Went through phone + video screen, in-person interview (they flew me down), and was finally hired several years back (May 2013 was the posting date, but I replied directly to an individual @apple.com email; can't find the original HN post) as a full time Sr Engineer at Apple through exactly this. I was living in Portland, OR at the time, so they paid for relocation too. Took a few weeks, but there was communication on both sides throughout.