You definitely wont be able to afford a mortgage. You'll probably be grateful to afford rent within 5 miles of an Apple store. Just thinking about it will ruin your day. Apple is no longer allowing employees to specify a preferred weekend day off, so you get to pick a day off Mon-Thurs and hope you don't work all weekend. You're dealing with the public all day, some of whom have no sense of responsibility (or sense at all). Too many people fighting for too few higher-paid positions.

Explore other reviews about Apple

5.0
5 Jul 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good colleagues, supportive team environment, strong engineering culture, and good opportunities to learn and grow technically.

Cons

A fast-paced work environment can sometimes create high pressure, priorities may shift frequently, and work-life balance can be challenging during peak project cycles.

4.0
28 Aug 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

We work with geniuses - in every department, We create innovative products that thrill our customers and create new product categories - who else can say that?

Cons

ZERO ZERO ZERO work/life balance. Execs have been saying for YEARS that they understand and will make it better. But in actuality, it gets worse every year! It is obviously top management LIP SERVICE because if they meant it, they could fix it tomorrow. They have hundreds of BILLIONS in the bank. If they REALLY cared about employee work/life balance, they could bring aboard the right number of folks to make that issue dissolve. Sick of hearing the lies. Just don't lie about wanting to fix it, when they clearly DON'T care

1501
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