Steve Jobs job application sells for over $174,000 at auction

AppleInsider

Three items signed by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs have been sold at auction, the most lucrative being a teenage job application which went for roughly $174,757, including the buyer's premium.

The winner of the document was an "internet entrepreneur from London" who wants to stay anonymous, RR Auction said on Friday. Jobs filled out the application in 1973 at the age of 18, in some cases using extremely vague answers, such as "Reed College" for his address, and "electronics tech or design engineer. digital.-- from Bay near Hewitt-Packard" to describe his special abilities.

Jobs soon ended up working at Atari alongside Steve Wozniak. Apple would be founded a few years later, in 1976.

A "Mac OS X Administration Basics" manual sold at the auction for about $41,807, while a 2008 WWDC article from the Palo Alto Daily Post raked in $26,950. All three items went for well above their estimated values, which were $50,000, $25,000, and $15,000, respectively.

Jobs only rarely gave out his autograph, and even when he did, reluctantly. He died in October 2011.

quadra 610

“Possible, but not probable”.

I can use this everywhere.  

daven

Proof that some people have more money than than should.

sflocal

quadra 610 said:

“Possible, but not probable”.

I can use this everywhere.  

Even at age of 18, he was already predicting the abilities of Android.

Folio

That application would be perfect artifact for new campus. Inspiring to all. Cheers to winning bidder. Hope it ends up w Apple eventually

DavidAlGregory

Sad thing is that an application like this would never make it past the first (computerized) level of HR screening at Apple- or Wal-Mart today. Years ago the interview was where you could find diamonds in the rough and hire people who did not look special on a CV. Today only a handful ever get the call back for an interview.

SpamSandwich

daven said:

Proof that some people have more money than than should.

Or proof that value is relative and at the right price, anything can be bought or sold.

chasm

I was quite confused about the penultimate paragraph in this article -- why would a book and a newspaper article fetch such prices? -- until I remembered the previous article announcing this auction that said that both were signed by Jobs (and the article was also signed by Tony Fadell). It is inferred, but not stated, in this article (there is, to be fair, a link back to the first article, but someone just coming to this story for the first time would find that quite confusing, I think).

Soli

1) I appreciate his use of day, month, year for his birthday.

2) I don't appreciate his use of cursive or his inattention to detail when it came to capitalizing his surname and that weirdly disjoined answer over 3 lines at the bottom.

hentaiboy

AppleInsider said:

Three items signed by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs have been sold at auction, the most lucrative being a teenage job application which went for roughly $174,757, including the buyer's premium.

Jobs only rarely gave out his autograph, and even when he did, reluctantly. He died in October 2011.

Where’s his signature on the job application?

StrangeDays

Soli said:

1) I appreciate his use of day, month, year for his birthday.

2) I don't appreciate his use of cursive or his inattention to detail when it came to capitalizing his surname and that weirdly disjoined answer over 3 lines at the bottom.

That’s a conclusion on your part but is just an assumption. My bet is it was intentional. As an english lit major he was surely familiar with e. e. cummings. 

Soli

StrangeDays said:

Soli said:

1) I appreciate his use of day, month, year for his birthday.

2) I don't appreciate his use of cursive or his inattention to detail when it came to capitalizing his surname and that weirdly disjoined answer over 3 lines at the bottom.

That’s a conclusion on your part but is just an assumption. My bet is it was intentional. As an english lit major he was surely familiar with e. e. cummings. 

That's your excuse for an application? That it was a purposeful, but not creative, just sometimes mimicking an author he may have idolized? If this was anyone else I don't think you would be bending over backwards to defend this sloppy work. A better excuse is that he was only 17 or 18yo, but that's only marginally better.

PS: As an anthropologist I'm familiar with Sumer so I should be excused if I fill out forms using cuneiform¡ I'm also familiar with Ancient Rome starting with the first Italic settlements so I should fill out my taxes using Roman numerals¡

quadra 610

sflocal said:

quadra 610 said:

“Possible, but not probable”.

I can use this everywhere.  

Even at age of 18, he was already predicting the abilities of Android.

Ha!  😁

Rayz2016

DavidAlGregory said:

Sad thing is that an application like this would never make it past the first (computerized) level of HR screening at Apple- or Wal-Mart today. Years ago the interview was where you could find diamonds in the rough and hire people who did not look special on a CV. Today only a handful ever get the call back for an interview.

The difference between Apple and Walmart is that if you're good enough then Apple will come find you.

Rayz2016

Soli said:

1) I appreciate his use of day, month, year for his birthday.

2) I don't appreciate his use of cursive or his inattention to detail when it came to capitalizing his surname and that weirdly disjoined answer over 3 lines at the bottom.

The application form itself is poor, and the inattention to detail probably reflects his level of interest in the job.

macgui

We don't know that he got the job.

It probably got yanked away and the 'HR' person (if there was one) said you're not good enough to sling burgers HERE!

Most of those answers seem odd for an 18yo. There's no mention of where he was applying either. I hope this doesn't turn out to be a Letter's From Hitler type hoax.