Maxime Britto, engineer and founder of the French school for application developers Purple Giraffe, spoke about how once interned at Apple. He told how the first day of internship in Cupertino, what do the young professionals and what you need to do to become an Intern at Apple. RB leads a curious story of Britto.
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First day of practice in Apple
I was an Intern in the summer of 2008. Arrived the day before WWDC. I well remember that, because when I met with my Manager at the reception Apple, we went not to the office, and Parking. There we sat in his Mustang (a car rarely seen in France!), and he took me to San Francisco so I could attend WWDC together with the whole team. Back at the office only at 11 PM after a full day of the conference and parties. The first day went well.
What do interns at Apple
I worked in a team of WebKit and Safari. Was engaged in that searched for bugs in WebKit and did a little work on Safari for Windows. Users of this OS was requested to add smooth scrolling mode (which is activated by pressing the mouse wheel). For me it was quite a difficult task, because then I only started to understand in a giant code base WebKit and Safari.
The last two weeks I worked on the early design studies of a very steep function of Safari (it’s not out yet). I had to tell her about Scott Forstall, who was then Vice President for iOS development.
How he learned about the practice at Apple
Previously, I interned in the French company Pleyo. She wanted to contribute to the WebKit project, which is the engine open source. All the summer of 2007 I was involved in finding bugs in WebKit and constantly talked at IRC. So I virtually met with the permanent participants of the project. Basically, it was the employees of Apple, but little did I know that in the future I will be with them in one team. At the end of practice, my Manager from Pleyo has announced that it has received a letter from Apple that the company is very satisfied with my work. He advised me to be sure to stay in touch with the Manager Apple. And so I did.
How does selection for the internship in Apple
Because in the Apple I already knew a little, I found it went a little faster. I went through two interviews over the phone. At first I mainly talked about the practice and asked General questions, and in the end the Manager said what technical field you should pay attention before the next interview (because it will be more on the technical part). I remember when I was very nervous because I was told to repeat the information on the microkernel Mach, and I didn’t even know what it is. I spent several hours on printing and reading articles about this core. When the day came for the second interview, I was a walking encyclopedia of the Mach microkernel, but we end up almost never mentioned!
After a few days, when I was sitting in a restaurant with my future wife, I got a call from an American number. I felt a sudden adrenaline rush. It was my recruiter who told me: “Maxim, we’d like to make you an offer.”
What qualities are needed to get to practice in Apple
For four months, until I met with the team, I had the chance to show their skills. I was a rookie (first year of the programming involved, and WebKit is a serious engine). When I began to reign in the bugs, things went easier. I think the company noticed my efforts and that I never gave up. In the end, I began to fix these serious bugs.
How is the typical day of an Intern in Apple
I like the regular Apple engineers, had its own office (with a name plate on the door!) and magnetic name badge, which you can use to open doors. I could come into the office at any time of the day. I’ve had two MacBook Pro, and remote access to them, so if necessary I could work from home. Next to our rooms was a relaxation area with sofas and, basically, we took the laptops and worked on them, chatting among themselves. If someone wanted to stay in silence, he could go to his office, and then return.
Due to the fact that we could come to the office Apple any day and any time, sometimes we were going in there at night and played volleyball on the internal site.
The best moments of the practice
The three best moments for me, of course, is my very first day at the WWDC. I also loved to communicate with other interns from around the world. We lived together, played sports, went on weekends in a cafe and walked around San Francisco. I learned a lot from communicating with different cultures. You could say I became a different person.
Another cool feature is a conversation with the Vice-presidents. They were held once a week during lunch. We were able to meet and ask questions such famous people like Jonathan Ive, Bertrand Serlet, Scott Forstall. And the last meeting was by Steve jobs. These conversations were simply awesome.
Is there a need to improve training in Apple?
To be honest, no. The company took care of everything for me: helped me get, to find housing and even to solve the issue with visa. Apple held meetings with Vice presidents and other events for interns (trips to amusement parks, competition in baseball and so on). She made sure we all got along. The team, which I came greeted me very friendly and gave me a real serious work. It was the best summer of my life.
What bonuses you get after an internship at Apple
At the end of practice my recruiter told me the same phrase, which once was invited to do an internship at Apple: “Maxim, we’d like to make you an offer.” I nearly went crazy with joy and I wanted to agree, but then I realized that I’m too hard to leave your family and friends in another country. Yes, and I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I decided that I’d better first finish school, and then I’ll find a way to come back if you want.
Very well Apple pays its interns. The most interesting thing happened when I pointed out in my LinkedIn profile that I worked at Apple I immediately started writing recruiters from major companies. But I never tried to pass them in interviews, as in the Apple, because I had my own projects. But, generally, it was great to feel popular.
How to get an internship at Apple
The best way to get an internship is to participate in open source projects Apple. Only a few make the significant contribution and if they do, then the company notices this. So they receive an invitation for practice.
So my advice to you: find an open source project that you like, work hard on him, act friendly and try to help everyone. Over time your plan will work, and, in addition, you will gain a lot of knowledge.
