Uppers

Sitting in on design meetings and seeing experienced devs opinions on topics.

Downers

Most of the time my work felt not needed. I was rarely held accountable for anything.

Advice to Potential Interns

This place is very corporate.

Advice to Management

Sample Interview Questions

Would You Recommend

Yes

Uppers

small office, no dress code, friendly co-workers, great brand

Downers

lack of official mentor, not as busy as i like to be

Advice to Potential Interns

it is what you make of it, you get what you give

Advice to Management

Sample Interview Questions

Would You Recommend

Yes

Uppers

Although I was new to coding, I was able to learn fast and get a lot done.

Downers

I didn't feel that special or important. My previous internship made me feel like I was wanted - like they didn't want me to leave after 12 weeks.

Advice to Potential Interns

With more deadlines and rushed products, larger companies tend to be more stressful.

Advice to Management

Sample Interview Questions

Would You Recommend

Yes

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.

Would You Recommend

Yes

Uppers

Increased C and C++ development skills

Downers

I was often spoken to disrespectfully by full time employees. The code base had little to no documentation. No one speaks to each other in my office most days.

Advice to Potential Interns

I wish I would have known more about the company culture beforehand. Don't ask anyone for help to much or they will get annoyed.

Advice to Management

Enforce documentation on code. Adopt agile software development practices. Encourage communication and helpfulness amongst engineers.

Sample Interview Questions

Know C/C++ well.

Would You Recommend

Yes

Uppers

Strong coding standards, moderate clarity of expectations, low stress

Downers

Lack of office culture and interpersonal communications

Advice to Potential Interns

Have to be diligent about writing software

Advice to Management

Better office culture, diversity

Sample Interview Questions

Explain what a virtual function is in C++

[given code sample] Explain what the error in this software is, if it exists. Will it compile?

Would You Recommend

Yes

Uppers

Team was nice, pay was ok, office is nice.

Downers

Was not invested in as much as I had hoped, felt more like a temp than an intern

Advice to Potential Interns

Be self motivated and know how to ask questions and stand up for yourself if you want to get something out of it. They look for humble people, but you have to have a spine to get anything done.

Advice to Management

Better pay would've been ideal, and the diversity isn't too hot here. But its the Midwest, so I don't know if I can expect better. I wish that my team acted more like they were investing in me as a future employee rather than treating me like an employee that didn't know anything as well as they did that they could just force grunt work on.

Sample Interview Questions

Explain a semaphore? Are you interested in front/mid/back-end work?

Would You Recommend

Yes

Uppers

Good team and people to work with, good intern programming, good pay.

Downers

What I am working on is not very exciting, challenging or fulfilling.

Advice to Potential Interns

Find out what department or team you will be placed on as some teams will have you work on interesting projects while others will make you a QA for the summer.

Advice to Management

Catered meals, snacks.

Sample Interview Questions

Would You Recommend

No

Uppers

Autonomy .

Downers

Low pay...

Advice to Potential Interns

i have no advice

Advice to Management

Sample Interview Questions

Would You Recommend

Yes

Uppers

Real hands on experience, good team atmosphere

Downers

Very high expectations, challenging tasks with little or no help

Advice to Potential Interns

Be upfront with your manager about any concerns early in the internship and acknowledge any likes/dislikes of tasks early on.

Advice to Management

If you see a potential problem, bring it up in a one on one so the intern can address it rather than waiting until the end of internship evaluation to tell them all the things they could have done better.

Sample Interview Questions

Would You Recommend

Yes