Amazon

I was afforded a surprising amount of autonomy as an intern. People rarely necessitated that I do things a specific way (unless they provided sound reasoning as to why it's better than the alternatives). They left many things up to my judgment, which was very motivating for me because that allowed the work to be a true reflection of my efforts.

Help was absolutely there when I needed it. My team and manager(s) were very welcoming when I visited them with questions or comments.

Initiative is welcomed and rewarded with support. If I wanted to take up something that I wasn't expected to do, my manager and co-workers supported me, and my initiative was recognized and rewarded.

Extremely high standards, which taught me a lot about developing reliable software. Now I exercise these standards in every project I take on.

Seattle is an amazing city. I have been to many cities around the world, and my favorite is Seattle. If you like the outdoors, there are a ton of amazing hikes and nature activities. If you like the metropolis life, Seattle is very vibrant with a lot of nightlife chances and art shows, music festivals. There is something for every taste in Seattle.

It was sometimes hard to know what to do. While I personally liked the great amount of autonomy, it totally varies from team to team. I saw other interns struggling because their managers or teams seemed to have left them in the deep end all by themselves. Other interns wanted more direction and instructions because they weren't sure what the expectations were for their projects. This sometimes caused frustration and inefficiency of efforts.

Raise the hiring bar. Word on the street is that Amazon's hiring is the easiest among the "big 4," and frankly, I felt the same in my interview. I say this because I wouldn't want to see the hard-working culture at Amazon diluted by mediocrity.