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Engineer Interview Experience - Cupertino, California

March 1, 2019
Negative ExperienceNo Offer

Process

  1. Phone interview with recruiter (30 mins)
  2. Phone interview with engineer (1 hour)
  3. Complete a design challenge that literally takes 80 hours if done properly. Ridiculous expectation.
  4. Full day interview that includes presenting your design challenge in front of a large group (1 hour) and meeting with several team members in a 1 on 1 setting, as well as over lunch. They ask you questions about your background of course, but they also have you work on several whiteboard problems, frequently shifting assumptions to see how you think on your toes. Most questions are technical and related to the position, and some are abstract. Some interviewers are friendly, and some try to "see how you do under pressure", aka they are basically A-holes. Arrogant, distant, cold, and difficult to communicate with.

My interviews went well, but I did not get an offer. Total process took 4 months. Are you kidding me? Apple, your drawn-out and borderline hostile interview process is overkill. If you cannot determine from a simple one-day interview whether or not a candidate is a good fit, there is something wrong with your process. Interviews go both ways, and even if I got an offer, I would not accept based on some of the personalities that I saw on the team.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 17 interview experiences for the Apple Engineer role in Cupertino, California.

Success Rate

24%
Pass Rate

Apple's interview process for their Engineer roles in Cupertino, California is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive59%
Neutral24%
Negative18%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Apple's Engineer interview process in Cupertino, California.

Apple Work Experiences