Company: Apple
Date: 2018-06-13
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Decent
Pros: Culture and Values - 5 Stars - Apple is an innovative company. Being surrounded by individuals with fascinating ideas and goals is motivating and inspiring.
Cons: Benefits - 3 Stars - Vacation and sick time benefits are on the lower end of the spectrum for Full Time employees when compared to other local tech companies. That being said, having the onsite cafe, gym, doctors, and pharmacy is more convenient than I thought they would be. Many benefits go unused due to not being eligible.

Compensation - 2 Stars - Upper Management likes to BRAG that our compensation is lower that other tech companies because of our benefits. I’d be willing to give up student loan repayment options (I’m not eligible anyway), adoption assistance (not for me), daycare assistance (again, not for me) and RSUs if it meant I could have a paycheck on par with market rates. Raises are a maximum 5% which do not keep up with Austin’s year over year cost of living increases. The only way you will receive a raise is by a promotion.

Career Opportunities - 2 Stars - Upper management will hold you back from promotions or even temporary roles in other departments. They ultimately have a business to run and if you are TOO GOOD they won’t let you get promoted because they need you. 

Work/Life Balance - If you are salaried, you are expected to be on call 24/7 and management WILL call you at all times. If you want to go out of town for the weekend, forget it. Apple will not pay for your cell phone, but will require you to use your personal phone number for work related tasks, and even logging into your computer — you can’t work if you don’t have a personal phone. Apple will also require you to use your own personal AppleID to install software on work computers. You will also need to enter your own personal credit card to install updates.