Really interesting work in most areas (very little dull routine).
Outstanding opportunity to work with really smart people in your field.
General helpfulness of colleagues is almost uniformly present across teams.
Really cool leading-edge products and services you can be proud to help develop.
Very intense focus on understanding and helping customers.
Lots of opportunity to become "expert" on a subject for the company.
Financial health of company is excellent. Very good handle on cost management.
Benefits are very good.
Equal opportunity is apparent everywhere. Very diverse workforce.
A truly international company and workforce.
Cons
General rule: You will not know if you really "fit" the culture until about a year on the job.
Managers mostly work higher level projects and negotiate resources and priorities (as opposed to develop their people). Experience of working at Apple is hugely influenced by your direct manager and his/her style. Some buffer the craziness, others amplify it.
Company is now huge but still trying to act lean like a start up. Teams are getting moved off main campus with little regard to who they need to interact with. "Campus" feeling only applies to core business groups.
Work-life balance can quickly become terrible for those who really understand systems and processes and how to manage them. The better you are, the less balance you can expect.
Management planning process - continual over-committing continues.
Really stove-piped planning structure. Very little cross-functional planning below VP level. Regular surprises from project work in other areas for which you had no visibility..
Secrecy bordering on paranoia can be a pain in the neck especially when it delays notice on necessary (and unplanned) changes in other areas.
High turnover in the areas I worked with. Less during the recession. Burn out is common.
Fear of being the team/individual that delays or messes up a project is ever present.
Absolutely no professional development outside a modest number of internal courses. Don't even think about trying to publish a paper, or speak at a conference!
Growing inequity in business team perks and facilities is an annoyance.
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
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Employee Review
Really intense work environment. Unique culture.
Nov 9, 2009 - in Cupertino, CAPros
Really interesting work in most areas (very little dull routine). Outstanding opportunity to work with really smart people in your field. General helpfulness of colleagues is almost uniformly present across teams. Really cool leading-edge products and services you can be proud to help develop. Very intense focus on understanding and helping customers. Lots of opportunity to become "expert" on a subject for the company. Financial health of company is excellent. Very good handle on cost management. Benefits are very good. Equal opportunity is apparent everywhere. Very diverse workforce. A truly international company and workforce.
Cons
General rule: You will not know if you really "fit" the culture until about a year on the job. Managers mostly work higher level projects and negotiate resources and priorities (as opposed to develop their people). Experience of working at Apple is hugely influenced by your direct manager and his/her style. Some buffer the craziness, others amplify it. Company is now huge but still trying to act lean like a start up. Teams are getting moved off main campus with little regard to who they need to interact with. "Campus" feeling only applies to core business groups. Work-life balance can quickly become terrible for those who really understand systems and processes and how to manage them. The better you are, the less balance you can expect. Management planning process - continual over-committing continues. Really stove-piped planning structure. Very little cross-functional planning below VP level. Regular surprises from project work in other areas for which you had no visibility.. Secrecy bordering on paranoia can be a pain in the neck especially when it delays notice on necessary (and unplanned) changes in other areas. High turnover in the areas I worked with. Less during the recession. Burn out is common. Fear of being the team/individual that delays or messes up a project is ever present. Absolutely no professional development outside a modest number of internal courses. Don't even think about trying to publish a paper, or speak at a conference! Growing inequity in business team perks and facilities is an annoyance.
Other Employee Reviews
Good experience
Aug 18, 2022 - Anonymous EmployeePros
Really good part time benefits
Cons
Unreasonable scheduling and time off requests
Challenging, Rewarding, but ZERO work/life balance. Most satisfying , most difficult and most rewarding job ever.
Aug 28, 2014 - Anonymous EmployeePros
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
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