Engineering Can anyone give me insight in the Apple Hardware Interview Process?

[arhzz]

Hello!

I got contacted by Apple considering my application for a hardware internship, to be more precise it was an "Expression of Interests" for internships. I sent the application back in August and they replied to me a few days ago. Now I will be completely honest; This surpised me a lot. Where I live and where I completed my BSc in Electrical Engineering, Apple is known to hire only the best of the best; meaning all straight A students who have acquired a hefty amount of internships during their studies. I am not one of those students unfortunatly. My grades are average at best and I have had only 2 internships during my BSc studies.

Now why am I writing this? I have heard of nightmare application processes in order to get into Apple and I started to doubt myself if I am "Apple Employee Material" so to say. I have thought about this and decided to embrace the process, give it my best and if nothing try to learn and improve regardless if I get accepted or not. I want to go in this without the burden of "Am I going to fail or do miserably" but still try and do everything I can in order to show not only to them but to myself that I was not contaced out of pure luck. And for that I would like some insight of people more experienced then me. As of right now they wrote me when I am available for the "technical screening with the hiring manager". I said end of this month to which they replied that they would prefer it earlier so that if I am shortlised that we can do the "panel round" at the end of the month. I replied that we can do it next week and I am waiting for their answer.

Now in the meantime, I would like to know what is the "technical screening" actually? What should I expect and how should I prepare for that?

For more detail: I did an EE BSc with focus on RF and IC design, the roles for which the EOI was written out were :

RF Firmware Engineer Internship;

Cellular RF Systems Engineer Intern – Phase Locked Loop

Cellular RF Receiver Systems Engineering Intern DSP

And as of a few days ago (the day when I got the email) they have an Design Verification Internship which focuses on IC Design (to which I also applied)

My internships during my BSc studies have been in SPS (so Automation Control Internship) and Measurment Technology.

Based on this what kind of questions/approach can I expect in the screening interview? Or are there standard questions regardless of my CV? How important to them are the "soft skill" meaning communication determination etc...

Excuse the long post and thank you!

PS. I am currently persuing a Masters Degree in EE focus on RF and IC Design

 

[jedishrfu]

I don't think these things are standard. They will look at your resume (curriculum vitae) and ask questions based on that. Other questions will come up, while they talk to you and likely focus on some minor thing you said.

If you mention a project you were involved with and they ask you about it, make sure you can respond with a comprehensive short response.

It's good to bone up on the topics related to the internships you applied for. Also, start thinking more about what you can do for Apple that others can't do or can't do as well. This is important.

Next don't sit there meekly waiting for the next question. When they ask a question, you answer it and then ask your own question. This can change the interview into a conversational moment. Remember any job or any internship requires a primary skill of communication and by getting into a conversational mode during the interview you will make an impression.

My two favorite stories of interviews that went south:

My niece came for an internship interview at my research lab, despite my advice on lab use of MatLab she flubbed it. When they asked her about her experience she said "I had an encounter with it". English was her second language but needless to say she did not get the job.

Instead one of my formar summer students aced it when they asked her to write down a simple sort on the white board, she did. Her secret was that she just had a test on it a few days earlier and it was still fresh in her mind. Comparing the two, my niece was way more qualified but her response torpedoed her interview.

---

My neighbor's son was going to an interview and asked me to look over his resume. It was good but I didn't see C coding and asked him why? His response was he didn't feel he knew C/C++ well enough to get a job.

A few days later, after he came back from the interview he got a rejection letter. His parents a friend working as a manager at the company that might be able to help.

My neighbor's son needs to be more confident in his answers. Sure you might not know the specifics of the process but if you do know the spirit, you need to be more positive with the interview process.

My Interviews

Some interviews are 1 on 1 with a hiring manager. Or they can 2v2 where another interviewer is in the audience. Or even a lunch interview with a whole team of interviewers.

NEVER eat anything during a lunch interview that you could choke on because lunch interviews are with several people who will hit you with questions from all sides, and they'll eat their lunch and listen while you're struggling to answer their questions. I suppose you could say just a moment and take a bite but nervousness kicks in and you try to answer to your misfortune.

In one lunchtime interview, the candidate got a lunch with some chopped sausages and, after a few bites, swallowed one the wrong way and started gasping for air. Fortunately, a nearby manager stepped in and did the Heimlich maneuver to save the day. Sadly, the interviewee never got hired. I think the interviewing manager was traumatized.

I had a one-on-one interview for a product management position that I wasn't interested in. I had applied for a developer role, but they looked at my resume and decided they could coax me into becoming a product manager or a salesperson. After some time, I was promised I would transition into a developer role. I didn't believe it.

If you do really well or better than others in the same situation, they're not going to let you switch easily. If you do poorly, they're going to let you go before they let you become a developer. It's a catch-22 scenario, and it's best to drop everything and run.

During interview day, I talked with a senior developer who started asking me trick questions about C++. I had just read the Dr. Dobbs Journal, a magazine for programmers, which had an article on these tricky C++ gotcha questions. I responded professionally and then asked whether he had read the same article. Nope, hehe. I offered to ask him one, and he agreed but quickly realized he couldn't answer it. We parted on good terms, and I realized I didn't want to be a developer there either.

I would say that the best advice is to bone up on the key concepts of your courses relevant to the internship vacancy. Be able to explain the big picture and do it using those terms. Be able to explain any projects you listed on your resume. If you customize your resume for each job (best practice, generic doesn't cut it anymore if it ever did) then be sure to bring that resume copy with you.

They WILL ask questions on projects like:
- what was it about,
- what did you learn,
- what major issue popped up and how did you handle it.

Each of your responses will lead to more questions so it's best to try to anticipate shut it down before the interview spirals south and REMEMBER to ask questions about the work environment, benefits, tools they use...

Lastly, remember the names of those who interviewed you and be sure to send thank you notes where you can add some things that you failed to mention during the interview or you can mention how much you enjoyed the interview discussion and have started looking into ways to help their company.