I submitted my résumé via a recruiter. I interviewed with a soft goods manager, whom I'll call Alan, over the phone. Afterward, I was told I would be issued a challenge, a test. Wonderful! I thought, since I would be working with my hands for this job, it was an excellent choice for the next round. I was sent some materials and the challenge description. I built the object and contacted the recruiter for the next round.

On the day of the interview, I arrived early and had breakfast with the recruiter and Alan. Then, I presented my portfolio to a room full of other people on the soft goods team. Next, Alan checked the criteria of my challenge object, and it passed, as I knew it would. Then came questions about why I chose the shape of my object. Lastly, I was asked if I would leave my object for their collection. Okay!

After my not-very-slick portfolio presentation (the stuff I've built is good, just not the photography or presentation skills), I was offered refreshments and asked to wait in a nice little conference room. I then met with several team members for individual interviews. I enjoyed the process. However, I'm a craftsperson who works with my hands. That's where I shine, not in tooting my horn in conversation. It's just not my style to "sell myself" or put on an act to get a job. So, yeah, I'm not very corporate, and I wasn't very slick about the whole interview process or what I should ask about. I really should have studied up on that side more. I was polite, enthusiastic, and honest but probably asked too many questions about work/life balance. This was only because sometimes I get migraine headaches, not because I don't want to work really hard.

I was at Apple all day, from 7:45 AM to 3:30 PM, and I enjoyed it. I spoke with many nice people and enjoyed connecting with such cool, like-minded individuals. I REALLY wanted to work at Apple and was a nervous wreck for several weeks waiting for an answer. The recruiter told me he would let me know within the week. After 2.5 weeks, I finally contacted him again and was told I wasn't a match. I was heartbroken. I still think I would have made a good employee there. Oh well.

I was presented with a leather iPhone case and asked how I would build it. This is an amazing case, very impressive. I made some good guesses on some processes. Apple has accomplished something laudable here.