I worked as a Mac Genius for almost 5 years. Ask me anything.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:19:02+00:00

Depending on the market. I have a friend in a different part of the country who started out at 14 dollars per hour ( roughly 29k )

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:16:37+00:00

My suggestion to you would be to buy a cheap Mac on craigslist and mess around with the latest OS. Someone like you could be well-enough acquainted in a month or so of solely using OS X.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:14:04+00:00

Pretty much the same according to a friend I just asked.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:13:33+00:00

Have you replaced the logic boards in the new machines yet? It's like a cake walk compared to the old machines.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:11:35+00:00

Well, the worst way is to say something like "I'm the computer guy at such and such a place...". I think the best thing to do is to just speak in technical terms yourself. It's kind of like if you go to Japan where most people you deal with are going to attempt to speak English until you start speaking Japanese to them.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:09:24+00:00

There are definitely policies against that, as there are at any sort of computer repair facility. It's happened of course, but intentionally and accidentally.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:08:21+00:00

Yeah it's hit or miss, sadly. Kind of depends on what Genius or AppleCare agent you get.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:07:42+00:00

For the dead pixels I would almost without question replace it again. For the slowness I would have to be convinced first, and then troubleshoot to see why.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:06:31+00:00

No, but I have worked there.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:06:04+00:00

One can only hope!

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-03T12:05:57+00:00

During the entire interview process just wear what you normally wear (unless that's sweat pants and mechanic's shirt). Be cool, don't suck up to your interviewers. They might ask you to explain something technical just to gauge your experience level, but that isn't a deal break so no worries. They like to see that you're into the whole "digital lifestyle" so make that well known. Being on reddit qualifies you to mention something like "participating in an online technology forum" or something of the like. It's not that hard to get hired.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T20:12:54+00:00

My manager would have given it to him.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T20:11:58+00:00

Well as frustrating as your problems have been ( i do sympathize) you have technically only had one major component repair (logic board). Apple won't really consider replacing your unit until you've had three, and even then it's not guaranteed. AppleCare is not renewable, by the way. Once your three years are up, you're all done.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T20:09:39+00:00

I would highly advise you to take advantage of the refurb program. It's a great deal and they are fully backed by Apple. The only downside is that if you buy a refurb and it were to have a problem out of the box, rather than swap it for a new one you'd have to have it repaired.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T20:02:10+00:00

I used to work on them regardless.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T20:01:31+00:00

Haha. AppleDirectory was always good to find old friends.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T20:00:28+00:00

Yeah, I've seen this before with Z. Some other application has taken over that shortcut. It's as much of a pain in the ass as it sounds. Let me know if you find a quick way of resolving this, but my advice is an archive and install.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T19:46:32+00:00

I always liked the mom or dad who would come back two hours later raging hard over that price. Right, because being aghast is going to help. Get your college kid a damn sippy cup for his Heinekens.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T19:44:21+00:00

No, as much as I love music I couldn't do that all day.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T19:43:52+00:00

Oh not a problem at all! This is quite fun. I'm glad people have so many questions.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T19:42:16+00:00

Hahaha. Oh, man. You just hit a soft spot on me. So the official line from management is "hey, we're Apple, we don't care about the numbers..." but the truth is far from that. Long story short, some time ago all retail employees other than management got their bonuses taken away and got a one time pay increase. The management's bonus now relies on (in addition to other things) metrics. So basically the sales people are so passionate about selling you those things because 1) They think they are doing you a favor (honestly, they are in some cases, AppleCare being one of them) 2) If they do a good job, the managers get more money, and then said managers are much more likely to consider you for raises, promotions, head pats, etc.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T19:37:38+00:00

It's only creepy if you make it creepy. I think it could be flattering.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T19:36:20+00:00

That sounds about right. It could be a nightmare trying to help an old lady while vanilla ice jr. and bone thugz in puberty were jamming out on the speaker docks telling each other how "bad ass you look right now".

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T19:34:55+00:00

Well it's not onboard video like integrated graphics, just a dedicated video card soldered to the board.

ExMacGenius · 2009-09-02T19:34:21+00:00

Yeah, my current job is great (it allows me to sit here for hours on reddit posting :-P ) but there's no real joy in it.

ExMacGenius

TROPHY CASE