Difficult Interview – Overall Negative Experience – No – Wed, 4 Feb 2015
Interviewed null -1 in Cupertino, CA(took 21 days)
I was reached out to initially by a recruiter on LinkedIn asking if I was interested and she conducted a basic phone screen. My resume was then reviewed at what seemed to be a weekly director meeting after which I was then transferred to another recruiter. Following this, I did an interview with one of the directors which consisted of deeper probing into my background and relevance to the role. This part of the process took about two weeks. Following this, I was invited on site for over ten back to back 30 min interviews at two locations - candidates are expected to get themselves from one location to the next which is rather stressful. The amount of different people was incredibly taxing – be sure you prepare yourself for a full day of being 'on'.
Unfortunately in my experience, two of my interviewers did not show up and I was asked to tack on a redo interview at the end of the day – only the interviewer didn't show up again. Life at Apple seems rather chaotic, but as an interviewee I was left with a pretty negative perception about their interest in my candidacy as a result of no-shows, last minute interviewer substitutions, and constant multi tasking on their phones during my interview.
For those interested about worklife balance, I asked rather directly about this. It seems that in this job you are always on call. I was told by several individuals that the company was trying to change this, but it was more easily said than done. Many reflected that they had needed to cancel vacations in order to meet with deadlines. One individual even said that he would ask for a demotion if he wasn't able to answer his emails with the needed after hours frequency because that was the promise that applicants make when they except the job.
I was also told in one of my interviews that one shouldn't take this position if they are looking to excel to a leadership role or increase responsibilities. Focus should remain on learning and delivering product.
Interview Questions
Tell me about a difficult negotiation. Tell me about a time where you had to creatively solve a supply or demand issue. What is your familiarity with should cost models? How would you break down the cost of this item in front of you?
Answer Question
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview