Company: Apple
Date: 2014-07-28
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Senior

Don't be woo'd by the brand
Pros: - If you are french, speak french or have been to a top french business school - this is a great company to work for in Europe
- All your friends think you work for the coolest company
- Employee discount
- Stock - the only reason most people stay is because of the share options.
Cons: - Zero career potential - most people have been over-hired into more junior roles and are expected to execute in that role forever - lots of people have been doing the same role for 5-10 years or longer.   There is very little upward promotion if any and almost zero lateral movement as Apple just hires externally people for roles and doesn't develop anyone internally. 
- Lack of any leadership - there is no leadership in EMEA in Apple since the previous VP left - the new VP is responsible for most of the world and his only visibility is on a quarterly communications call handing out meaningless sales awards
- Micro management - most of the leadership in Apple are micro managers who are detail obsessed often in the irrelevant detail rather than things that matter - lots of time, energy and skill is wasted by smart people creating presentations that go nowhere
- Don't be woo'd by the brand - too many smart people are woo'd by working for Apple the brand and discover when they join that their job is incredibly limited in scope and that their previous skills and experiences are ignored as 'that's not the way it's done in Apple'   
- Technology - very few people have the latest Mac and even less have the latest iPhone - Apple doesn't want to invest in providing it's employees with the latest iPhone, Mac or iPad.  Recently one team got given iPads and they were the iPad 2 - this was when iPad 4 had been released.   Most people are still using iPhone 4 or 5 when the 5s has been out for over a year.  
- Training - there is very little professional development training - most training is orientated to brain washing you to think the way 'Apple' works - rather than how to develop you as an individual.