Interview came in 3 parts. First was a large group interview, which actually felt more like an orientation than an actual interview. All of the 30-or-so potential employees introduced ourselves, then sat through a presentation that I could loosely describe as propaganda - video and discussion essentially about why Apple is so great. The segments about the individual positions were much more helpful to me than Apple's sales records. At the end of the 90 minute "interview" was a group activity in which we decided which products were right for a given customer profile.
I didn't think I made much of an impression, but was pleasantly surprised to make it to the next round: A phone interview. The interviewer was very kind, enthusiastic, and the questions were pretty logical, but did require thought - Why do you think you'd be good for this job? What have been your most positive and negative employment experiences? I didn't feel great about how things went, as I don't particularly enjoy phone communication, but the interviewer was very encouraging. At the conclusion of this interview, the interviewer said I was a great candidate and asked to initiate a background check right away. He'd love to have me aboard, and just wanted to get a final, in-person interview in. An unexpected response, but certainly welcomed.
Finally came the 1:1 interview - or I suppose it would be 1:2, as two people interviewed me. Some of the questions here were repeats, but the face-to-face interaction was much more comfortable for me. I was told I would here from them by the following Wednesday, probably sooner. For the first time during the process, I personally felt good about the next step. Wednesday came and went, though, and I had to email the company to get my rejection.
Overall, it was a decent process, but it was odd that my self-assessment was pretty much the opposite of my interviewers. (When I thought I did poorly, I actually moved on, and vice-versa.) I was of course disappointed
to not get the position, and even more so after the heavy implication that a position was mine, but it wasn't a negative experience. The people seemed very nice and, once again, enthusiastic, but there was a sort of Stepfordian happiness to it that didn't always seem 100% genuine. Other than that, the only negative aspect was the fact that they didn't inform me when they said they would. Apple seems like a finely oiled machine, and I did feel like I was left hanging a little bit. They said I could apply again after 90 days, but thankfully another opportunity with a different company came my way soon after. I'm not sure if I would have attempted to go through the process again, but it was worth doing once.