14 DAY TRIAL // If you ever wondered how your first day as an Apple staffer would feel like, you can find out in Adam Lashinsky’s upcoming book, Inside Apple. Even more conveniently, the author has published an excerpt that might answer this particular question.
The huge extract from the upcoming book is focused on the secrecy at Apple, inside the confines of its HQ, and out.
One interesting highlight is that of an employee's first day at Apple and, as Lashinsky puts it, “the realization that there's no one to help you connect your newly issued computer.”
“The assumption is that those smart enough and tech-savvy enough to be hired at Apple can hook themselves up to the network,” he writes.
He quotes an Apple observer as saying, "Most people are expected to be able to connect to servers. People say: 'That [expletive] was hard, but I figured out who to talk to.' That's super-smart. It's a clever way to get people to connect with each other."
But that doesn’t mean you’re completely on your own. While Apple expects you to put on a savvy face in multiple circumstances, they do provide new recruits with an informal "iBuddy" system that “provides the name of a peer outside the primary team who can serve as a sounding board, someone for the bewildered new employee to ask questions of.”
According to Lashinsky, “Many have said they met with their iBuddy once or twice at the beginning of their tenure -- before they became too busy to meet again.”
Adam Lashinsky’s Inside Apple is due out January 25, 2012. Those interested in owning the book can order it here. In the meanwhile, you can visit the article from the February 6, 2012 issue of Fortune.