Software Development Test Engineer Interview Experience - Cupertino, California
Process
The first step was a phone screen with the recruiter for the team I applied to, which deals with storage QA. It was a casual conversation about my education and experience, and we talked a bit more about the position and team.
I was then invited to an on-site interview, which lasted a day and a half (one full day plus the morning after). It was a very tiring and thorough interview, composed of multiple one-hour one-on-one sessions. The interview continued even during lunch.
There were many technical and coding questions asked on the whiteboard, as well as a few brain teasers, which I felt didn't add much to the interview. Overall, everyone was extremely nice and offered tips if needed during the technical questions.
I applied knowing I was underqualified and had no experience in storage or QA, and I was not surprised not to receive an offer in the end. I still really enjoyed the experience and the people I talked to; it seems like a great place to work!
Questions
62 - 63 = 1. Changing only one element (either digit or operand), make this statement true.
How to find the nth-to-last element in a linked list?
An interviewer gave me a pen and asked, "How would you test this pen?"
On a Unix shell, how to find the list of files with a size greater than X MB.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Apple Software Development Test Engineer role in Cupertino, California.
Success Rate
Apple's interview process for their Software Development Test Engineer roles in Cupertino, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having very good feelings for Apple's Software Development Test Engineer interview process in Cupertino, California.
Apple Work Experiences
- 2.0World-class products, but poor work/life balance and cultureMechanical Engineer • Former EmployeeCupertino, California, United StatesNovember 20, 2019Pros: —famous company. —Pay can be good, depending on which product and org you work in. —Benefits are good. Health, dental, etc., are top-notch. Some people complain it doesn’t have free food 24/7, but Apple does have free dinner. —Travel benefits are excellent for people who travel a lot. I can’t communicate how good their travel is. The Apple Travel group are great people and help you no matter where you are on Earth, 24/7, at a moment's notice. Business class tickets for international, and your pick of hotels. —Funding is unlimited for products the company is committed to shipping. —Some fantastic colleagues. I’ve become friends with really great people because of the challenges you endure together. —The experience is unique: only Apple can do Apple.Cons: —management. Good ones are hard to find, and even more difficult to transfer to. Often, job openings are due to people quitting a manager, so people coming in don’t have a clue to what situation they’re stepping into. —Highly political culture. Very siloed. GSM and Capex community is particularly difficult to work with. Some PD groups are legendary for being difficult to work with. —Turnover is high. —People are highly educated, but sometimes don’t possess good engineering common sense. Endless funding and a faux accountability structure insulates people with amazing pedigrees but poor engineering judgment. —People are good at shifting blame, covering tracks, and overall bending the optics so that they look good regardless of outcome. More often than not, other cross-functional groups and people are “thrown under the bus.” —Most positions are support. i.e., you’re most likely working on someone else’s vision or idea, whether you’re in product development or operations. —Engineering is mostly execution-based. You are most likely going to spend endless hours to prove out ideas based on ID’s whim and managers’ behest. This can be deeply frustrating for creative people. —Career advancement is poor. You were hired to turn a crank, and that crank you shall turn. —It is a political place to work. Worth mentioning twice...
- 5.0Great Pay, Slow ManagementSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeeCupertino, California, United StatesFebruary 2, 2021Pros: Great pay for the amount of hours.Cons: Management can be non-responsive.
- 5.0Very good experience overallHardware Engineer • Former EmployeeCupertino, California, United StatesFebruary 10, 2019Pros: Dynamic work experience, good salary, and I learned a lot there.Cons: Not much to tell about.
Apple Interview Questions
