Summer Intern Spotlight: Jenny Jiang 26BBA, Apple

Every summer, Goizueta Business School students from all programs step out of the classroom and into internships at companies around the world. These experiences are not just about gaining practical skills; they often lead to lasting memories, powerful insights, and sometimes even job offers.

In this series, we’ll highlight several students who completed exciting internships this summer, sharing their journeys, challenges, and triumphs. Stay tuned to discover the incredible work our students have been involved in and the valuable lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Here, we speak with Jenny Jiang 26BBA, a junior at Emory University studying finance and quantitative sciences. Originally from Oregon, she spends most of her time in the south. “I spent this past summer in Austin interning at Apple, and it was one of the best experiences of my life!”

1. Jenny, can you tell us a little about your background and what led you to pursue an internship in Supply Chain and Operations at Apple?

At Emory University, I love being a student in the business school and in the College. I’m super involved with Consult Your Community, which is a consulting club for small businesses. In the College, I’m involved in Young Democrats and enjoy giving tours as a tour guide. This summer, I was so lucky to intern at Apple in their Supply Demand Management team under their Operations department. Supply Demand Management focuses on forecasting demand for Apple’s website and retail stores, and distributing supply according to these forecasts. I loved learning about Apple’s supply chain, especially to the scale it is!

2. How did your experience at UT Austin’s National Women’s Case Competition contribute to securing your internship with Apple?

Goizueta was so gracious to sponsor me and my team to compete at UT Austin’s National Women’s Case Competition back in April, and I wouldn’t have received this Apple internship had it not been for Goizueta. Apple’s Operations team sponsored the Case Competition, which means Apple employees wrote the case, judged prelim and final rounds, and held networking sessions. My team and I worked hard on our research, which entailed forecasting supply and demand and building financial models to quantify feasibility for a new iPad package. While competing, my team and I also networked with Apple employees. My team advanced from the prelim round, presented in the final round to senior directors, and then placed second overall. A recruiter reached out afterwards for an invitation to interview for an internship this summer in Apple Operations. Even though I wasn’t expecting it, I’m so grateful that the case competition led to this amazing internship!

3. What were your main responsibilities during your internship at Apple, and what did a typical day look like for you?

My internship was focused on two projects about the delivery dates of online orders. As an Apple customer myself, I’m always checking the delivery status of my online orders, so I was super excited to focus on delivery quotes. My first project was refining code that detects these quotes, and my second project was building a dashboard to help the team analyze these quotes. A regular day consisted of attending Operations meetings, shadowing supply and demand planners, working independently on my code analysis and dashboard development, attending coffee chats, and meeting with the stakeholders of my project for feedback. Apple did an amazing job in keeping their interns busy, and every day was filled with so much learning and professional development.

4. Can you share a specific project you worked on during your internship that you’re particularly proud of? What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?

One of my projects was building a dashboard to help supply planners analyze online orders. Developing this dashboard was pretty technical, and sometimes I struggled with coding calculations. For example, I had to code an equation to show very situational numbers, and all the versions I tried to code the equation wouldn’t work. However, Apple had such amazing resources such as office hours for different software, and I was able to use these office hours to troubleshoot my problems.

5. How did you find the work culture at Apple, and how did it compare to your previous experiences?

Apple’s work culture is amazing – as an intern, everyone is so willing to answer your questions, set up some time for a coffee chat, or invite you to shadow meetings. The work-life balance was also great – everyone valued building a life outside the office while still working hard and meeting deliverable deadlines when in the office. The Apple Campus hosted events such as a campus-wide BBQ and a potluck that spanned four floors. Operations also heavily relied on collaboration; throughout the day, I was frequently in meetings, and I loved being able to talk and learn from others. Being in the office didn’t feel like work, and Apple’s prioritization in making work feel like “life” was truly so refreshing.

7. How did you balance working in a fast-paced environment like Apple Operations with maintaining your personal well-being?

There were some weeks that were more intense in terms of workload, especially leading up to the final presentation, but there was still time to explore Austin during the weekends! The Intern Committee was also amazing at organizing social events for the interns. One night, they rented a private boat on the lake of downtown Austin. They also took us to an Austin FC soccer game and organized numerous Happy Hours after work. I was so impressed with Apple’s efforts to make the internship amazing not just professionally but also socially.

8. What advice would you give to other Goizueta students who are interested in pursuing an internship with a leading tech company like Apple?

Participate in programs that a tech company you’re interested in is hosting! After talking with multiple interns in Big Tech, I noticed that most got their internships through programs like fellowships, diversity programs, case competitions, etc. While these programs aren’t directly related to internships, they can still help you build a unique relationship with a tech company that you can then leverage when you apply for an internship. I actually applied to an internship at Apple during my freshman year and never heard back. These internal programs are more effective than a cold application, so always keep an eye out for these programs.

9. Could you share any memorable experiences or interactions with colleagues or mentors during your time at Apple that had a significant impact on you?

I was recently talking to a senior director in Hardware Engineering Operations, and she emphasized the importance of exploring new industries. She walked me through how she majored in humanities in college, started working in business and strategy, and then is now in Hardware Engineering. This idea left a lasting impression on me because this summer was a surprise for me. I wasn’t expecting to intern in supply chain or in the technology industry at all, but I’m so grateful to have gained exposure to this industry and have worked with such amazing people and on challenging projects!

Explore more exciting student internships and the experiences that shaped their summer! Discover more here.

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