Tim Cook says Apple only hires people that have same answer to one question
If you want to be one of Apple's 166,000 employees, then listen up.
Before announcing his decision to step down as CEO, Tim Cook lifted the lid on what he looks for when hiring.
The now business exec, 65, previously suggested to Dua Lipa on her BBC podcast At Your Service that the biggest asset of any employee is 'curiosity'.
“We hire people from all walks of life, and people that have college degrees, people that don’t, people that code, people that don’t,” he said.
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“I do recommend coding for everyone to learn because I think it’s a form of expressing yourself and it’s a global language.”
Cook went on to say that 'we hire people that don’t know how to code and we hire a lot of people that don’t code on a daily basis that do other things'.
“I think one of the characteristics that I look for in people are collaboration,” he added.
“Can they really collaborate? Do they deeply believe that one plus one equals three?”
When it comes to curiosity, Cook - who took over from Steve Jobs in 2011 when he became ill - said that he likes 'people that ask questions, that are so curious about how things work, how people think, all of the whys and hows questions.”
He also noted how he particularly looks for 'people that are creative' to get ahead of the competition.
“Because we’re looking for people that can see around the corner,” Cook explained.
“Ultimately, we want to create products that people can’t live without but they didn’t know they needed.
“All of these traits go into to, I think, making a great team player.”
Cook is set to continue in his CEO role through the summer, working closely with his replacement and hardware chief John Ternus for 'a smooth transition'.
As executive chairman, Apple said 'Cook will assist with certain aspects of the company, including engaging with policymakers around the world'.
"It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company," he said.
"John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honour.
"He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future."
Anish Vij