Apple

Everyone cares a lot about the details of the product, user privacy, and customer experience. Perfect place for perfectionists. Everything else depends on the org you're in. My org has great work-life balance.

Interview: High bar for entry.

Slow work pace: Countless blockers from unstable internal infrastructure, overly limited resources, and inconsistent expectations of individual contributors.

Isolating: Everyone holds on really tight to their own work, which creates unbreakable silos between projects. There's not enough emphasis on infra scalability or standardization.

Cult-like mindset: People here exhibit complacency. For example, if you go to an offsite, expect your manager to request money through Apple Cash. Everyone here is so proud of working for Apple, even when their work is not the most competitive on the market. Coming from a large-scale web company that values a fast pace, I had a really frustrating time adjusting to my org and team.

Be nice to people.

Watch out for burnout and politely turn down people's ideas or projects.

Look outside of Apple's bubble for ideas to improve.

Put down your Apple ego.