Working as a software engineer at Apple

[theorem]

First of all, apologies for the self-serving thread. I've been a lurker here and it seemed like one of the best places to ask this kind of question.

I've received job offers from Google and Apple for a software engineering position and am having some difficulty deciding which to take. There's plenty of information out there about working at Google, although very little about Apple (I suspect due to the veil of confidentiality). I was wondering if any of you had any insights about the work experience at Apple - firsthand or otherwise.

I did a search to see if this question has been raised before, and found a few threads, although there was not much information pertaining to this position specifically.

Thanks for reading

 

[Rodimus Prime]

go to the glassdoor.com. I read threw a lot of the ones of apple about their engineering jobs. The stress level there is high, burn out is common, and if you are not on the main campus or on one of SJ new project you are kind of pushed to the side.
HUGE Secretive is an issue, and months of your work can and will get screwed over by another department all at once because of the lack of communication.

 

[dukebound85]

i would do google in a second over apple

apple seems way to secretive and overbearing for my liking job wise

 

[aristobrat]

I've received job offers from Google and Apple for a software engineering position and am having some difficulty deciding which to take. There's plenty of information out there about working at Google, although very little about Apple (I suspect due to the veil of confidentiality).

I'm confused. If you got an actual offer, then you had to go through the interviewing process. Did you not ask any questions about the job during the interviews?

 

[theorem]

Thanks for the comments so far. Glassdoor has been a good reference, though I think the reviews are skewed to be either overwhelmingly positive or negative (otherwise there's less motivation to post them).

I'm confused. If you got an actual offer, then you had to go through the interviewing process. Did you not ask any questions about the job during the interviews?

I did ask a fair amount of questions, though to be honest I was so nervous about the actual interview that I didn't always concentrate on the answers. Now it's coming back to bite me.

 

[Jonathon McMast]

Thanks for the comments so far. Glassdoor has been a good reference, though I think the reviews are skewed to be either overwhelmingly positive or negative (otherwise there's less motivation to post them).



I did ask a fair amount of questions, though to be honest I was so nervous about the actual interview that I didn't always concentrate on the answers. Now it's coming back to bite me.

Google, although having friends that have worked at both company's, neither is attractive.

 

[SkylerXR]

Google, although having friends that have worked at both company's, neither is attractive.

Sorry to revive this but care to elaborate more on this comment? I also need to choose my career path between these two and a couple of other companies.

 

[spblat]

Congratulations. You should be proud to have been selected by either company, both of which are sought-after tech companies. Both companies will work you hard, which will be fine for as long as you can maintain a sense of passion about what you're doing.

Think about the public face of both companies. At Google you will release early and iterate. At Apple you will create the whole thing (whatever it is) in secrecy and unleash it upon the world when it's (you hope) fully baked. Both approaches can be exciting and rewarding. Which appeals to you more?

Are you carrying an Android phone or an iPhone (or something else)? Why?

 

[*LTD*]

go to the glassdoor.com. I read threw a lot of the ones of apple about their engineering jobs. The stress level there is high, burn out is common, and if you are not on the main campus or on one of SJ new project you are kind of pushed to the side.
HUGE Secretive is an issue, and months of your work can and will get screwed over by another department all at once because of the lack of communication.

WTF are you talking about??

Yet these unhappy, disgruntled, stressed workers, are churning out the best and most desirable consumer tech on the market. But they're on the verge of revolt!

What a joke.

Here's the first page:

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Apple-Reviews-E1138.htm

 

[87vert]

Thanks for the comments so far. Glassdoor has been a good reference, though I think the reviews are skewed to be either overwhelmingly positive or negative (otherwise there's less motivation to post them).



I did ask a fair amount of questions, though to be honest I was so nervous about the actual interview that I didn't always concentrate on the answers. Now it's coming back to bite me.

call your recruiter back and ask if you can schedule an onsite visit. If they really want you then there should be no problem doing this and then you can spend the day shadowing a "co-worker"

Google did this for me during my site interview in Irvine / Santa Monica. I really enjoyed it there but did not take the position as I did not want to move to Cali.

 

[Stella]

Firstly, congratulations on your job offers with Google and Apple.

OP - what do you want out of a company? A good looking resume that references Google or Apple and maybe a chance of working with better technologies? Or work for a company that offers a good work / life balance in which case maybe neither Google or Apple meets your needs?

Personally, I would avoid high profile companies like Apple as a software developer - sure it looks great on resume and the money better, but that is all. I'd rather have a balance of life and work and earn less, rather than a job that expects their employees work all hours ( I have more interesting things to do in the summer than sitting at my desk at 6.30pm). Consultant companies are a good example of this - earn more than average but work endless hours.


Secondly, I'm going to respond to LTD:
Good and mature software developers do their best to their ability and turn out good products, since they are apart of a team who do not want to let each other down, which may not reflect the company ( good or bad employer ). Good products does not necessarily mean a great company to work for . I'm not saying Apple is good or bad to work for, since I never have worked there - only from third party experiences.

Sure, Apple makes good products, but those employees are worked more than your average software developer. I hope they think its worth it.