I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Apple (New York, NY) in May 2024
Interview
Recruiter contacted me and set up interview. The interview was on webex and was very casual. The apple employee was dressed casual, friendly, but seemed in a rush. They gave me information about the job; how working as a contractor mean I might have to drop from meeting due to NDA; that contractors may not be allowed to know all the components of a project; and that apple uses proprietary software tool and no Jira. I gave about 8 minutes of details about myself with some back and forth engagement. At the end they said we have a few minutes, but I have some things to do if you do not have any more questions... OMG the kiss of death. I said I understood the role and felt confident I would be a good fit and teammate. I could not directly follow up so I sent a thank you message to the recruiter.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Apple (Cupertino, CA) in Nov 2023
Interview
This was an interview with the hiring manager. Despite a fairly exciting description of the role, and despite hearing from multiple sources that a technical program manager title at Apple might have substantial agency and the ability to participate in the scientific community, it rapidly became clear that the role was more for a mid-level project manager and the questions I was asked were fairly basic project management questions. I didn't proceed to further interviews or an offer as it was clear on both sides that the role wasn't what I was looking for.
I applied online. I interviewed at Apple (Palo Alto, CA)
Interview
Went through a phone screen with a recruiter then a phone screen with a technical member of the staff. recruiter went through basic background questions while the technical staff asked more question about project management and explained the role more
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you manage projects across different groups