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Getting a job at Apple without going to college or doing LeetCode

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Re: Getting a job at Apple without going to college or doing LeetCode

#11

Post by BossingAround »

doomlaser wrote: post #6

When I was an intern, we had to pay $1200 a month for corporate housing, and they put 4 of us in a 2 bedroom apartment, walking distance from IL1 in Cupertino. They also gave the 4 of us 2 bikes. Apple's cafeteria may not be free, but at least they're paying for intern housing these days.

That's horrible. If I needed more reasons to not work for Apple, this'd have definitely been a dealbreaker for me. Of course, Apple with their forced RTO and, in general, disdain for remote work, provides many reasons for me not to work for them anyways.

Re: Getting a job at Apple without going to college or doing LeetCode

#12

Post by pocketarc »

eclectic29 wrote: post #3

This is just "one" experience, certainly not the norm. Even as an experienced engineer of 15 yrs I'd to solve leetcode (LC) style problems on the whiteboard a few yrs go. For better or worse (depending on whose perspective you see), LC allows companies to judge you based on a common framework of solving algorithmic problems using computer science fundamentals (data structures and algorithms) in a language of your cho…

I think it makes sense to use LC or something like it. Is there a better way to judge the 100 random developers who've applied to your position?

- They may not have formal education, you can't judge on that.

- They may not have active GitHub projects, you can't judge on that.

- They may not be active on social media or have any kind of fame, you can't judge on that.

- They may not have built anything they can show off like this `Find` app, you can't judge on that.

So what can you judge them on? LC makes that pretty simple: "can they answer some standardised questions about algorithms and data structures, showing that they have at least some basic knowledge of what's going on in computers?"

It's not without downsides, but I also struggle to see a better option that can scale to the armies of devs that Amazon, Google, etc, all hire.

Re: Getting a job at Apple without going to college or doing LeetCode

#14

Post by BossingAround »

On the whole, it might be easier to grind LC than to create many side projects that you actually care about. This is all about one's internal motivation.

For example, I don't really want to code in my free time. I have long accepted that I don't care. I don't have energy for anything but small-size side projects.

I do, on the other hand, like solving puzzles, so LC is somewhat preferable to me, out of the two choices. To each their own.

Re: Getting a job at Apple without going to college or doing LeetCode

#15

Post by djcapelis »

pocketarc wrote: post #12
eclectic29 wrote: post #3

This is just "one" experience, certainly not the norm. Even as an experienced engineer of 15 yrs I'd to solve leetcode (LC) style problems on the whiteboard a few yrs go. For better or worse (depending on whose perspective you see), LC allows companies to judge you based on a common framework of solving algorithmic problems using computer science fundamentals (data structures and algorithms) in a language of your cho…

I think it makes sense to use LC or something like it. Is there a better way to judge the 100 random developers who've applied to your position? - They may not have formal education, you can't judge on that. - They may not have active GitHub projects, you can't judge on that. - They may not be active on social media or have any kind of fame, you can't judge on that. - They may not have built anything they can show of…

It’s simple: don’t hire devs by the army.

Re: Getting a job at Apple without going to college or doing LeetCode

#16

Post by retskrad »

Do Apple attract the best software engineers? If I were a talented hardware engineer, chip designer, hardware designer - I'd want to work at Apple because Apple attracts the best people in these fields. I imagine that Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon get the lion share of the best software engineers. No one has ever said Apple services, like the iCloud and Apple Music backend, or Siri, are quality piece of software engineering.

Re: Getting a job at Apple without going to college or doing LeetCode

#17

Post by eternalvoyage »

I think a combination of problem solving skill and experience with some specific language and/or framework is a great option for passing interviews. On some interviews, I only had to answer leetcode like problems. On others, I was grilled on the language or framework that the job requires. And the behavioral part always depends on the context.

Re: Getting a job at Apple without going to college or doing LeetCode

#18

Post by amelius »

suyash wrote: post #13

Side question: Is it still true that if you work at Apple, you can't be doing side projects etc? I've heard some stories rules from Big tech companies specially Apple that they restrict heavily what can and can't be done even in your free time.

Are most Applers even allowed to speak in forums like this one? Did OP follow the rules?

Re: Getting a job at Apple without going to college or doing LeetCode

#19

Post by Cthulhu_ »

dustincoates wrote: post #2

This is a great post, and it's good to hear from someone who is doing great things so early. I know HN is often down in self taught or bootcamp programmers, but I'm happy to see people who willed themselves through. On this point regarding the lack of leet code at Apple versus other big tech: > Is it a coincidence that Apple was the only Big Tech company that didn’t do layoffs? Yeah, I do think it's probably a coinci…

It depens on what they did before, because a lot of the big tech companies had a hiring spree in the years preceding the mini-crash.
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