A recent article about Apple’s interview questions was really interesting which got me thinking — as a manager, I’ve never been asked questions like this before during an interview.  I ask the typical questions about who you are, where you’ve been and what are you up to now.  I’ll usually ask a few questions to make the interviewee think, such as what is your favorite excel formula and why?  Or ask them to describe a situation that had conflict and see how they resolved it.  But it dawned on me that there is a whole other creative way to glean information from a candidate and Apple seems to have it down pat.   There are some pretty challenging questions in this article.  How would you answer them?

Following are some of them:

“A man calls in and has an older computer that is essentially a brick. What do you do?” — Apple Care At-Home Consultant candidate

“Are you smart?” — Build Engineer candidate

“Have you ever disagreed with a manager’s decision, and how did you approach the disagreement? Give a specific example and explain how you rectified this disagreement, what the final outcome was, and how that individual would describe you today.” — Software Engineer candidate

“You put a glass of water on a record turntable and begin slowly increasing the speed. What happens first — does the glass slide off, tip over, or does the water splash out?” — Mechanical Engineer candidate

“Tell me something that you have done in your life which you are particularly proud of.” — Software Engineering Manager candidate

“Are you creative? What’s something creative that you can think of?” — Software Engineer candidate

“Describe a humbling experience.” — Apple Retail Specialist candidate

“What’s more important, fixing the customer’s problem or creating a good customer experience?” — Apple At Home Advisor candidate

“Why did Apple change its name from Apple Computers Incorporated to Apple Inc.?” — Specialist candidate

“You seem pretty positive, what types of things bring you down?” — Family Room Specialist candidate

“Show me (role play) how you would show a customer you’re willing to help them by only using your voice.” — College At-Home Advisor candidate

“What brings you here today?” — Software Engineer candidate

“Given an iTunes type of app that pulls down lots of images that get stale over time, what strategy would you use to flush disused images over time?” — Software Engineer candidate

“If you’re given a jar with a mix of fair and unfair coins, and you pull one out and flip it 3 times, and get the specific sequence heads heads tails, what are the chances that you pulled out a fair or an unfair coin?” — Lead Analyst candidate

“What was your best day in the last 4 years? What was your worst?” — Engineering Project Manager candidate

Bronson Quon – Linkedin

“Hope Arises” was the name and topic of this past Sunday’s sermon at Shepherd Church in Porter Ranch, as we celebrated Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior, who sacrificed his life so that are sins could be forgiven.

Many things seem impossible in the midst of chaos and in many respects, they really are.  Whether one is dealing with a broken marriage, infidelity, financial or legal troubles, disease or sickness, there is one thing that has withstood the test of time — and that is hope.  While every man dies because of father time, those who believe that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead will live eternal life.  How do we know this?  Because, the resurrection proves this, and it says so in the bible.

This tells us that with God, “all things are possible”.  Pastor Dudley tells us that God specializes in the impossible.  All he asks us is to Confess and Repent, Believe in Him and through baptism, we may live a new life.   Our past will be forgiven and our future will be secured.  Isn’t that something — that is hope and salvation in its purest form.

Happy Easter to all…

Isn’t it crazy that the older we get, the busier we get?  You don’t understand how simple life really is in your youth.  You wake up, eat, go to school, take some tests, talk to some friends, go to practice, eat dinner, do some chores and go to sleep, and do it all over again.  Then you go to college, study,  take some mid terms and finals, meet some friends, go to some parties and go to sleep.  You have responsibilities, sure, but they are nothing like what an adult will face once working a 50+hour work week, getting married, having kids, owning and managing a home, doing your taxes, taking care of your family, trying to stay in shape, and dealing with real-life issues.  Health, faith, money, work/life balance, legal issues, divorce, vacations…all of these things equal stress.  It can be very easy to get overwhelmed with life and everybody deals with it in different ways.  The important thing is, don’t stress yourself out when things happen that are out of your control.  Take it one step at a time and do your best to deal with what life throws you.

Don’t be this guy – take matters into your own hands.  Be in control.

Have you ever been in a conversation or meeting with another person or group where you were so convinced that you were right but there is a comeback for everything you say? In these instances, sometimes your emotions can get the best of you. You feel your temperature rising, your stress level spikes, and all you can think about is how well you didn’t prepare for the meeting. You don’t plan to fail, you fail to plan. But that’s not the message here. When you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to stay cool and collected. You have to figure out how to bring your A game everyday, to every situation that presents itself. When the argument you are trying to make fails, it’s because it’s not good enough. Don’t get angry. Don’t get upset. Be better than that. Don’t be that guy.

“Don’t raise your voice. Improve your argument.”

-Harvey Specter

Have you ever been in a no win situation? When the odds are completely stacked against you and seemingly, you have no options? Inevitably, this will happen to everyone at some point in life. Whether it is a personal or business situation, between family or friends, or perhaps financial or legal issues, life just isn’t fair. When your back is up against the wall, sometimes you just have to sit back, look at the big picture, and as cliche as this sounds, think out of the box. In other words, you have to rewrite the rules if you want to resolve and/or address your issue. Easier said than done, right? Pour yourself a glass of scotch, take a deep breath, and go back to the drawing board. Sometimes the answer is right in front of you and you do not even see it.  I love Suits!

“Win a no win situation by rewriting the rules.”

-Harvey Specter

If you are looking for a legitimate real estate agent on the Westside, look no further than Stephanie Younger. See the following zillow review!

Read Bronson Quon’s Review on Zillow