A Peek Into Cupertino's Holy Corridors

Plans call for him to contribute to a few open source projects and perhaps work on some Web apps. He'll also write at least two "kick-ass Mac apps."

Alfke just left Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) , where he spent 16 years. He knows Mac programming, which is undoubtedly a good skill to have, but he really knows Apple inside and out -- and that, as the commercial goes, is priceless.

Apple's customers are well known for their loyalty, but how about its employees? Recruiters tout the company's flexible work schedule, its nurturing of creativity, and perks -- like handing out free iPhones just after the must-have product was launched.

What does Apple look like from the inside, though? What are the typical hours -- and conditions -- under which the people in Cupertino work?

Is there a frenzy of activity just before big deadlines? Is there really a widespread sense of passion about the Next Big Product? Or are most rank-and-file employees just slogging away to earn a check?

And how does CEO Steve Jobs' personality -- rumored to be somewhat mercurial in his dealings with employees -- affect the work environment?

Inside POV

These are not easy questions to answer. Employees have a vested interested in speaking only in the most glowing terms about their employer. Still, the enthusiasm of reports emanating from Cupertino suggest that many of Apple's current staff really mean what they say.

"Apple is an incredibly challenging place to work and the level of creativity is intoxicating," writes Brian, input engineer, on the company's Web site.

"My day-to-day work varies tremendously. Some days I am involved in the detailed technical discussions concerning development of new technologies or integrating those technologies into compelling product demos. Often I meet cross-functionally with industrial design, product design, and software engineering to work on everything from new product brainstorming to implementation of a final product."

Dona, a senior engineer, is similarly delighted. "I find Apple to be an exciting environment because I'm surrounded by very smart, creative, and hard-working people. In my department there are managers who have studied biology, physics, English, and art, engineers who have studied philosophy, and several people who are professional musicians. My department is like a real family. We support each other, argue with each other, respect each other, work closely together, and enjoy each other's company."

Unknown Heroes

A different picture of Apple emerges in an ex-employee's account of what it's like to work for the company. To be fair, such observations must be weighed against the circumstances under which the employee left. That said, a cruise around the blogosphere gleans a more-nuanced view of the company.

In his post Gone Indie, Alfke gives some of the reasons he left. The post struck a nerve -- it got 95 comments before the blog stopped taking them.

He's not down on Apple: "It's a very focused company, and that's a strategy that's worked well for the past ten years. I admire that, and I'm happy to be in a world where I don't have to feel like a freak anymore for using a Mac in public. And overall, Apple's core goals of elegant user interfaces and beautiful design are ones I am glad to contribute to."

His reasons for leaving stem from a desire to go where Apple isn't -- for example, into social software. That said, Alfke offers some interesting tidbits about Apple's work culture.

"For a company that famously celebrates individuality and Thinking Different, Apple has in the past decade kept its image remarkably impersonal," he notes. "Other than the trinity who go on stage at press events -- Steve Jobs, Jonathan Ive, Phil Schiller -- how many people can you name who work for Apple? How many engineers?"

It wasn't always this way, according to Alfke.

"Apple was very open in the beginning, and treated the members of the original Mac team like rock stars, complete with photo layouts in Rolling Stone. Their signatures were engraved in the inside of the computer's case. ...

"Nowadays, unless you're a vice president, the only time Apple consents to show your name is if you give a talk at the Worldwide Developers' Conference, a rather pricey annual event. ...

"It's not that I'm poutily demanding that I get my portrait taken by Annie Leibowitz, just like Andy Herzfeld and Bill Atkinson. But when I (and those I work with) slave over a project for a year, and shape it with our creative energies, I think we should be able to put our damn names on it somewhere (unobtrusively, in 8pt Lucida)."

Apple doesn't like bloggers either, Alfke says. "I've heard it said that there are hardly any bloggers working at Apple; there are actually a lot more than you'd think, but they mostly keep it a secret. (I could out a few people, including at least one director...) I think Apple's policy on blogging is one of the least enlightened of major tech companies; Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) in particular is surprisingly open."

Pity the Fool

Discontent is also evident in Adam Knight's blog, After Apple.

"It's an often-told story that when Jobs went around finding his first batch of suckers, his sales pitch was to ask them if they wanted a job, or to change the world. After working at Apple for any length of time you realize that this effectively means, 'Would you like a salary you can live on, or are hopes and dreams good for you?' Pity the sucker that took that job, for he changed the world and ate crackers and soup.

"What Steve really meant, though, outside of stiffing the poor bastard, was that Apple concentrates on creative talent and hutzpah rather than on the meager details of business or life. What matters is the gem, the gold, the shiny new thing that's going to change the world, and all that little stuff that's needed to get that done, well, some other fool's handling that, working the magic, making it work so that you can work on The Next Big Thing. Sadly, that bohemian view of what it is to work in the age of computing never quite left California," says Knight.

Magic Mushrooms

In View from the Mountain, David Sobotta points out how isolated many Apple employees feel about the company's marketing and product positioning in a recent post.

"I have always been convinced that Scott Adams secretly worked at Apple," Sobotta says, referring to a linked cartoon. "I sent the cartoon to some Apple friends since today is the day (kicking off the recent Macworld Conference & Expo) that most Apple employees find out just how little they know about what their company has been doing."

Sobotta was never based in Cupertino, but he spent several weeks there, he told MacNewsWorld. This is what he remembers about the iPhone handouts: "The only reason Steve gave them to the employees is that they were not selling as well as expected. Not surprisingly, he lowered the price soon after that."

Sobotta was manager of the year for the enterprise division in 2002 or '03, "and my prize was an iPod," he remarked.

Looking for a Job?

So, what to make of the diverging views -- especially if you're thinking of going to work for Apple? There's a lot of content on the Internet that can provide some guidance to a company's cultural DNA, noted Derrek Milan, global leader for software and emerging technologies at Korn Ferry.

"Blogging is one example," he told MacNewsWorld. "Also, a lot of people use social platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook .

Another piece of advice is to ask about benefits that are typical in the industry.

"The high tech market is quite congested -- there are not enough employees to meet all the companies' demands," observed Barry Flink, executive vice president and partner of Flex-HR.

Flex hours are very important to creative tech people -- and routinely offered, he told MacNewWorld. "They affect your work-life balance and have more lasting power than a gift like an iPhone."