Meet Team UPS

Q&A with Jake

What attracted you to UPS?

I had a friend who worked in Investments for the UPS Finance department. I was asking him about it, and he recommended it, saying he’s had a great experience and really enjoyed it. I applied and got it. It’s been great ever since.

At a high level, can you tell us about your internship role?

I work in FP&A (Finance Procurement and Analysis)—I’m in the finance sector of that, and I work in decision support. We handle a lot of data through Google Cloud, SQL server, and Python. We pull details like revenue, weights, and distance traveled to see how profitable they are. The goal with decision support is to become as profitable as possible.

What has your internship/co-op given you the opportunity to learn so far?

I’m a double major at the University of Georgia—Finance and MIS (information systems). This is a heavy finance role and during school I was always a finance major and later added the MIS major since I was interested in coding. I’ve only taken a handful classes at UGA about coding, so being here I’ve learned a lot about how to use SQL and how to present it to others. I’ve made presentations, spoke in meetings, and learned about corporate culture.

Share some tips for making the most of your UPS internship, such as networking with other interns and learning about the company's culture.

The biggest thing I would say is ask questions. Ask a million questions. Your supervisor or manager will pull you into plenty of meetings, where you will get to see what goes into everything and what they do. Luckily at UPS, they’re very nice and welcoming so you can ask any questions before, during, or after—and they will give you details. Definitely speak up because they will appreciate your willingness to learn the company and it will also help you with your day-to-day activities if you have any projects or tasks you need to work on.

What do you enjoy the most about UPS’s company culture?

I really like the “open door policy” which means that even if you’re an intern you can go to anybody and ask questions and they’ll answer what they can about it. Even department heads—I can go into his office and talk to him. It can be about work or the social aspect of the company; everything is welcome and accepted. This ability to talk to anyone at UPS is really nice.

In what ways has your work felt meaningful thus far in your internship?

I have one big project that I work on throughout the summer, plus smaller tasks. The project I got was very meaningful to the company—they actually use it. I was an intern here last year and they showed my project to higher management as a showcase of what we did and why. Having projects that aren’t just busy work is huge.

What are your career goals? How do you feel your internship will positively impact your career goals?

My career goals are to 1) go into something that blends in Finance and MIS and 2) hopefully work my way up and get into management positions. Here at UPS, what helps with that is the internship program because I’ve gotten my foot in the door. I really like that they have a good path to move up into management. You can also move around in different sectors of the business. My goal is to find something that I love, and UPS is a good avenue for that.

What separates UPS's internship program from the other internship opportunities you looked into?

They actually use your projects and you’re doing meaningful work. I think that’s huge just because it gives you actual insight into what the real world is like, instead of just doing busy work. Here you have to learn the company and based off of that information, do something meaningful.