Apple versus Microsoft New Grad
Please give reasoning in comments if you can :) Apple (Cupertino) Would be part of the evolve rotational program which rotates among Apple services (Apple TV, Apple Pay, Apple Maps, etc) every six months for 2 years then you get placed full time. Also I'm not actually sure how the bonus / refresher works at Apple so I guessed 10%. Comment if that's probably untrue. Microsoft (Remote) Would be on an azure team, unsure which one. I'd be able to work in NYC though which is definitely my preferred location. Not sure how great I feel about working remotely at a new company for my first full time job. #software #swe #offereval
Azure work life balance can be bad. My wife works in Azure. 55+ hours a week. She has on call four times a year. She's a remote L60. I voted for Apple purely due to the work life balance.
+1 to this. I recently transferred out of Azure for this very reason. If you factor in the extra work hours, your per-hour compensation at Apple may well be higher. Never mind the affect on your physical and mental health. OP, what org in Azure are you looking at? Your recruiter should definitely be able to at least tell you the org before you accept (Azure Data, Azure Core, etc). I might be able to give some more insight about the WLB of the team all depending.
New grad at apple will be working at LEAST 60hr to be successful on most teams. Apple is run very lean, which is good for avoiding layoffs but means practically every team is understaffed. Combine that with the extreme top-down management, culture which discourages using any time off, and the inordinate amount of toil (lack of mature tooling and automation) means that Apple's WLB is generally very poor. It depends on team and area of the company of course
fresh grad? join where you like the people/team/work and just learn. anything and everything. company, pay tc none of this matters. just join in good faith, be a sponge and in a couple of years you’ll figure out if you’re in a good place or not, and then make the jump accordingly. future technologies and opportunity to work on cutting edge should be your metric to decide. both have brand recognition for your next job. congratulations on the offers and goodluck !
Apple for name value
I know most of the people picked Microsoft, but the truth is that, Apple refreshers are much much higher, MSFT keeps trying to pay you lesser as you go to later levels. When I was there. I had a manager at 65 level getting paid about 260k, me at level 63 getting 240, because I came from outside.
The rotational program is meh. It’s on you to find the new rotations. I know people stuck in the same team for 9+ months cause they couldn’t find a new team
Microsoft seems to be a no brainer choice.
Curious why you think that? I'd assume Apple carries more name value.
TC offered to OP, flexibility to work remotely, and OP’s desire to stay in NY.
In person is so much better for you out of college. You’ll be way better positioned doing that for Apple, and I realize NYC is likely more fun and the choice you want to make. Think career. Go to an office for your first 2-5 years then go remote after that
What is the interview for Microsoft
Microsoft is one of the worst companies filed with incompetent leaders. Avoid it.
Apple 100%. Long term way higher comp, exposure to different teams with possibly some input on which team you want to be placed after. Remote is tough for new grads typically so seems like a no brainer