Tech

Steve Jobs’ pre-Apple job application expected to raise $50,000 at auction

Key Points
  • Steve Jobs' 1973 job application, written three years before he joined Apple, provides an early glimpse of his ambition to work in the tech industry.
  • The job application will be part of a pop culture auction, and will go on sale between March 8 and 15, auction house RR Auction said.
  • During Jobs' tenure at Apple, the tech giant created some of its most well-known products.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the new iPod Nano in 2005.
Kim Kulish | Corbis | Getty Images

A job application that Steve Jobs filled out before he co-founded Apple is expected to fetch more than $50,000 at auction.

The 1973 application, which will be sold at Boston, Massachusetts-based auction house RR Auction, provides an early glimpse of Jobs' ambition to work in the emerging tech industry.

The document, which is one-page long and handwritten, is littered with grammatical errors.

Jobs answered a question on what his special abilities are with, "electronics tech or design engineer. digital.—from Bay near Hewitt-Packard [sic]."

In response to a section about his skills, Jobs wrote "yes" next to "Computer" and "Calculator," adding in brackets below, "(design, tech)."

When writing his name, the Apple co-founder wrote, "Steven jobs." Writing his address and college major, Jobs wrote, "reed college" and "english lit" respectively.

Answering the question, "Access to transportation?" Jobs wrote, "possible, but not probable."

The application is part of a pop culture auction hosted by RR Auction and will go on sale between March 8 and 15, the auction house said.

The document, which is one-page long and handwritten, is littered with grammatical errors.
RR Auction

Jobs worked as a technician for games publisher Atari prior to co-founding Apple with Steve Wozniak in 1976.

In 1980, Jobs took the company public, in a listing on the Nasdaq that raised about $100 million — one of the biggest floats at the time. The company is now worth more than $875 billion.

The entrepreneur served as the CEO of Apple from 1997 until 2011. He handed over the reins to incumbent CEO Tim Cook in 2011 and was named chairman. He died later that year, aged 56, of respiratory arrest resulting from the spread of a pancreatic tumor to other organs.

During his tenure at Apple, the tech giant created some of its most well-known products, including the Macintosh computer, the iPod, iTunes and the iPhone.