Uppers
Working on cool hardware that I can hold in my hands.
Holding an interest in the company's products.
Housing provided.
Downers
Company culture is pretty dry and alienating towards interns; The fullt-timers tend to think of interns as temporary and not worth getting to know.
The office space isn't very attractive.
It's not easy to connect with others living in the area.
Advice to Potential Interns
Garmin is a very safe company to work for. Dead free, Swiss owned, publicly traded with a diverse market share. All the perks of suburban life exist here. However, the company culture is dry and people aren't excited to be at work (or, it seems, to be alive). The enthusiasm that HR holds is not shared in the rest of the company.
Advice to Management
I'm not aware of very many professional development options. Every meeting that I've known about this summer has been a lunch-and-learn about another department in Garmin. There haven't been any professional development workshops for me to go to (and I've kind of been disappointed the lunch-and-learns are bring your own lunch. I thought you would provide that, so I didn't bring mine the first time. #BYOL is not descriptive enough).
Sample Interview Questions
What does static mean in C?
Basic Computer Engineering questions. Review low level C programming.