Getting a job as a computer engineer for one of the Silicon Valley tech giants is notoriously difficult. Now, it looks like even finding the job opening is a tough challenge in itself.
An advert for a computer engineering job at Apple has been discovered lurking on a hidden part of the company's public website.
"Hey there! You found us," it says just below a big Apple logo made out of text symbols and lettering. “We are looking for a talented engineer to develop a critical infrastructure component that is to be a key part of Apple ecosystem.”
It goes on to explain the necessary qualifications and experience needed to apply, such as a degree in computer sciences or equivalent experience working in the industry.
The job listing was stumbled upon by Zack Whittaker, cyber-security editor of business technology news site ZDNet, who recently tweeted about the discovery. Riding on the interest it generated, he also explained how he found the easter egg in an article for ZDNet. As he explains, he found it while testing out how personal data was being exchanged between difficult iPhone apps and advertisers. Between all these exchanges of data and traffic, he noticed a connection to one of Apple's own URL. He simply entered this web address and the message popped up.
He insists this is not too tricky for those in the know. However, Apple was obviously using this as an inventive way to seek out hot new talent.
The job posting notes that a "strong attention to detail" is an important trait they’re looking for. Presumably, if you are snooping around the private servers of a big tech company and stumble across this, you have a pretty sharp eye and a reasonable level of tech know-how.
Oh, and in case you’re tempted to search for the message, Apple has since removed the posting or moved it elsewhere. This is likely because of the Twitter-storm and media attention that followed its discovery. Or perhaps, just maybe, somebody else found it and the post has been filled.
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