Company: Apple
Date: 2019-04-21
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Not Sustainable - You feel disposable and used
Pros: You get to work at "Apple". Whatever that means to you. To me it meant nothing.
Cons: It is a high stress job involving travel to China. Since Apple products are assembled in China, thats where most of the action happens from a Supply Chain and Operations perspective. My days started early with calls with teams in Europe. During the day i was working with teams in US. From evening until night, I was on calls with teams in China as you get a lot of requests. It was a 24x7 thankless job. If you have time to manage two projects, you'll always have four. You are not innovating or designing cool products in Supply Chain. You are only making sure these products are ready when customers want it. The only differentiator in performance is the number of hours you put in. 
1. There are not many people with great backgrounds here. Most of the folks are from supply chain backgrounds from random less reputed companies or business schools for whom having Apple on the CV is a huge uplift. Some people with good background are at senior positions who joined Apple in the early days and they are enjoying their million dollar valuation of stocks.
2. Leadership: Apple loves engineers. Most people in managerial roles got promoted from IC engineering roles and do not have an iota of aura or leadership qualities. They are very arrogant and don't care about people.
3. The work is very stressful with aggressive targets and you have to always be on top of China. I have seen people break down in meetings. Many people had health issues and were always looking to exit. Having alcohol on your table is common. There is no time for personal life. When you join you are given a paper that says 'the work you will do is so great that people dont mind spending their weekends here'. Thats a hint. LOL
4. Average employee turnover time is ten months. It is just not sustainable and that is why you can always find tons of open GSM roles on the Apple website. Apple is now a big organization and it is tough to move up and steer the politics.  
5. Culture: There is no culture. Every person is on his/her own. There is no collaboration. No one likes to share anything and people keep fighting to prove their point. You'll be doing everything yourself from scratch everytime and that will add to the hours and frustration. In my team, people fought for air time and tried to make loud conversations with team mates when manager was around. It was fake environment. The director would come to happy hour in team area for two minutes and take a mental head count of who all were present and who all were not participating in this 'team event'.  
6. Even with Apple salary, you'll just make your ends meet as this is one of the most expensive part of the world. You will never be able to afford to buy a house. You'll shell out all your money on rent and survival stuff. 
7. Career Opportunities: Depends on your relations. However every project is secretive and that limits your opportunities. Also, you can only move within your vertical. Moving to Applecare is not possible. Also, my manager dint help me in any way to find a new role when i wanted to change roles. Thats common. Also, you'll be hired because you can do the job well. Apple will not invest in your to develop new skills. You'll be doing the same work your entire life. 

In short working at Apple involves high stress, all your hours, no new skills development and little savings. The only thing you get is an Apple name on your CV. Is it worth it? You decide for yourself. International folks with MBA, this role is a trap and its tough to get out. There are better options out there. Check out how this role is rated on transparentcareer and you'll get more data points.