Recent Tufts graduate Alex shared the following about being a Software Engineering Intern for Apple …
What did you do as an intern at this organization?
My summer consisted of working on a large independent project for internal use by my team, the macOS Performance Team. During the first couple of weeks, my work mostly consisted of large-scale design: understanding which pieces were necessary to build, how they would talk to each other, and how each piece accessed data and processed it effectively. After I had a clear design, my work turned to implementing the project, which was extremely self-guided. I also had to reach out to multiple different teams to request modifications to their product so that my project could be best implemented. In the final third of the summer, I gave several presentations about my project to interested parties.
How did you find this internship?
I was referred from someone within the company who found me online. From there, I went though a full interview process on the team that reached out to me.
What did you enjoy most about your internship?
The best part of this internship was working on a team with many very, very smart people. There was a wealth of knowledge, and many engineers were extremely good at understanding technical problems and communicating about them. Additionally, it was satisfying to have a good amount of responsibility; my team saw value in my intern project, so they had high expectations.
What did you find challenging?
The most challenging aspect of the summer was the independent work style. Intern projects at Apple are generally done solo, and apart from weekly check-ins with my manager and general question-asking to nearby engineers, I didn’t regularly interact with anybody in the process of working towards my goal. I missed feeling like part of a team working towards a common goal.
What advice would you offer to someone who wants to make the most of an internship like yours?
Internships at Apple are as much about technical skill as they are about communication, organization, and presentation skills. During my second full day in the office, I was expected to deliver a 10-minute project design outline to my team, and approximately six weeks later I presented my project in progress to several VPs. Communicating the value of technical ideas is very important at Apple, so a good intern will value the time spent honing ideas and articulating benefits as much as they will focus on producing high quality code.
About the Organization
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, the Mac and Apple Watch. Apple’s three software platforms (iOS, macOS and watchOS) provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.
