Apple employees reveal the 19 best things about working for the world's most valuable company

One anonymous Quora user who claims to have worked at Apple for several years writes that there's an "older demographic" working at Apple. Most people are in their 30s and 40s, and have tons of experience to bring to the workplace, the author writes. There's no "Nerf guns" or "slackers."

Source: Quora

Any iPhone or MacBook Air owner knows how expensive Apple products can be, which is why Apple employees love their discounts. Several Apple current and former Apple employees cited discounts as one of their favorite perks when working for Apple. A former employee that worked in the "creative" department described the discounts as "amazing," while another referred to both product and stock discounts as "great."

Source: Glassdoor (1), (2)

Steve Jobs was fond of saying he only wanted A-level people on his staff, and plenty of current and employees seemed to appreciate having the opportunity to be surrounded by some of the sharpest minds in their industry.

Almost every review on Glassdoor mentions how amazing the company culture is at Apple. Co-workers and the excellent work environment at Apple are constantly listed in the "Pros" section of Apple employee reviews. One current employee specifically said everything at Apple is about teamwork.

Source: Glassdoor

Not only do you get to work with really smart people, but a few former Apple employees gushed about the welcoming culture at the company. One former employee wrote that there's "an amazing sense of belonging and community," while another said "where ever you go you will gain a family."

Source: Glassdoor (1), (2)

Still standing at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts. Happy Birthday Mac! pic.twitter.com/w1WhQEvn2i

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 25, 2014

Apple holds a "beer bash" in the quad once every few weeks, where it serves free beer and appetizers for workers. The company gets musical guests to perform too, such as One Republic, which made a special appearance to celebrate the Mac's 30th anniversary this past January.

Source: Glassdoor, MacRumors

Working at Apple is a bit like living in New York. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

A former software engineer listed the fact that the "brand sounds good to other employers" as a primary perk, while a current electrical engineer at Apple pointed out that the company has a "reputed name in the industry for quality products."

Source: Glassdoor (1), (2)

A few employees also noted Apple's commuting options as a positive of working at the company, including the company's shuttle service that transports employees from parts of the Bay Area to its campus in Cupertino. Apple also provides a stipend to help cover the cost of employees commuting by bus, train, and other means.

Source: Glassdoor, (2)

Multiple employees praised the company's excellent leadership. In fact, Tim Cook has an astoundingly high 94% approval rating on Glassdoor, showing just how well-respected he is by employees.

Source: Glassdoor

Apple may be a controlling company, but for the most part, employees say they have a good amount of freedom to do their work.

"There is a lot of independence and little micro managing," a former employee wrote.

Source: Glassdoor

While some retail workers complained about their salaries, many praised Apple for providing them with benefits — even if they only worked part-time. Several part-time Apple employees raved about the benefits offered by the company.

Source: Glassdoor

Working at Apple may not always be easy, but if you're an engineer or a developer, you can count on learning something new on the job. "Apple taught me how to think about code," a former employee says. "It's hard to describe my thought processes before because Apple drilled in a way of thinking through problems that I can't go back from. I learned to iterate while ensuring that I think about every little detail of that iteration beforehand."

There's even an "Apple University" training center on campus to teach employees about Apple's ideals and design history.

Source: Quora

Given the company's name, this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Even so, several current Apple employees in Cupertino were enthused with the fact that the company supplies free Apples for its workers.

Source: Glassdoor (1), (2)

Employees seem to love how flexible Apple's retails positions are. One former employee, who worked at Apple part time for more than a year, noted that positions aren't performance-based. Another current employee wrote that there's plenty of room to move internally within the company, or to a different Apple retail location.

Source: Glassdoor (1), (2)

Apple may not offer as many insane perks as Google and Facebook, but there are still some. Several employees raved about the great food at Cafe Mac at Apple's main headquarters in Cupertino.

One employee even described the food as the "best on-site food services you could ever imagine." Another says, "Apple subsidizes everything but the cost of ingredients so you can have custom sushi or pizza from scratch for less than $10. Dinners are usually free for people on iOS or OS X teams."

Source: Glassdoor, Quora

Several employees wrote that they felt as if their careers were constantly growing with the company. One former product manager listed "fast career growth" as a favorite perk, while a former technical support advisor was pleased with the "visible progress" he saw while working at Apple.

Source: Glassdoor (1), (2)

Starting a new job is always intimidating, especially at a company as large as Apple. Luckily, the company provides comprehensive training for new recruits that employees have raved about on Glassdoor. Dozens of reviews pointed out Apple's onboarding and training process as a perk, and one reviewer that previously worked at Apple described it as "engaging and positive."

Source: Glassdoor

One former employee says: "Unless you're an actual rock star I doubt you've ever had an experience quite like walking into the Palo Alto Apple Store with an Apple badge. I've been to $100/entree restaurants that haven't treated me with as much enthusiasm."

Source: Quora

The biggest perk of working at Apple, at least based on the number of reviews that mentioned it, is a feeling that your work really matters and has an impact on the world. We saw this point made in dozens of reviews from current and former Apple employees from various departments throughout the company.

One former Apple employee wrote that creating "innovative products" and taking part in developing new product categories were among the most rewarding things about the job.

"This is a great opportunity to work with some really fantastic, dedicated people, who genuinely want to use technology to make the world a better place," another anonymous current employee wrote.

Source: Glassdoor (1), (2)

Lisa Eadicicco contributed to an earlier version of this story.