Apple PM Intern Interview - My experience

Getting the interview

An email notification pops up on my phone… another rejection? Nope, it's Apple asking for an interview. So excited, I rush back to my dorm, text all my mentors to set up calls, and begin the grind.

The process

After back and forths with the recruiter, I scheduled the first round. The first round was with a product manager, and afterward, I got moved onto the final round. The final round was three weeks after the first one, with the manager of the previous PM I talked with. After the final round, I waited a month to hear back and, unfortunately, got rejected.

How I prepared

First Round:

When I got the first round interview, I fortunately had mentors at Apple who were able to walk me through mock interviews, potential questions I could be asked, and overall what knowledge to have. During this time, I also conducted mock interviews with my friends in the product management club. The week leading up to the call, I continuously practiced product sense questions in my head, on my laptop, in the shower, on my way to work, etc., helping me exercise that part of my brain to the fullest.

With this, I passed the first round with flying colours.

Final Round:
The final round honestly couldn't have been scheduled at a worse time for me. I was travelling for a week to a cruise the week before the final round, where I would have no Wi-Fi and no way of further researching product questions. However, this cruise was with my product management club, and I was able to mock non-stop.

Once I got back, I took the final round, and a month later, I was rejected.

What I would've done differently

I found myself practicing a lot of the parts of PM interviews that I was extremely comfortable and confident in. However, if I were to prepare differently, I would have drilled into the things that I'm not so familiar with. For example, market sizing and estimation questions are a core part of product strategy, and I didn't have a strong framework to walk through for those questions. My biggest mistake was confusing confidence with preparedness.

Conclusion

What I learned from this whole process is that playing to your strengths can feel good in the short term, if you learn how to identify your weak points and develop them into strengths, that's where true development occurs. I notice this not just in interviews but in life in general. Need to work on your passing in volleyball? Your left-hand lay-ups in basketball? Maybe even your parallel parking.

Identifying areas of growth is the key to mastery.