The Things Apple CEO Tim Cook Looks For in Candidates 

Ever considered joining Apple? Well, here are the four essential traits they look for in job applicants. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need need to be a Steve Jobs or a Tim Cook to join Apple. You just need four specific qualities. 

In a graduation speech at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared Apple’s almost foolproof strategy in hiring top talent. At the graduation, where he was also awarded an honorary Master’s Degree in Innovation and International Management, Cook revealed that Apple’s success is in thanks to its people, all of whom share a common goal of, well, changing the world. 

“People have to work for a reason bigger than themselves," he said. "So you want to have a vision for a company that is about serving the customer and somehow improving their lives. You want to do it in an ethical way… There's no gravitational pull from that— the gravitational pull is always, what are you doing for other people?" 

With such a purpose, “it's amazing what people will do from a work point of view." 

Here are the four things Apple’s headhunters look for in the thousands of job applicants vying for a spot in the prestigious tech company: 

1| Collaboration 

It might be cliched, but it’s true. Teamwork makes the dream work, at least at Apple. 

According to Cook, “We look for the ability to collaborate with people— the fundamental feeling that if I share my idea with you, that that idea will grow and get bigger and be better."

2| Creativity 

This should be a given. Apple is known not just for creating amazing tech, but setting trends. They’re known for setting benchmarks and solving problems, in a way other brands could only hope to. 

"We look for people that think differently, that can look at a problem and not be caught up in the dogma of how that problem has always been viewed," said Cook. 

3| Curiosity 

There’s no such thing as dumb questions in Apple. In fact, that might be what they look for: people who aren’t afraid to ask questions and have an insatiable, unbridled curiosity. 

"It's amazing when somebody starts to ask questions as a kid would, how it puts pressure on the person to think through the answers really deeply. And so, we look for this innate curiosity in people,” said Cook. 

4| Expertise 

The last part of the equation is expertise. As one of the biggest tech companies in the world, Apple is looking for the educated and experienced. The very best in their field. 

"If we're doing something in industrial design, we need somebody that knows industrial design and has a skill set in it either from their college days or through their work days," Cook said.