These aren't your everyday testimonials
What’s it really like working at Apple?
The tech giant is turning the spotlight on the people behind the brand in a newly launched section of its career page. But these aren’t your cookie-cutter success stories and employee testimonials, which are often designed to romanticise the idea of corporate citizenship.
In a series of interviews, individual staff members share their anecdotes and life lessons about how they started with the team – and their struggles along the way. The Q&A touches on topics rarely spoken of in the mainstream coverage of Apple and the tech industry. The interviews provide an honest look at employee experience in one of the best workplaces in the world and its attempt to become more inclusive and diverse.
Read more: 50 companies with the best workplace culture
In one Q&A, Apple Store manager Nafisah recalled how she joined the company as manager even though she had “zero” experience in retail and tech. “I wondered about that, but they said they were less interested in what I knew and more interested in who I was. It was more about heart and soul,” she said.
The process of learning along the way was a “little intimidating,” but it also taught her the value of humility and being open to learning from others. “We all invested in each other,” Nafisah said.
Meanwhile, AI engineering manager Chris – who is legally blind – had already started his own company building voice-driven apps for people with low vision when he was hired by Apple. In the interview, he spoke about his personal mission.
“The business itself wasn’t what I was most passionate about. I was more into solving the problem, offering people a better quality of life. Apple offered me the resources to do that,” Chris said. “Pursuing my work with Apple meant more focus, more progress, and more impact.”
Apple said the shared values of the team “inspire the work [they] share with everyone”. And while no two career trajectories are the same, Apple works with people who bring with them “passion for what [they] do best and what [they] believe matters most”.
“As you’ll see from these conversations, our stories are all different, yet each shows what’s possible when personal and professional values align,” the company said.
