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My Experience at Apple

ex-apple-engineer.medium.com

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Re: My Experience at Apple

#501

Post by justnotworthit »

WalterBright wrote: post #453
rmk wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- The primary lesson I learnt is that it doesn't matter if you work hard. Nobody notices, and even if they do you will likely not get anything out of it. Do your job, but don't kill yourself over it. Work-life balance is king. This has been my experience as well. Nowadays I work hard only while most of the following are true: - I'm making top dollar (good salary + equity value is high) - Work is interesting (somethin…

> Nobody notices This is a common problem. It doesn't work to do great work and expect others to notice. You've got to promote yourself and your work. Nobody is going to do it for you.

This why the stereotypical sociopath go-getter/politican/evil-business man claim credit for everything, all the time, and blames everyone else for any failure.

Re: My Experience at Apple

#502

Post by refulgentis »

adultSwim wrote: post #312
faangAnon wrote: post #163

I had similar bad manager experience at $FAANG. Managers have so much control over information, narratives, and access to decision makers they control perception so most organizations are useless at properly evaluating their work. I've seen managers ride out perpetually failing projects that haven't made meaningful progress in years, team 'decisions' that are reliably and demonstrably bad, services that cost a fortun…

Union, now!

I don't see how this would change anything - its a function of social dynamics, not how afraid managers are of their reports

Re: My Experience at Apple

#503

Post by dvtrn »

Balgair wrote: post #496
dvtrn wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last few jobs I’ve had were glowing from the interviews and believe me I asked some very tough questions I hoped would be revealing enough without torpedoing my candidacy. Every one of them: as soon as I started, the foundational person of the team quit, you know the guy or gal who burned themselves out building the process. Fixing all the cruft and actually trying to unfuck everything but leaving scant documenta…

>As a result I had to “drink from the water hose” constantly. I've only ever heard that phrase as 'drinking from the fire hose', I didn't know that even a water/garden hose was considered too much. I think I need to find a better ... career (?)

Ah, error on my part. Firehose is correct.

Re: My Experience at Apple

#504

Post by mhh__ »

the-dude wrote: post #214
sfblah wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meh. I upvoted him to cancel out your downvote. Who cares if people complain about downvotes.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html : Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading.

> Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading

Until HN has something other than just downvoting this isn't true.

If I make a point that doesn't fit the HN groupthink, and it gets downvoted without response, I always mention it because I know people linger around the thread and I want to challenge their assumption that my point is so false as to not deserve specific counterargument.

Re: My Experience at Apple

#505

Post by josto »

Dude go talk to a work comp attorney. You don’t have to pay up front and this is a textbook stress claim, esp if six months employment. It’s sad nobody knows their rights. Your first clue is the fact that they were pressuring you to resign. NEVER RESIGN.

It sad he will be dealing with this stress for life but never thought that he should at least consult with an attorney??? THIS IS AMERICA. You think HR and those idiots are going to help you??

Anyone who has to deal with this crap, call an attorney!

Re: My Experience at Apple

#506

Post by sneak »

tiew9Vii wrote: post #474
dreamcompiler wrote: post #212

Things new engineers don't know, but should: 1. HR doesn't work for you; they work to minimize liability for the company. If HR thinks the best way to accomplish that is to destroy your life, that's exactly what they will do. 2. Many SV companies, as well as groups within large, respected SV companies, only survive through exploitation. They exploit their customers, their workforce, or both. Exploitation means obtain…

> If you find yourself in an exploitive work environment, you need to leave as quickly as possible. The situation is not going to get better. It's only going to get worse, and your options are two: Leave with your mental health and reputation intact or leave after they have been destroyed. This is the right thing to do however for many people on a visa it has significant life consequences and financial hardship with…

This is a good example of why the arbitrary system of nations restricting free trade by deciding who is allowed to work where is a method specifically designed to aid in this type of exploitation.

Re: My Experience at Apple

#507

Post by mhh__ »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #115
tooltower wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This person was not a US citizen, and needed to remain on the only path to a green card. Your options feel more limiting when that happens. They clearly didn't want to rattle the cage.

Attorneys will happily take your money and fight for you. Use what options you have.

How many hundreds of thousands of dollars would it take to lose against Apple?

Obviously there's a chance but this is literally like taking on Oceania from 1984 - Apple's apple-isms and the famous reality distortion field really do make the comparison slightly alarming, thinking about it.

Re: My Experience at Apple

#508

Post by WalterBright »

aurelius wrote: post #479
WalterBright wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nobody notices This is a common problem. It doesn't work to do great work and expect others to notice. You've got to promote yourself and your work. Nobody is going to do it for you.

A good manager should.

You'll be much happier with the career results of taking care of this yourself rather than waiting for someone else to do it.

I've seen too many people become embittered waiting for someone else.

Re: My Experience at Apple

#509

Post by echelon »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #353
reaperducer wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These days, they're sometimes rebranded as the "People Team"! Sounds like it might be a minor improvement, but I'm not hopeful. I detest the phrase "human resources." I am not a resource. I am not a box of pencils, a copy machine, or a long ton of bituminous coal to be consumed by the company. I am a human being. "Personnel" wasn't so bad. I'm OK with that because I am a person. But that was before Human Resources de…

> I am not a resource. I am not a box of pencils, a copy machine, or a long ton of bituminous coal to be consumed by the company. In the Harvard MBA school of management which dominates American business and which Wall Street incentivizes, that is precisely what you are: You are a fungible cog in a large machine. This is certainly not the only viable business management philosophy, but it's the most common one in Ame…

Could you provide more examples of companies that value companies and do not treat them as "head count" / "human resources" / interchangeable cogs?

Valve?

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