Apple

Awesome work environment. Large workforce with interesting people and personalities. Tons of interesting projects going on and everybody very, very busy.

Sometimes too busy, but it beats being bored. You will not have time to be bored here. Great hardware and software. I was not much of a Mac user before, but after working for Apple for one month, I will never again use a PC unless out of necessity.

Apple has thousands of employees getting things done, and no Windows, no Powerpoint, nowhere. A MacBook Pro with an extra 27" Thunderbolt Display is standard issue.

Plus, you get to log in at work with your own personal iTunes account, which means you get to download free Apple software via the App Store, and you own it. Not to mention there are ways of getting completely free Apple products within the company. I got two iPhones and an iPad in my first month, but you need to know people to get hooked up with those, and you better never get caught with them on eBay.

Before I started working here, I heard two rumors: low pay and poor work-life balance.

Low pay certainly does not seem to be true, although maybe this varies by department.

Work-life balance can be challenging at times, but I don't think it is any worse than most other Silicon Valley tech companies. You can't work at a Tier 1 Silicon Valley tech company and expect 9-5 / M-F.

What I don't like:

• Food is not free like Google, and not as good as Google. However, they give engineers a $12/day dinner voucher. That is enough at the slightly-subsidized cafeterias to purchase enough for dinner and the next day's lunch, so it's almost like free food. But the variety of food is not that great. It always seems to be the same stuff.
• Their corporate discounts on things like travel and entertainment are not that good for such a big company, except for Apple products of course. I get better discounts with AAA and buying stuff through Costco.