You’ve applied to Apple and it’s been an anxious few days waiting to hear back.
And then you get the email. Apple wants to interview you and get to know you better! There’s probably a ton of interview questions to prep for, but none is as common as the following:
Why do you want to work for Apple?
In this article, I’m going to give you a framework for answering this question in general, then provide you with specific points related to Apple, and finally show you how to relate information about Apple to your own experiences so that you can craft the perfect answer.
I will also break it down by whatever type of role you may be applying for.
Here’s a table of contents in case you want to jump to any section immediately.
- How To Answer Why X Questions (General Template)
- Example Answers To “Why Apple?”
- How To Tie It Back To Your Own Experiences
- Summary
Let’s get started.
How To Answer Why X Questions (General Template)
Before I can tell you what a successful answer to the Why Apple question would look like, we have to understand what employers are looking for in general when asking these sorts of questions.
At a high level, the employer is trying to understand whether you’ve actually done your research on the company or not. Are you just applying because everyone else is? Are you just desperate for a job?
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize that these are both terrible reasons to apply to a company and that it’s the last thing an employer wants to hear.
Instead, when asking this question, the employer wants to hear about specific motivators and general motivators that led you to apply to the company. Specific motivators are detailed, data-driven facts you can find about the company (such as current events like an IPO, a fundraising round, or a key hire) and General motivators are centered around the mission and goal of the company.
By using both these types of reasons, you can craft a compelling argument in your favor and demonstrate that you’re a candidate who’s actually devoted the time to learning about the company.
Let’s dive into examples of both specific motivators and general motivators that you can utilize.
Examples of Specific Motivators
Example #1: Company is expanding into the virtual reality vertical
Perhaps you’re applying to an airline company that is expanding its in flight entertainment to include virtual reality content. You have experience running a blog about virtual reality so you bring up how you’d be very interested in contributing towards this part of the business, and would love to leverage your prior knowledge to add value.
Example #2: Company is predominantly engineering focused
You’ve done your research and find out that around 80% of the employees work in technical roles. In other words, this is probably a company that views engineering as a profit center rather than a cost center. If you’re applying for a technical role, it’s a very good sign that you’ll get the resources and mentorship you need to succeed and grow your career (and not accumulate cultural debt). This is a great reason to want to work at a company.
Examples of General Motivators
Example #1: Company’s core mission is to educate students all around the world
Let’s say you’re applying to a company in the edtech space. You can mention how you really resonate with their core mission of using the internet to enable students to advance their careers. I’ll get into this a bit later, but it’s also important to present examples from your own life to back up exactly why you care about this. This isn’t strictly necessary, but it makes you stand out. An example in this case might be that you learned to code using online courses, so you can directly understand how empowering it is to be able to take advantage of digital opportunities.
Example #2: Fastest growing company in the industry
Let’s say you’re applying to a startup in the ad tech industry that has grown tremendously over the past few years. You can use this as an answer to why you want to work there - just make sure to actually mention why this growth is so exciting to you. Is it because you’ll be able to work in a fast and dynamic workplace? Or perhaps it’s because you have a lot of relevant experience in adtech already, and can’t wait to accelerate your speed of learning by joining this company.
Okay, so hopefully by now you understand what a good “Why X” answer looks like. There’s still a last part to it, which has to do with tying everything back into your own story, but we’ll get to that later.
Next up, let’s look at some specific examples you can use to answer the Why Apple question.
Example Answers To “Why Apple?”
Let’s use our technique of coming up with both general motivators and specific motivators to come up with a great answer for the “Why Do You Want to Work For Apple?” question.
First, I’ll focus on general motivators about wanting to work at Apple that everyone can use.
Apple General Motivator Examples
Example #1: Focus on Quality and Simplicity
Ever since Steve Jobs came back into the company in 1997, Apple has focused on creating products that prioritize simplicity over complexity. In a world in which every software company seems to be adding a multitude of features and trying to shove these down your throat, the consumer first approach that Apple deploys is refreshing.
Apple’s focus on simplicity is also evident whenever you unbox one of their laptops - it’s ready to go straight away!
With this in mind, here’s what a potential answer that includes this general motivator might look like:
“I want to work for Apple because I admire the company’s consumer first approach and attitude towards keeping products simple. In a world filled with too many features and gadgets, Apple stands out as a company that is dedicated to just focusing on the important. And that’s an attitude that I want to cultivate as well and use to get better at my craft.”
Example #2: Focus on Storytelling
Apple’s always had a strong emphasis on telling great stories. It’s not about having an iPod - it’s about having 1,000 songs in your pocket. Another great example is their launch of the 1984 Macintosh - in their advertisement for it, you can’t even tell what they’re trying to sell until the very end. Apple realizes that stories are what run this world.
Here’s an example answer you could use mentioning this key concept:
“I want to work at Apple because I’ve realized that everything we do is powered by stories and Apple is the best brand in the world at telling stories. Whether it be when I’m writing code or discussing product specs in a cross-functional environment, I’m going to be honing my skill of communicating ideas and always thinking about the big picture. This is a skill that’ll serve me well for the rest of my life”.
And have you just gotten an interview at their retail store? Then you could use the following answer:
“I want to work at the Apple retail store because I want to take my communication and storytelling skills to the next level. Apple retail employees are able to convey complex, technical ideas and specs in very simple everyday language, and the whole company’s focus on telling stories is something that I’m extremely passionate about. To be able to do this on a day to day level where I’ll be able to interact with clients would be something I’m very interested in.”
Example #3: Focus On Being Different
Another general motivator that you could leverage in your Apple interview is the company’s focus on always doing things in a different manner, often thinking from a first principles perspective. After all, Steve Jobs did say that you have to be a little bit different to buy an Apple Computer.
You could use the following type of answer:
“I want to work at Apple because to constantly innovate requires the ability to think differently and this is one of Apple’s core ethos. I want to work for a company that questions the status quo and is at the forefront of change - it’s something that will drive me to do my best work and know that I will have a tremendous impact.”
Now that we’ve explored some good general motivators you can use to display your interest in working at Apple, let’s look at some specific motivators that showcase you’ve done your research on the company.
Apple Specific Motivator Examples
Example #1: Design Driven Product Culture
Let’s say you’re applying for a product role at Apple. Something you could mention is how Apple’s product culture has a slight emphasis on design that other companies in the space don’t have. At some companies, to be a product manager, it is imperative to know how to code, but this isn’t the case at Apple. Instead, expressing your strong interest in the UX aspect of things will paint you as someone who’s done their research on the company. Here’s actually a relevant example about how one applicant actually redesigned the Apple Music interface to get an internship.
Example #2: Airpod Growth & Vertical Expansion
Over the past couple of years, Apple has started expanding into many verticals like the watch space (through Apple Watch) and it’s also created a hugely successful product in the wireless headphone space (Airpods). You could mention how you’ve been fascinated to see Airpods take over 50% of the global market share for the wireless headphone space in 2020 and are excited to learn about the other products they’re exploring - here are a few slated to come out in 2021:
Okay, by this stage, you can point to a few general reasons and specific reasons behind why you want to work at Apple. This is great because it shows you’ve done your research.
A great way to get more ideas for both general motivators and specific motivators is to go on coffee chats with Apple employees - they’ll be able to share plenty of their own reasons that you can draw inspiration from.
But you’re not quite done yet. To top it off, we need to talk about how you can link everything back into your own story.
How To Tie It Back To Your Own Experiences
Whatever reason you give for wanting to work at Apple, make sure that you also mention why it’s something you’d be excited about specifically. What do I mean by this?
Let’s take the example of Apple’s focus on being a consumer first company. If you recall, our template answer was something like this:
“I want to work for Apple because I admire the company’s consumer first approach and attitude towards keeping products simple. In a world filled with too many features and gadgets, Apple stands out as a company that is dedicated to just focusing on the important. And that’s an attitude that I want to cultivate as well and use to get better at my craft.”
This is a perfectly fine answer, but to make it a great answer, I recommend adding in one or two sentences about your personal experiences revolving around a focus on being consumer first (through your past work experiences or any projects). Here’s an example of what you could add on:
“In my previous experience as a product manager, my team and I noticed that getting rid of certain UX like email popups lowered our email conversation rate, but also improved other metrics like time spent on page. Ultimately, though, I realized that by creating the best possible experience for the customer, we could create long-term value that certain metrics just couldn’t capture. This attitude of putting the consumer first and creating products that embody this message is why I’m so drawn to Apple.”
This is a very good answer because it specifically shows a professional experience of yours that points towards learning a lesson which you can then carry forward and apply at a company like Apple.
Make sure however that your final answer has both specific and general motivators, as well as a specific personal example. So to combine everything, here’s what your answer might look like:
“I want to work for Apple for a few reasons - the first is related to the company culture and the second due to some market trends I’m super excited about.
Company culture wise - I want to work at Apple because to constantly innovate requires the ability to think differently and this is one of Apple’s core ethos. I want to work for a company that questions the status quo and is at the forefront of change - it’s something that will drive me to do my best work and know that I will have a tremendous impact.
I’ve had somewhat of an unconventional career myself and the core of it has always been driven by my question to expose myself to new ideas and challenge my abilities. I switched from product to design because I wanted to dive deeper into the human elements of our products and really understand the psychology behind what makes something really easy to use.
Second, I’ve really admired Apple’s ability to keep expanding its suite of products and jump into new verticals. I’ve been fascinated to see Airpods take over 50% of the global market share for the wireless headphone space in 2020 and I’m excited to learn about the other products you have in line.
Something in particular that I enjoyed learning about was how the Airpod was born out of a strong culture of experimentation at Apple - this is something that I’ve myself used to explore new ideas, career paths, and learn new concepts. By creating a space to invest time into new topics (in a non-committal manner), I find myself getting really creative. I think Apple is the sort of company that resonates with this mindset.”
The reason the above is a complete answer is because of the following:
As can be seen, everytime you mention one of your key motivators (specific or general), you’re able to link it back to your own life. This way the Apple interviewer knows you’re not just making something up.
Summary
By now you should be ready to answer the “Why Do You Want To Work For Apple?” interview question in a great way.
We’ve gone over the general motivators you need to mention, the specific motivators you can use, and then also how to link the motivators to your own life.
Most importantly, I would recommend taking the time to speak with some of Apple’s current employees to bounce ideas off them and try to really understand why Apple is a perfect environment for you. As job seekers, we can often fall into the mindset of trying to land any job rather than being intentional about what the perfect workplace is for us.
Specifically, it can be helpful to brainstorm what values you care about (for example, work-life balance or safe environment to fail) and then during your interview process really make sure that the company you’re applying towards holds those values in high regard.
Good luck with the interview!
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