Data Engineer Interview Experience - Cupertino, California
Process
If you want to waste your time and be heckled by a bunch of snobs, do not interview here.
The recruiter doesn't tell you anything about who will interview you or what you will be interviewed on. They just state that there will be a certain number of rounds from 9 AM to 3 PM.
The first round was with the hiring manager. He seemed nice, and we talked about things I had worked on. The second round was with a Data Engineer on the team. I solved a few programming questions.
Up until this time, I hadn't been clearly told what the team was working on due to privacy concerns, which I understand. Then I was invited onsite.
The recruiter encouraged me to ask questions during my onsite interview.
On the day of the onsite, we started with a coding round, then a data design round. The next session was with the hiring manager and another manager from a different team. It was more of a discussion, and I was asked if I had any questions.
I started by asking about something I had read in the news and if it was related to what this team works on. They said no. Then, the manager from the other team asked why I asked about that research. I simply stated it seemed interesting and I would have loved to work on it.
He just wouldn't let it go. We switched topics to other areas of interest, but he kept coming back to why I asked about it. I finally said, "Since you are the Apple Health team, it would seem logical that you would be related to the research in that space."
He replied in a very condescending tone: "We are not the only Apple Health team."
How am I supposed to know that? Or how is any outsider supposed to know that?
The next round was with a Software Engineer at Apple. He started by asking questions about Python concepts. Then, we moved on to coding. As I was trying to work through the algorithm, I was constantly heckled by the interviewer on things like variable names, the flow, and not starting with edge cases before the general case.
Overall, it was an extremely unpleasant and frustrating experience. A complete waste of time!
Questions
Monkey patching
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 8 interview experiences for the Apple Data Engineer role in Cupertino, California.
Success Rate
Apple's interview process for their Data Engineer roles in Cupertino, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having negative feelings for Apple's Data Engineer interview process in Cupertino, California.
Apple Work Experiences
- 4.0Great Benefits, Challenging WorkData Engineer • Current EmployeeCupertino, California, United StatesApril 1, 2024Pros: Great benefits and a great work environment. Flexible scheduling.Cons: The work is work, very challenging as you are working for one of the top tech companies in the world.
- 3.0Good Company, lots of politicsData Engineer • Current EmployeeCupertino, California, United StatesFebruary 6, 2025Pros: Lots of work and pain points to solve, good for people who want to do work. Not too busy, good work-life balance.Cons: Middle managers lack insights; it's only politics. Unclear processes and lack of visibility.
- 5.0Innovative work culture and best technologiesData Engineer • Current EmployeeCupertino, California, United StatesJuly 1, 2019Pros: Good work environment, team support, no constraint on technologies.Cons: None, I did not identify cons yet.
Apple Interview Questions
